Canadian jazz pop artist Katie Ditschun is going live online weekly, offering complimentary virtual music lessons for those looking to optimize a rise in screen time by developing their sonic skill sets.
The lessons are every Friday at 11:00 a.m. EST on Ditschun’s Facebook page; they are geared towards beginners and focus solely on singing — no instruments are required.
How cool, right? If you or a family member ever wanted to learn to play music, here’s your chance, for FREE! Let’s face it, we have some time on our hands and have access to this Facebook site you might have heard about, so why not?
With a world reacting to the novel coronavirus outbreak, Ditschun is hoping both her at-home music lessons in a live, “social” setting — plus her newly released single, “Here We Are” — can offer respite for audience members navigating the world’s new circumstance from a place of increased isolation.
“There’s something about being in the moment when the music is all there is…” says the classically trained musician at both Berklee College of Music and the Royal Conservatory of Music, plus 2014 Independent Teacher Fellowship Award recipient. She holds over 20 years experience in teaching, and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association. “For me, all life’s worries melt away and I’m left only concerned about what phrase comes next and letting the notes float out.
“It’s my hope that my online music lessons can offer even just a bit of that for others in this challenging time.”
Written and recorded last year, “long before we got to this place,” Ditschun says of the single, “Here We Are” is one of 10 via her debut LP, Spare Skirt.
“The song speaks to the feeling that there’s some distance between what your life is and how you thought it would turn out, who you thought you’d become, or where you thought you’d be,” she notes. “Now more than ever, we’re all finding ourselves with plans pushed aside, and wondering how do we go on like this, and for how long.
“Feeling the weight of our current reality, we need reminders that we’ll get through this together.”
Spare Skirt and “Here We Are” are available now.
