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My name is Laura Arpiainen and I am the music teacher at the Blueberry Hill Elementary School. I teach general classroom music to all the grades, from kindergarten to 5th grade.
I was born and raised in Helsinki, Finland. When I was two, I entered one of the numerous music schools in town, and at the age of five I knew I wanted to become a violinist. After graduating from the French-Finnish School of Helsinki, I was accepted into the violin performance program at the Sibelius Academy.
After two years of college in Finland I transferred into New England Conservatory in Boston, MA, where I earned my bachelor’s degree in violin performance. While in school, I met my husband Felipe, who had moved from his hometown of São Paulo, Brazil to study jazz saxophone. In 2001 we moved to New York City, where I earned a Master’s degree in violin performance from Manhattan School of Music.
Our family moved into the Pioneer Valley fifteen years ago, when my husband was offered a tenure track position at the music department at UMass Amherst. We have two children; Brune who is in high school, and Luca, an 11-year-old going on 65. As a family, we all enjoy music and playing instruments, as well as taking long bike rides on the beautiful bike paths in our area. Our household is trilingual; we speak Finnish and Portuguese at home, and English everywhere else.
One of the things I love most about teaching music is how limitless the subject is. I am looking forward to lots of singing, playing instruments, moving to the music and learning about musical traditions from around the world. Although I have a plan for each grade for this school year, I am always curious to see what topics or activities catch the students’ interest, and shape the focus of each class.
I am always happy to talk to parents and families about the music program at the Blueberry Hill School. My e-mail address is larpiainen@longmeadow.k12.ma.us.
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