McIntire Studios Admissions & Tuition
We want you to have the best experience possible on your musical journey!
To that end, everyone wishing to become a member of McIntire Studios is required to interview with Michelle McIntire in order to understand how our studio works.
Our interview process is low key and fun. We want you to know that you (or your student) are going to have a good experience.
When you arrive for your interview, we will begin with talking about:
why you are interested in voice or piano lessons,
what led you to McIntire Studios,
what are your short and long term goals.
We will also discuss the teacher's background (because you have a right to know they are qualified to teach you), the studio policies and expectations, and billing and tuition.
You will have many opportunities to ask questions during the interview portion. Remember, you are interviewing your teacher as much as they are interviewing you.
After the "getting to know you" portion of the interview comes the practical portion of the interview, where you will receive a mini/demo lesson. You will sing/play for the teacher as appropriate (ie, we understand that beginners are beginners), and they will teach for you. This allows student and teacher to get an idea of how the other person will be to work with.
Following the practical portion, we will end again with conversation and recommendations.
If the student is a child and is invited into the Studio, we will recommend the family sleep on it before committing to joining. An invited adult may sign up immediately. If for any reason we don't feel we are the right teacher for you, we will say so, we will tell you why, and we will offer recommendations to other teachers who may be better for you.
There is a $20 non-refundable interview fee for voice or piano. The interview process takes about an hour. The fee will be applied to future lessons.
Any four of our resident cats may pay a visit. If you are allergic or otherwise disinclined to cats, please let me know ahead of time and we will corral the cats elsewhere.
Admission Interview Process
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All prospective voice students should bring a water bottle and be emotionally prepared to sing. Also, please indicate any cat allergies on your audition request form. Please allow 45 minutes to one hour for your interview/audition.
Regardless of age, beginning singers should arrive prepared to sing with a song of your choosing . If you have no ideas for a song, a patriotic song, a Christmas carol or a hymn, such as "Amazing Grace" or even "Happy Birthday" are all fine.
Transfer voice students and experienced singers should prepare a contest/audition quality piece from memory. Additionally, you may also prepare a musical theatre or other genre song of your own choosing if you intend that genre to be a focus in your studies.
School aged singers should be accompanied by a parent and/or the person responsible for payment. The teacher will give you a mini-lesson and a complete vocal evaluation, which will include a brief warm-up, range and tessatura determining exercises, vocal health evaluation and a brief test of tonal memory. Following this, the teacher will make a recommendation for type and length of lesson and what will be the first focus as well as the long-term goals.
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Beginning piano students may play a song on the piano or not. This is not a requirement for beginning piano students (especially the very young), but if they like, they certainly may play for the teacher.
Transfer piano students of all ages should try to prepare a piece to play. They will be evaluated and tentative level assigned, based on their basic musicianship and techniques, including accuracy, phrasing, pedaling, hand position and fingering.
Tuition
Billing and Tuition Policies
Tuition adjusts each August. Payment is invoiced monthly for the upcoming month and is due on the 1st of the month. We accept PayPal, Venmo, cards, and personal checks. We do not accept cash. Week by week payments are NOT available. There are 5% processing fees for PayPal and Venmo.
Tuition with Michelle McIntire for 2025-2026 is $95/hour for voice and piano lessons, pro-rated according to the length of your lesson. Tuition is due monthly before lessons are taught. Tuition reserves your time slot and includes my planning time and "office hours", meaning students may reach out with questions/issues during the week.
Studio classes for voice and piano are mandatory for all students and are held regularly once a month typically on Sunday afternoons. They are $25 for a 2 hour piano class and $45 for 3-hour voice class. Group classes provide performance opportunities with immediate feedback as well as group activities (such as singing in harmony) not typically available during a one-on-one lesson.
Tuition Assumptions
Your tuition reserves your regularly scheduled time slot and membership within the studio. There are no make-up lessons for student cancellations without 24 hours notice. Teacher cancellations will be made up. Please make note of scheduled holidays so you can plan around the lessons that are already scheduled to be missed.
BILLING OPTIONS and MMS (www.mymusicstaff.com)
All students are enrolled into the studio platform via www.mymusicstaff.com
Invoices generate and are emailed automatically 10 days before the first of the month.
You may go online to your account at any time and view or pay your bill.
Tuition is due by the first of each month. If tuition is 7 days late, a $15 late fee will be assessed.
If there are discrepancies, please contact me immediately. Remember that all my training is in music; as an accountant/bookkeeper/business owner I am completely self taught and I do make errors. I will do whatever I can to fix the problem.
Ways to Pay Tuition:
Auto-pay via MMS. There is a 5% fee for this service. With autopay, your card is charged automatically when the invoice is created.
PayPal or Credit Card via your emailed invoice or directly from your account. There is a 5% fee for this service.
Venmo: @mcintirestudios. There will be a 5% fee for this service.
Check, Money Order, or your bank's Bill Pay feature
We do NOT accept cash payments. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.