Dear Reader,

Commercial music studios try to integrate all sorts of creative practice without being able to identify their core competencies. They offer anything and everything.

We are not a commercial music studio.

We are a solidarity of allied artists. We at Animaguitara started in 2003 by providing guitar lessons for individual students, customized according to the uniqueness of the human person, and delivered at the comfort of each home. We still continue that to this very day although we have also grown so much more beyond this. However, our energies have always been concentrated on holistic enrichment through music rather than commercial expansion. Our arts and culture initiatives have always been nomadic by choice as a form of assertion. We have been there — from fringes to extended spaces. From art institutions to alternative spaces.

Our decision not to go mainstream was a deliberate one, motivated by primarily three reasons. First of all, if expansion is prioritized over quality, the learner will neither get real value nor the benefits of having the best materials and resources. Second, a huge percentage of the fees paid by the learner (or parents) WILL NOT go to the instructor but to the huge overhead costs needed to maintain the expansion of profit-driven music schools. As a result, instructors are not inspired to teach, the number of starving artists in the country only keep increasing, and the learner will just become part of the bottom line. Because of the pressure to deliver and seek profit gains, tutors are not quality educators but posers who can be shortchanged. Last but not the least, we believe in genuine learning through the solid programs we provide to individuals and communities.

We insist that talent is important, yet talent alone does not suffice. It must be cultivated and developed to reach its full potential. The student must learn to listen to music, engage in music as a creative discipline, and build one’s confidence through performance. For us, music is a creative leisure — an end in itself that one engages in. On the other hand, we make sure that learning is a fun experience for all ages.

Through Animaguitara’s cultural programming arm, we provide platforms to immerse young people in music and promote arts and culture exchanges that strengthen community solidarity. The communities we serve range from those who simply wish to immerse in the beautiful to those who wish to experience the full spectrum of learning, performing, and exchanging ideas as a form of conversing with and enriching each other.

At Animaguitara, we believe in nurturing creativity and helping people from all walks of life realize their potential as complete human beings who can inspire others in society. Lastly, we believe in making people happy.