Vaughan--based Chorus Music Academy finds its groove

Lenovo ‘Evolve Small’ grant awarded to local business owner

Thestar.com
August 2, 2022
Brian Capitao

Nita Dani is a local entrepreneur following her dream of running a business. Alongside her musically inclined son, she runs a top--rated music school in Vaughan.

Her school, the Chorus Music Academy, is a unique feature in Vaughan. It is a Yamaha--licensed school and has been awarded the Lenovo “Evolve Small” business grant. The grant awards $10,000 to small businesses led by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) persons to ramp up their operations.

Chorus Music, spearheaded by a woman of colour, was already successful and growing pre--pandemic. The school had grown to be nearly 600 students with about 600 classes a week before having to shut down due to COVID. The school will soon be in its 10th year of operation.

Chorus Music started in 2013 with humble beginnings as a nervous Nita did a lot of the operations manually. Originally a Yamaha music school, the school began “with just a handful of students.”

“When we first opened, we reached out to Yamaha, and I thought they might laugh at me and turn me away, but they saw what we were going to do. They saw what we presented. So, we actually opened 10 years ago as a Yamaha Music Academy and were the only Yamaha school in Vaughan,” says Nita Dani.

It grew from there. The school has since become a source of pride for her. It has helped both teacher and students gain confidence in themselves.

In an emailed statement sent by parent Amy Wright, daughter and Chorus Music student Emma Wright said:

"I was so excited to be chosen to participate in a performance at the Vaughan Film festival organized by Chorus,” said Emma Wright. “They really went above and beyond to put our performance together. I have been a student at Chorus for half of my life and was able to grow as a musician through the passion of all of the teachers.”

This reflects the genuine passion that Dani expresses when speaking about her students.

“You'll see the younger students or beginner students who are so nervous to get on stage and they're, you know, kind of sweating it out. But eventually, you see them growing through this and developing confidence. And the same kids that came to us who were so nervous and now just up there, you know, being little rock stars,” said Dani.

Now with the grant money, Dani will begin to digitize operations in the coming summer months.

Dealing with the setback of COVID inspired Dani to look for funding. The Lenovo grant in partnership with the Toronto Region Board of Trade was the beacon of hope that Dani needed.
“Lenovo launched this program with the Toronto Region Board of Trade. And it was really motivated by the fact that small businesses like Chorus Academy, were or maybe (are) needing digital acceleration,” said vice--president of Zeno Group and PR spokesperson for Lenovo Toru Levinson.