By Caitlin Kelly
For Renee Blanchette Rutledge, born and raised in Belle River, her artistic mind has always been active. Renee recalls her first experience with playing piano when her aunt gave her a tiny toy piano for Christmas when she was 7-years-old.
She went to work quickly, creating her own melodies with keen interest. Witnessing this, Renee’s parents decided to enrol her in piano lessons and as she explains, “I’ve been playing ever since.”
Renee described knowing from a young age that any career path she chose would be centered around the arts. Renee combined her love for the arts with her entrepreneurial spirit to develop Renee’s Music Studio.
The music studio was not Renee’s first foray into the arts. Renee attended Fanshawe College studying photography and for a number of years owned and operated a business while working at a daycare and teaching private piano lessons.
In her late twenties, Renee recognized her continual gravitation towards music and teaching despite other career ventures.
After 12 successful years of running her music studio from home, Renee made the decision to fully commit to her passion of playing and teaching piano by enrolling in the music program at the University of Windsor, where she studied both classical and jazz piano. Renee decided to close her photography business and focus her efforts on her education with the goal of creating a new and unique studio on the property she and her husband own on Puce Road in Lakeshore, designed for the sole purpose of sharing her love for all things music and edifying her students.
Renee recalled discussing her career with her family, and her mother expressing “I always knew it was music.”
Renee described feeling “really lucky” her family was always encouraging her to follow her passion. Not all who Renee spoke to were as optimistic, with some cautioning her “you’ll never make enough money as a piano teacher”. Renee indicated it was easy to brush these comments aside, as she knew the value of hard work and determination and the importance of her supportive parents and talented, hardworking engineer husband.
With hard work and dedication, Renee’s business dreams became a reality, and she began accepting more students.
As interest grew, Renee hired a couple of her senior students as piano teachers, though she realized the business was quickly outgrowing its roots. Renee was able to draw on her husband’s strength as an engineer when it came time to design and build the new music studio.
Renee described hours and hours of brainstorming out loud with her husband, and her husband being able to compile the important pieces of information from her wildest ideas and ensuring they became a reality. Today, Renee has ten music instructors working for her as the studio continues to grow each year.
In 2020, Renee made another incredible leap in her music education. She obtained the highly prestigious Associate Diploma (ARCT) from the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), which is one of the highest academic standings awarded by the RCM certificate program. Renee continues to become emotional discussing this impressive achievement as she persevered despite hearing doubt from others and a lifelong struggle with performance anxiety surrounding playing classical music.
Renee’s studio is located at 421 Puce Rd. in Lakeshore. She expressed a love for her hometown and surrounding area, stating “I love running a business in Lakeshore, these are my people, my family, and my friends”.
Reflecting on her current and previous clientele, Renee advised the most rewarding part of her career is the relationships built with her students and their families. She reflected on many of her students working with her for over ten years and expressed pride and gratitude over being able to watch them grow, both personally and professionally.
Interested in learning more? Visit Renee’s Music Studio online at www.reneesmusicstudio.ca, by telephone at 519-727-0555 or on social media.
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