Exploring Life & Business with Alexander Milovanov of South Bay Guitar Academy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexander Milovanov.

Hi Alexander, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m a professional classical guitarist who performed in major venues throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I received prizes in major competitions such as the International Concert Artist Competition of the Guitar Foundation of America and the Boston GuitarFest International Competition. Additionally, I won a Silver Medal in the professional category of the Vienna International Music Competition, where I competed with various classical string players. Finally, I was the first solo classical guitarist to win the prestigious Beverly Hills National Auditions contest.
 
I’m originally from Belarus, but moved to the U.S permanently back in 2006 and became a U.S. citizen in 2010. I hold a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, after which I completed the 2-year Artist Diploma program at the Yale University School of Music as a full scholarship recipient. Additionally, I earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
 
I moved to the South Bay area in 2017, right after my graduation, and started working as an instructor at the French Conservatory of Music in Beverly Hills, CA, while also teaching privately. Later, in 2019, I decided to start my own business in Torrance, CA, near where I used to live at the time, which is now called South Bay Guitar Academy and is the subject of this interview. The idea behind this business was to offer a unique and high-quality guitar instruction previously unavailable in the area.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When I started my business as a small guitar studio and as a classical guitar instructor, it was challenging to find new students because there was a lot of competition coming from several different directions. I never had a problem with any legitimate competitors who are qualified professionals. However, this wasn’t even the case in this part of town.

The main issue was that there are too many fake and incompetent individuals positioning themselves as “music instructors” on various online classifieds, and even those found within corporate music schools. The problem is that such people had never received a proper formal training themselves and never studied such vital subjects as guitar pedagogy or music psychology either in college or graduate school, had they ever attended one.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon for people looking for music lessons, either for themselves or for their kids, to encounter dozens of so-called music schools, music stores, or music teachers trying to sell their lessons by claiming that they can instantly help them learn to play any song they wish. However, in reality, most of the time, after such so-called “fun training,” a student is either unable to play even a simple complete song or a piece of music at an adequate level or, even worse, the student’s technique is ruined by the development of wrong and difficult-to-correct habits as a result of incompetent or careless instruction.

The problem with many corporate music schools is that they focus on quantity rather than quality. Because they don’t pay much to their employees, they often tend to hire a lot of unqualified and unskilled workers who usually do not even possess a specialized degree in music, let alone a degree in a particular musical instrument they are trying to teach. Most of such “instructors” often happen to be either amateur or wannabe musicians trying to earn some extra cash after a full-time job in a completely different field or line of work. Many of them claim to be so-called “well-rounded multi-instrumentalists” who, in reality, are not living up to professional standards. Such “Jacks of all trades and masters of none” are often trying to teach several different instruments and several different styles all at once to attract as many students as possible to maximize profits, but without being truly proficient in any single one of the instruments or a style of music that they are trying to teach.

This kind of approach does not benefit a student as it usually leads to the development of wrong habits, which eventually can become devastating once a student decides to pursue studying an instrument further, more in depth, and wishes to advance into a more challenging repertoire. In such instances, bad habits formed in the early stages of learning eventually lead to various obstacles, frustrations, and can even potentially cause some injuries!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The South Bay Guitar Academy’s mission is to provide well-structured instruction that can help serious students prepare for college or university auditions. However, while most students will not necessarily choose to pursue a full-time music career, the correct training under proper guidance will still provide them with valuable self-discipline and an appreciation for music that will influence and shape their lives in a positive way. Quality music education also assists children in their overall academic performance.

I take guitar instruction very seriously, and I always believed that the only effective way to teach is to teach by example. I always treat each student as a unique individual and construct the curriculum according to their specific needs and abilities. My goal is to offer an opportunity for people to learn the correct and solid technique when playing the instrument from the very first lesson. In reality, when it comes to guitar instruction, there are only a handful of teachers out there who place appropriate emphasis on the development of proper technique and good habits. For a student who is an absolute beginner, this aspect is of crucial importance. For an intermediate or advanced player, this would be a good opportunity to improve and expand their skills and knowledge, while also achieving a better and more effortless command of the instrument.

My teaching career includes instructing classical guitar and guitar ensembles at the preparatory music schools. I have taught at the International School of Music in Washington, D.C., and the French Conservatory of Music in Beverly Hills. During my years pursuing the Artist Diploma program at the Yale School of Music, I taught guitar for Yale College. In addition, I taught music classes for the after-school programs in the Austin, TX, area while pursuing my doctorate.

Ever since I started my own business here, in Torrance, CA, about five years ago, I have had the good fortune of working with outstanding students of various ages and skill levels. I worked with many talented individuals of different ages. I had students of all ages, ranging from 5 years old to the oldest one, who is now 90 years old! Even at this age, this student still makes progress as he practices the instrument daily and demonstrates excellent discipline. When this senior gentleman started studying with me a few years ago, he thought he would never be good enough to play for people. Fast forward to last May, he participated in a student recital that we held at the Torrance Public Library, proving that no one is ever too old to learn to play this wonderful instrument!

Besides that, of course, I also have some very talented elementary and middle school-aged students, such as Derrek Jing, Saxon Weiss, Brandon Wu, and Joseph Yoon. It’s only after a few years of studying that these students were able to perform in the last recital some highly challenging and advanced classical compositions that professional concert artists usually play as a part of a standard concert repertoire.

I teach because I firmly believe that there is a great need for quality guitar instruction in our community. I am convinced that sharing knowledge and experience with others is a valuable and indispensable contribution to our society. My teaching goal is to instill a greater appreciation of music and to broaden my students’ interest, understanding, and attitude toward studying guitar.

In conclusion, I want to share one interesting yet very important observation. Throughout my whole teaching career, and as a native Belarusian myself, I have had the privilege of working with students coming from nearly every continent. Besides working with locals from the U.S., I also taught immigrants who originally came from South and Central America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, India, China, and South Korea. What I found while working with all these students that came not only from from different cultures or different age or ethnic groups, demographics, socioeconomic backgrounds, various systems of belief and political views, is that there is one thing that all of them share in common: it’s the love and passion for a beautiful instrument of classical guitar and its timeless music! This is definitely something that truly unites everyone, and it’s absolutely incredible to see!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://southbayguitar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexander.milovanov/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southbayguitar
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SouthBayGuitar
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/south-bay-guitar-academy-torrance
• Other: http://alexguitar.com/