Decatur Fine Arts Academy

Add some music to your summer! Learn a new instrument, return to an old hobby, or polish your repertoire ahead of upcoming fall auditions.

The DFAA summer semester runs from June 1-July 31. Summer lesson packages include at least 4 lessons (with flexible scheduling to accommodate your summer travel plans), as well as the opportunity to participate in a studio class and a summer showcase. Summer students also receive priority scheduling for the fall semester.

Send us a DM or email ([email protected]) to learn more!

We had such a wonderful time at the final performance of our 2025-2026 Concert Series!

Thank you so much to all who joined us for this performance! Congratulations to Guest Artists Bethany Grace Mamola and Victoria Kerr, as well as DFAA Co-Directors Caroline Owen and Robert Cushing, on an afternoon of glorious music!

Our partners at the Decatur Avondale Children's Choir have a fantastic camp offering in June for younger musicians ages 6-12! Join DACC at Music Camp for a week of singing (of course!), handbells, drums, recorders, music theory and games, creative movement, and much more!

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeS750tDbVcHDnAscHQF708t4yYMBktrD84njMKQFQ6URrwjw/viewform?usp=header.

Questions? Reach out to [email protected] for more information.

DFAA is thrilled to welcome soprano Bethany Grace Mamola as a special guest artist for our final concert of the 2025-2026 season! Bethany joins us for an afternoon of vocal music, with works by G.F. Handel, Jake Heggie, Joe Masterhoff, Giacomo Puccini, Pauline Viardot, and Eric Whitacre. Collaborating with her on the piano are DFAA Co-Directors Robert Cushing and Caroline Owen. We hope to see you there!

Date: Saturday, May 2
Location: First Baptist Church of Decatur (308 Clairemont Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030)
Admission: Free! (Donations to support the mission of DFAA are appreciated.)
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Please note that AnnaLauren Kelly and Farris Goodrum's recital has been postponed.

🎻 Faculty shoutout! Our fantastic viola instructor, Dr. Kathy Steely, gave a wonderful masterclass at Furman University last month. We're so grateful to have her on our team!

Interested in studying with Dr. Steely? Send us an email at [email protected] to set up a trial lesson!

Sign up for our Musical Theater Intensive by this Wednesday, April 15 to receive $50 off tuition! (And we also offer additional discounts for current DFAA/Decatur Avondale Children's Choir students, siblings, returning campers, and referrals.) We hope to see you for this wonderful week of music in June!

Details and registration can be found at www.fbcdecatur.com/dfaa-group-courses.

Registration is open now for our summer Musical Theater Intensive! Join us June 8-12 to develop and produce a musical! Perform, produce, direct, or try your hand at it all. Over the course of the week, you’ll collaborate with other campers to:

✏️ Write a script and compose an original song for a short musical.
🎶 Select songs from Broadway’s greatest hits to incorporate into our story.
🎭 Plan sets, costumes, and staging for our musical.
🎨 Participate in workshops from special guest artists (past workshops have included set design, stage combat, acting, and more).
🎙 Perform in a showcase at the end of the week.

Learn more and sign up at www.fbcdecatur.com/dfaa-group-courses (register before April 15 for $50 off!)

🎶Faculty Spotlight: Sarah Kapps 🎶

Meet Sarah, our resident cello instructor! Sarah has been with DFAA since fall of 2025, and she performs and teaches all over Atlanta (and beyond). Read on to learn more about Sarah, and send us a message if you'd like to take a trial lesson with her!
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Native Philadelphian Sarah Kapps has an active and diverse musical background that has taken her across the globe as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral member, and rock star.

🌟 Sarah has enjoyed sharing the stage with such legends as The Eagles, Smokey Robinson, ELO, Andrea Bocelli, Rick Ross, CeeLo Green, YoYo Ma, Nathalie Stutzmann, Donald Runnicles, Robert Spano, Kurt Masur, and countless others.
As an independent performer Sarah works with major performing organizations, including Atlanta Symphony, Opera, and Ballet orchestras. As soloist, she has performed Eric Whitacre’s sacred veil with the composer, delivered a self-conducted concerto performance from the solo seat, and annually premieres new compositions through the LEAD program at Wintergreen Music.

☀ In the summers, she has been a long-time member of the Wintergreen Festival Orchestra, Chamber Players, Academy faculty, and LEAD cooperative. She was a founding member of the Red River and Denali String Quartets, and later came to serve on the faculty at The University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley and Georgia State University.

🍎 Professor Kapps has taught string methods, music appreciation, and applied strings; as well as broader arts classes, composition consulting, eurythmics, improvisation, lectures, interactive projects, and school visits. Arts advocacy and outreach being a lifelong mission, she developed an interactive education course that calls on participants to produce their own opera scenes. With this educational model, thousands of young people gained a new appreciation for orchestral and vocal music.

🐈 When not at the cello, she is an avid taichi practitioner and cat enthusiast.

We had fabulous DFAA representation at Decatur Music Teacher Association’s “Meet Me at the Piano” concert on Sunday. Shoutout to piano faculty Farris Goodrum and Robert Cushing and to our piano students on their wonderful playing!