Geri Kushner and her sister, Carol, began teaching violin and viola out of their parents’ home.
As their enterprise began to grow, the sisters found a pair of rooms in Manhasset and set up shop.
“We wanted to see where it would go,” Geri Kushner said.
Flash forward three decades, and the women are now celebrating their 28th year running the Music Institute of Long Island on Plandome Road in Manhasset.
Started in 1990, the school teaches students from 3 years old through adulthood about the proper technique for classical music. Kushner said the institute, which has about 250 students, offers classes in most any instrument other than drums.
“We’re not rock-oriented, and we don’t want to be,” Kushner said. “We’re not there to make a quick buck. We’re doing it because we want to bring a love of good music, that it shouldn’t die, that there will be the audience of tomorrow.”
Kushner said all of the teachers have at least a master’s degree in music and at least 30 percent have a Ph.D.
Graduates of the institute have attended the Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and New York University’s Steinhardt School of Music, and a recent graduate is a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, she said.
Despite only teaching music classes, Kushner said she and the faculty strive to make their students the best person they can be.
“We’re like parents to all these kids. We’re so proud and we want to boast about them. We just want them to be successful,” Kushner said. “Our goal is to foster the love of great quality music, to love what they do, to be proud and confident people. We give them the tools to be the next generation of outstanding musicians.”
Geri and Carol Kushner both have bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance and music education and believe the structured school environment helps the students get into a mindset as soon as they arrive.
“There are places where the teacher will come to your home, but we don’t do that,” Geri Kushner said. “When you walk through the door, it puts you in the mood that says, ‘I’m in school. I’m here to learn.'”
Many believe a generation of musicians has been lost by the mass interest in computers and technology, leading children away from music lessons at younger ages, but Kushner said the shift in society’s hobbies is exactly why the Music Institute is still so important.
“It teaches you to be self-disciplined. It’s not immediately self-gratifying,” Kushner said. “You have to be your best, you have to work on yourself. Yes, you can play with others. Yes, we invite you to join a duo, a trio, a group, but you’re responsible for your part as well as working with others. It requires a lot of headwork and discipline.”
She said students are given at least two performance opportunities every year and are encouraged to perform at weddings and other private events if they feel comfortable. The school arranges concerts across the North Shore throughout the year as well as recitals.
“If they can do it, go for it,” Kushner said. “We want them to have all these different opportunities at a young age, and I think people are reeling because they can’t believe how well they play and they’re so young.”
