LAMBDA FAQ

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How does one choose a Music and Fine Arts School? How is Lambda different from all the other "music schools, academies or conservatories" out there?

There are numerous private music schools in town (generally known as music academies, conservatories, music schools or studios), and new ones continuously mushrooming in the city. Bombarded with countless choices, how does one distinguish a truly reputable school that offers quality and care from all the others?

Lambda is a school comprising of a team of high calibre and seasoned professionals who deeply care about the progress and well being of each and every student. For this reason, we proudly distinguish ourselves from other musical institutions in town.

First and foremost, Lambda takes pride in the quality of our team. Our panel of professors and artist teachers are truly reputable in the musical arena at an international level, comprising of distinguished concert artists and pedagogues with post-graduate degrees in education and psychology. All Lambda professors are not only highly experienced in teaching, but they are also passionate about sharing their art with learners of all ages and levels. Our professors (in the truest sense) offer an education to learners through inspiration and hands on teaching. For this reason, we proudly feature the credentials and accomplishments of our faculty, artists-in-residence and staff on our website. Lambda does not obscure the identities of our faculty and staff. The selection of faculty members is based on a highly stringent process that balances artistry, personality, experience, insight and dedication towards education.

Lambda recognizes that the total is greater than the sum of its parts. Our professors work as a synergistic team to groom our students. One unique feature of Lambda is that, our students have the opportunity to study with more than one professor. Students also have frequent performance opportunities for other professors - thereby enabling them to test-run their works in progress, and to derive feedback from a variety of perspectives. Lambda is a place for cultural immersion and artistic growth. As it has often been said that "it takes a village to raise a child". Lambda provides a "village" of experts (artists and educators) to foster the potential of each and every one of our students, adult or child.

Lambda is not a referral service that registers students and sends them to study privately with independently contracted music teachers. We believe that offering students the opportunity to rub shoulders with artist teachers on a frequent basis is highly important. Lambda provides a supportive infrastructure that enables a balanced artistic and personal development.

Our campus is unparalleled in terms of its comfort, safety, sophistication in equipment and aesthetic design. We believe that through immersing in an artistically inspiring environment, one can truly experience the joy of living through the arts at a visceral level.

At Lambda, our mission is to educate. Not only do we take pride in educating our students in the arts, but we also help them excel and develop a sense of self. We also work closely with parents to ensure that they are well-informed about their children's progress. In so doing, parents can maintain a supportive structure at home to sustain interest and maximize potential.

Is Lambda a private or public school? An elementary school or high school?

Lambda is a school for artistic development and refinement for learners of all ages. It offers programs in disciplines of music, fine arts and the sciences and technologies of the arts as well as enrichment programs for children and adults from beginner to performance artist level.

Lambda is a privately operated school and not under the umbrella of Quebec's board of education system. For this reason, we have full flexibility to develop unique programs that are tailored to our students' specific needs.

I'm curious, where does the name Lambda come from?

Lambda (uppercase '''Λ''', lowercase '''λ'') is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet which is used in Physics to denote wavelength. In the arts, we are all connected by the wavelength of sound (as in music) and the wavelength of light (colors in painting). LAMBDA is also the acronym for Learning of the Arts through the Mind and Body in the Discovery of Aesthetics (hence LAMBDA).

What is an Artist in Residence? You have so many of them listed on your web site.

An artist-in-residence is a visiting artist who participates in an organization’s program where one can stay and work “for art's sake”. At Lambda, the school offers performance and education related opportunities and conditions in its facility that nurtures creativity, an ideal setting for our panel of artists to collaborate in an interdisciplinary manner and interact with learners in the school.

How can I ensure that I am sending my child to a truly reputable music and fine arts school (as there seem to be so many out there)?

Lambda takes great pride in its faculty and artists in residence. Professors at Lambda are not only renowned and accomplished artists, but they have a passion in sharing their artistry with learners of all levels and ages. Each professor places genuine care and attention to each student with the aim of promoting the love for the arts, while nurturing artistic and personal growth.

We place great trust upon the integrity and competence of our professors, as we all work together to create a harmonious team to facilitate interdisciplinary learning. Lambda students receive continuous support from the entire network of professors, artists in residence, academic advisors and both directors.

For this reason, we do not obscure our professors' identities by listing only their first names, or simply by placing them under the general description as "professional and experienced teachers".

In the summer program, you offer a variety of disciplines, such as music, painting, musical theatre, dance, digital photography and culinary arts. Does my child get to focus on a selected discipline of choice?

In the summer program, children get the opportunity to sample all the disciplines offered at Lambda. This helps widen the learner's perspective in other areas of fine arts while helping them find a niche that they will particularly enjoy.

My daughter has already been taking 4 years of piano lessons independently with a private teacher. How will she integrate into your piano group classes in the summer program?

In our summer program, we attempt to group students according to age and musical experience. Your daughter's background in piano will facilitate her learning process in a group appropriate for her level. Lambda also offers a specialized program for students who already had previous experience in piano.

Do you conduct outdoor activities during summer camp?

All activities in the Lambda music and fine arts summer camp including lunch are conducted indoors in our climate controlled facility for reasons of safety and security.

I understand that Lambda launched a Girls' make over camp in the summer of 2009. What is the purpose of it?

The purpose of the girls' make over camp is to help them develop confidence, become aware of social etiquette (e.g. digital etiquette) and learn about style and aesthetics that is relevant to the 21st century. This can be a highly empowering experience. Hopefully they can transpose these experiences to academic or corporate settings in the future. Through immersing in the camp experience, girls cultivate friendship in an encouraging atmosphere of cameraderie with other like-minded campers.