When Nicole Kovar gave up her weekly piano lessons and dreaded practices after five years, she never would have guessed where she would be today as the owner of her own business, Piano and More. 

“I started taking lessons when I was eight years old in Houston, Texas and had a piano teacher in her late 80s. I didn’t like her approach and it was a tug of war with my mother to get me to practice every week.” 

Finally she says her mother let her quit after five years “and when I look back I would have predicted I would never touch the piano again.”

But she says, “My mother knew I was a musician and told me I could quit piano but had to play another instrument.  So I taught myself guitar, took voice lessons.” Kovar went on to get a masters degree in science and nutrition “but music always called me. It was always a big part of my life.” 

She started teaching piano on the side after work. It really expanded when she moved to Arlington, spreading like wildfire until she had 35 students and a waiting list that continued to grow. “Students were looking for a different method. If they don’t care about technique, I don’t drill them. I have standards but I try to add fun like storytelling and games.” When parents saw kids who actually wanted to perform after 4-5 months, she says it caught the attention of other moms. 

So Kovar started Piano and More, a non-profit business in Arlington, Falls Church and McLean that aims for happy students and happy performers. They offer in-home lessons for piano, guitar and voice. Kovar doesn’t teach piano herself anymore. It takes all of her time now developing the business, marketing, and all the other areas, having a Board of Directors. She believes music has the power to provide lifetime benefits of strengthening the mind and providing an emotional outlet.

Kovar says she would attend the piano recitals of her teachers to observe what was happening and provide support. “I started to observe we’re only serving a category type of population with extra income.” She says this isn’t something you can learn at school anymore, and having a piano at home is expensive. Even moving a free piano costs $200-500, and tuning it once a year costs $150. “Low-income students don’t have a chance, even in their future. It wasn’t that way before; the piano used to be for everyone.” 

So in 2019 she decided to expand beyond Piano and More to establish Play it Forward where she partners with Title I schools that serve low-income students to provide free after school piano lessons. “The students get a keyboard to practice at home and their own music books.  They are treated just like a paying client.” She says it transforms their lives.

Currently she has three students at Randolph Elementary in Arlington and two who have moved on to Fairfax. “We have a mix of cultures with Hispanic and Asian students participating.” She says there could be a lot more students served with additional resources, but they are limited by funds “and it is not currently as many as I would hope.”

It costs about $2,500 annually for each student to cover the piano lessons, keyboard, music and books and an occasional field trip. Until now Play It Forward has been funded by the profit from the tuition fees from the students in Piano and More but she says they are hoping to transition funding. “We are applying for grants, and we have a couple of private donors.” 

Kovar says the students are chosen through an application process involving a record of good grades, good attendance at school, teacher recommendations and assurances the students will practice plus their participation in the free lunch program.

“I have seen some really great stories with our Play it Forward students. I see their growth.” She adds, “We have this really incredible student who started in 2019. She has just blossomed into a pianist. Her teacher explained ‘This is an artsy girl who is a little different and uses music as her way to communicate with the world. She will do it forever.’”

“I have seen the pride on the faces of the parents who didn’t know what to expect because this is not that common in their culture. They are wide-eyed, and they thank us for believing in their daughter.”

She says they want to spread the word about the awesome benefits of playing the piano. “It is important to stick to something; kids are super busy and with today’s gentle parenting, they let their kids just drop the activity. 

“Music has impact on the brain and the soul and helps deal with anxiety.”

Kovar looks back on her early experience with piano lessons and her mother’s fight with her on a weekly basis to keep her going “because she knew music was going to make a big impact. She gave me a lifetime gift.”