The newest player has taken center stage in Kalispell. 

The Resound! School of Music and Theatre has set up a studio on Main Street, and already the founders are excited about the prospect of expanding, growing, and fostering a community of people who are invested in the arts. 

The studio will teach a variety of music and theater classes, including piano, stringed instruments, guitar, voice, and acting classes, both individually and in groups. 

“The programs in our local schools are great,” said one founder, Sarah Burdick. “We’re looking to supplement those programs for kids who don’t have access to these programs, whether they’re home-schooled or they’re elementary-school level and want to start early.” 

Three women — Burdick, and co-founders, Amy Zoltek, Sally Jerde — have been toying with the idea of a shared studio space for years. The group, who met originally as members of the Glacier Symphony, wanted a multi-functional area they could all use for various music and theater classes they taught.

“Some of us have talked for a while about having a shared studio space because it can be difficult if, like me, you live five miles out of town,” said Burdick, who teaches piano lessons. “Or like Sally, you have three kids, or like Amy, you live seven to 10 miles out of town, and you want to have private students. You're always scrambling to find a place to teach.”

In previous years, the women taught private lessons out of their home. Jerde taught string instruments, Burdick taught piano, and Zoltek taught cello and beginning guitar. Individually, they spent excessive time commuting to their students’ homes, or having their students commute out of town. 

“It's tough, and a drain,” Burdick said. “We came up with the idea of having a shared space we could go in on together, because none of us need it full time.” 

The three women began searching for the perfect studio. They knew they wanted it to be in Kalispell, and they preferred the downtown area as a central location. Eventually, a friend helped them find their current location, a second story flat on the 200 block of Main Street. 

The studio houses several separate rooms for lessons, and larger studio area for performances and group lessons. 

“There’s nothing like this at this end of the valley, and parents just can’t spend that much time driving back and forth to Whitefish or Bigfork,” Zoltek said. 

The Resound! founders hope their studio will compliment the music and theater programs found in Kalispell schools. Their intention was not to replace the established school programs, but instead, help students who wanted extra guidance, or wanted to pursue an instrument that wasn’t offered in their school’s program. They also sought to supplement the established programs for students who were moving faster than the pace of school classes, and wished to challenge themselves with additional lessons. 

“We also wanted to be convenient for families,” said Jerde. “We teach siblings, so if a mom has a violin student, a cello student, and a piano student, that would be three different houses and three different places they have to go. Here, we’re very convenient for those kinds of situations.”

Now, the founders are beginning to gather regular students for private lessons, as well as starting to sign students up for group classes. 

One popular class has been Burdick’s Simply Music piano class, where students learn to play piano by sound rather than by reading music. 

“We don’t teach kids to read until they can talk, so why should we do things differently with music?” she explained. Already, she has young students advancing into higher levels of piano playing because they understand the way the music is supposed to sound, instead of memorizing notes and patterns. 

Even though the studio opened in September, the group has high aspirations for expansion. 

“We're starting small as a shared studio space, but we have visions to expand,” Zoltek said. “If we expand enough, we have the ability to expand space-wise; we have three more rooms to expand into. This is a space that can work for us, located downtown, not too hard to find.” 

The studio is now registering for theater classes which will start after the holiday season, as well as small orchestra group classes and Kinder Music, music classes for toddlers and their parents. The founders also want to eventually expand into adult music and theater classes, as well as ballet or other dance classes. 

“We’re starting with kids, but who knows. The sky’s the limit,” Burdick said. “There are other possibilities, and there’s nothing else like this going on in the valley.” 

The school, which is located at 213 Main Street, second floor, is currently accepting students for all of their classes and lessons. For a list of classes or for more information, contact the Resound! School of Music and Theatre at 257-7082. 

Reporter Brianna Loper may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at bloper@dailyinterlake.com.