Music

Passing On the Music

new owners excited to take helm at EC Music School

Barbara Arnold |

CROONIN’ THE DAD TUNES. Nick Poss, owner of the Eau Claire Music School (1620 Ohm Ave.) sings with his sons Carsten (5) and Oliver (2).
CROONIN’ THE DAD TUNES. Nick Poss, owner of the Eau Claire Music School (1620 Ohm Ave.) sings with his sons Carsten (5) and Oliver (2).

A last-minute road trip to attend the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival in July has set the lives of Nick and Sara Poss on a new course. That weekend, they learned that their long-time friend Shawn Smets and his family were in search of a new owner for the Eau Claire Music School, 1620 Ohm Ave., which they opened in 2010. “We should buy it!” Nick joked to Sara. On Aug. 15, the Smets family handed over the keys of the school, in more ways than one, to the Posses. The couple, who had worked and lived in Waukesha, could not be happier.

“Personal music-making is a rewarding experience, but making music is a social phenomenon, and we believe that the lifelong benefits of music education are best realized when people make music together.”
– The philosophy of Nick Poss, who is taking over ownership of the
Eau Claire Music School with his wife Sara

“Sara and I love Eau Claire,” reveals Nick, a native of Eau Claire. He’s a graduate of Memorial High School, where he met Shawn Smets in the Before School No-Credit Jazz Combo; a graduate of UW-Eau Claire, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music theory; and a graduate of Ohio State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology with his research focused on traditional Hmong music and cognition.

They had considered opening a similar school while living in Ohio but ended up following a different path that led to jobs in the Milwaukee area.

“The Eau Claire Music School was already the type of school we were interested in starting. Great students, great teachers, great facilities … and the chance for students to collaborate outside of the private lessons,” he says. “Personal music-making is a rewarding experience, but making music is a social phenomenon, and we believe that the lifelong benefits of music education are best realized when people make music together.”

Sara, a native of Stevens Point, who holds a master’s degree in foreign language education and hopes to continue teaching, adds: “Eau Claire is just the kind of place we want to raise our boys (ages two and five). We are so happy to see all of the development that has been happening here and the continued growth of outlets for music and the arts.”

Nick and Sara actually met at UW-Eau Claire, where both were majoring in music. “I was the music director at the Newman Center Parish,” Nick says. “I knew of Sara … thought she was cute … so I hired her to play flute for a funeral … and the rest … shall we say … is history,” he shares with a smile. Nick specializes in piano, organ, and old-time banjo, and is in the process of learning ukulele and guitar.

Nick has big plans for the school: “Our first goal is to diversify our roster of instructors and to increase enrollment so that the school will be on solid ground. From there, we hope to find creative ways to use the space we have to service the community. I’ve already been talking to musicians in the area about starting a summer choir or hosting concerts or renting out performance spaces to private instructors who need more room for events.”

The Smets family is overjoyed that the ECMS will continue as a family business and that the new owners share the vision of the school as the center for a variety of music-related experiences. Shawn Smets will continue to teach guitar, ukulele, banjo, and accordion at the school while pursuing his next venture.

Fall enrollment began Aug. 15, and new students who sign up before Sept. 1 will have the $25 registration fee waived. More information can be found at www.eauclairemusicschool.com.