Temecula Music Academy still making musicians after 20 years – The Press-Enterprise

You never know what’s going to bring people to fast-growing southwest Riverside County.

Naomi Balcombe, who grew up in the United Kingdom, came to Southern California for smooth jazz concerts. While staying at a hotel near LAX, she saw a flyer advertising Temecula Valley Wine Country and Old Town Temecula.

She was intrigued and looking for a change from her rainy homeland.

“I decided to check it out and fell in love with the city,” she recalled.

She met with Temecula city staff members, who encouraged her to start a business here.

A remarkable 20 years later, the Temecula Music Academy is going strong — proof that parents are well aware of how their children can grow with music.

For example, both of my kids, Julia and David, played instruments as children. Julia later played clarinet for the Vista Murrieta High School band. David played bass in a rock band.

In her first year two decades ago, Balcombe estimated her business generated about $10,000. Twenty years later, she’s at $500,000 annually, her business growing every year, even during the coronavirus pandemic, when lessons were online.

That’s some success.

The Temecula Valley Unified School District has almost 30,000 students, so she’s tapped into a great market. That school district, and others, have dialed back on music education over the years, yet parents are aware of the positives of such learning, Balcombe said.

The benefits include improved language skills, memory, hand-eye coordination, teamwork, study habits and problem solving, she said.

“Temecula is a city that prides itself in supporting music and the arts through community programs and concerts,” she said.

The school is also starting to offer exams from the world-renowned London College of Music. Students can even do the exams online.

Her teaching staff includes Blake Nunn and Russell Bizzett on drums, Sarah Radosvic on piano, Pei-Ying on violin, Nikki Sardilla with voice and Cory Radosvic on bass. All teach in multiple areas.

The longest serving teacher at 16 years is Billy Tsounis. He teaches guitar, bass, ukulele, banjo and mandolin. If it can be strummed, he probably teaches it.

Tsounis, 61, attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, has been written up in Guitar Player Magazine and toured across the country. He’s taught music for about 40 years and obviously loves it.

“I get to assist people in learning and I get to discover new styles of music and songs,” he said.

He finds that students don’t just want to learn the classics, they want to play current stuff, too, and that keeps him constantly learning as well. He’s taught so long that in a couple of instances, students he tutored are now parents and he teaches their kids, too.

“It’s great, you can just see time pass in front of you,” he said.

He also likes the vibe at the school.

“It’s like a family,” he said.

People who make it as musicians (which is not easy to do) probably feel a kinship.

Balcombe too has a lifelong love affair with music. She played piano at 5, was in a middle school brass band, and by 14 was in a pop band. These days, she plays and teaches the saxophone. She performs locally at many venues.

She comes from a lineage of success, with both her father and her sister running successful businesses.

And there’s her work ethic. She has her business phone linked to her cell and can field calls day and night, including from the United Kingdom when she’s there for visits. She’s even returned calls at 2 a.m.

Somehow, someway, she’s kept her local music playing a long time.

Reach Carl Love at carllove4@yahoo.com.