Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Quintanilla.
Hi Olivia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Like most musicians, I started my musical journey when I was a little girl, beginning violin in second grade. I immediately was drawn to music and did group lessons plus a string orchestra for elementary students. This led me down a path of art schools, lesson scholarships, joining Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, where I had my first teaching experience when I was 16. I was a student assistant and helped younger students in a practice room as well as observed a professional cello teacher in group class.
I have always had a duality between being a performer and being a teacher. When I attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin I continued this double path by taking cello pedagogy, child psychology, and lessons with both our cello professor for classical technique and bass professor where I studied jazz technique.
I moved to Minnesota as an Americorps Vista who worked for Minneapolis public schools curating revenue for volunteer services and installing little free libraries in the school communities.
I soon started to teach privately as a contractor for schools and studios, including city of lakes Waldorf School since 2014, Blue tree music education until 2018 and Music Lab form 2018-now. In 2019 I joined the ranks of greater twin cities youth symphonies as a teaching artist for their Harmony program. This is where I started to devote more time to teaching, whereas before the previous 5 were devoted to performance life with several bands and touring with my primary band Useful Jenkins.
After the pandemic in 2020, there were several music stores that offered lessons that closed their doors in the East suburbs. I saw that as an opportunity to start my own studio that was far enough away from South Minneapolis to not be a competitor with my previous studios. After teaching for 10 years in various schools and youth programs, I finally got my own office in Stillwater and had now a physical representation of my 10- year business.
I have continued to develop my teaching skills by taking additional classes from Berkeley School of Music, and A year-long certification course with Teaching Artist Teacher Institute sponsored by Miami Music Project which completes at the end of June 2026.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Making music and maintaining an art business are two very different things. Balancing a budget and projecting future months takes a lot more self-discipline and consistency in my days and calendar. Simply being good at your instrument doesn’t cut it. You have to have clear communication and good secretary skills to make sure you don’t double book yourself. I also found one of the bigger hurdles was deciding to find a permanent studio site instead of working as a traveling teacher. There were days where it was a battle to find parking near schools and carrying everything I needed to be a good teacher. Usually that meant carrying a cello, a violin, a large book bag, a water bottle and sometimes a lunch bag. With my own studio site, I’m able to cultivate my space but I am limited in which community I serve. I am currently looking for a new space that would be able to handle the projected growth of adding additional teachers and classes in Stillwater. It is difficult to find a space that fits my needs and growth. Most office spaces have noise ordinances to music lesson teachers and most retail spots are too expensive to start. It seems at times starting a business is like taking one step, then taking five steps. I need to already be bursting at the seams to be ready for more partnerships and teachers to start a large retail space.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an artist I am a classically trained cellist who loves to play non-classical music. I always had a knack for chamber music, which means piano trios and string quartets. I studied Latin American music, American jazz, and avant-garde during my educational years. But what I am known for now is playing in grass-style acoustic bands and recording work for various artists but I am most proud of my work on Useful Jenkins last two albums, Fools Gold and Fast Eddie alive at Pachyderm which showcases my solos and fast comping style. I am now focusing my time on arrangements of songs for my student and for private shows.
What are your plans for the future?
Looking ahead is releasing more recorded music as a soloist and to expand my lessons studio to 2 more teachers with a goal of reaching 50 student roster by 2030.
Pricing:
- $250-600 Wedding ceremonies or Holiday events
- $100-250 per track for studio recording
- $40/ 30 minute lessons, $80/hr
- $250-600 for teaching appearances or masterclasses
Contact Info:
- Website: https://qliviastrings.com
