She's bringing classical music to Beaumont

By Carolyn Wiley

Record Gazette

Paula Lucoff is bringing classical music instruction to Beaumont. Most recently from the San Diego area, Lucoff graduated with Highest Distinction from the University of Maine-Orono in 1975 receiving a Bachelor of Science in Music Education.

Lucoff and her husband recently made the move from San Diego to the new Sundance Community off Highland Springs Avenue in Beaumont.

She has been involved with child-adult music and piano education for almost 30 years and offers personalized instruction in a traditional private lesson setting, designed to accelerate growth and mastery of the art of piano.

Lucoff has taught children in public school, has volunteered her musical talent and has had the unique experience of teaching for a year in a two-room schoolhouse on an island off the coast of Maine.

Although it is possible to start instruction at any age, the later they begin the more catching up will have to be done.

It is much easier for a younger child, 5 or 6 to grasp the basics of music theory, she said, and then by the time they reach age 13 "it is second nature to them."

According to the National Association for Music Education, children exposed to music performance education showed an IQ advantage of 10-20 points and scored 36-52 points higher on verbal and math SATís.

"The part of the brain that absorbs music seems to also be the area where language and math development is," Lucoff said, "and those nerves develop when a child is still growing."