Just before the turn of the century, in the year 1999, a great document was conferred upon a young clarinetist and musician. That document was a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Performance with a Concentration in Education from Christopher Newport University.

And so it began... Well, actually, it began before that. Mr. Jamie began teaching when he was still facing the challenges of the institution know as high school. It was his Junior year that Mr. Auberg began taking beginning clarinet players in private lessons, imparting the age old clarinet wisdom that had been passed down to him by his teacher, Professor Marvin Western of Christopher Newport University (CNU). He began taking lessons at CNU while he was still in high school thanks to the CNU Community School of the Arts program (sadly, this program has been discontinued). On the fateful final year of high school he pitted his skills against college students at a CNU Scholarship Recital. The battle was grueling and difficult (not really) and there were few survivors (actually nobody dies during recitals - except maybe on the inside, but that's a different story) but he came out victorious, winning a small scholarship to CNU and the rest was history...

EMPLOYMENT

- Private Lessons: As mentioned above, Mr. Jamie's first music job was teaching private lessons to beginning Clarinet Students. This is a task that is never complete and so he still teaches clarinet lessons to this day! He also teaches piano lessons and computer animation lessons (yes, I know, that has little to do with music) at Centerstage Academy in Yorktown, VA. He began teaching there following the demise of his previous endeavor (an adventure that will be told a little later) four years past the turn of the century (2004) and still teaches there today.

-- Center of Music: The business once known as The Center of Music, which was housed in the Bridge Shops in the Denbigh section of Newport News, fell prey to the economic upheaval that occurred in the music retail industry in the early part of this century. But before its demise, Mr. Jamie worked there as a part-time clerk for one summer after his Junior Year and then returned to the hallowed halls of his college. After his graduation Mr. Jamie returned to Center of Music full time as a sales person and Assistant Manager, but alas this was to be short lived as the wounds of economic conditions had taken hold of the business and would soon send it to its demise. Center of Music closed in December 1999, but that was not the end of Mr. Jamie's journey through the music retail business. The rest of the story will be told after we visit a theme park!

-- Busch Gardens, Williamsburg: Fest Haus Band Clarinetist: The year was 1999 when hundreds of young musicians gathered at a theme park to audition for a chance to get paid to play! Among them was Mr. Jamie. For his second audition (he had auditioned the previous year and not been hired) he performed his favorite piece, "Clarinet on the Town." For the rest of the summer he helped entertain thousands of people each day as they took refuge from the heat in the coldest building in the park, the Fest Haus. (Following the end of the season, Mr. Jamie returned to Center of Music).

-- Music Central: The Center of Music's tragic demise was not the end of the story for this retail adventure. The manager of the Denbigh store took the burden upon himself and formed a new nation - I mean store, and this store came to be know as Music Central. Mr. Jamie was Assistant Manager, Accessories Manager, and a sales person (by the way, Mr Jamie does not really care for the sales part!). Music Central also ran the Newport News Parks and Rec classes and Mr. Jamie taught some of the piano classes at the store. For two years Music Central fought its way through a dying music economy, but eventually it could stand no longer.

-- EMP Music: But the fall of the great Music Central was not to be the end for there was one soul determined to keep the legacy alive and that soul was Mr. Auberg. When Music Central needed cash flow Mr. Auberg bought the Accessories department that he had been the manager of and ran it has his own business known as Earthshine Music Productions. Alas, this was not enough to save Music Central and so one day Music Central closed; the next day EMP Music was born (just for legal purposes I want to clarify that these were legally completely separate businesses). EMP Music shrunk the size of the store in order to cut expenses, but EMP Music had little cash flow and depended almost entirely on sales to get by. During peak season things were doing good, but then winter came. The day of the big ice storm can be considered the day the music died. Following it business was very poor and EMP fell behind on its bills. Alas the spring bought a resurgence of business! But it was too late. The owners of the shopping center wanted them out and so EMP Music closed its doors during peak season. Had it been given a little more time maybe it could have recuperated, but the world never know!

-- Denbigh Christian Academy: With a Virginia State Teacher's License it was only right that Mr. Auberg end up in a classroom. Although he had focused his energy into music retail he was still teaching private music lessons and so he could not escape the call of the classroom. It happened while he was working at Music Central. Music Central began running an after school band program at Denbigh Christian Academy (DCA). The first teacher taught for awhile but then decided he wanted to devote his energy elsewhere, so Mr. Jamie took over and ran the after school band program for many years, expanding it into multiple after school music activities (2002 - 2013). In 2006 Mr. Jamie was asked to take over the regular in-school general music class and Middle School Choirs. Being as he is, he wrote his own curriculum and began an adventure in the DCA Music classroom until the day the economy shut down the school (2013 - note: they still have preschool and kindergarten).

-- The Virginia Film Company: With the ruins of the music retail adventure still simmering Mr. Jamie needed a new job. Searching the classifies Mr. Auberg came across an ad looking for cover bands to record music for a local movie production. Mr. Jamie is most definitely not a cover band! However, he is very much a composer and arranger. So he sent the director some of his musical compositions that he had written for his own Films (yeah, Mr. Jamie does that too - he also writes stories and does animations). The director was thrilled to have an actual composer for the film and so Mr. Jamie wrote the music to the film "Honorable Men." The film did not do well (long story) but the music was well liked. Mr. Jamie also does video editing and other freelance work for this movie director.

-- Hampton Christian Academy: An after school music class and composing music for a film he would see very little money for was not going to pay the bills. Another job manifested itself. Interesting to note that Mr. Jamie did not seek out this job - this job sought him out. An email arrived one day asking if Mr. Auberg would be interested in teaching the band at HCA. Mr. Auberg then interviewed for the position and took over the band from 2004 up until budget cuts removed the band program in 2015. Due to the unique instrumentation of the group, Mr. Auberg composed and arranged most everything they played.

-- Centerstage Academy: The Hampton Christian job was only three hours a week so there was still a desperate need for more income. Thus came Centerstage Academy. In 2004 their success had led to expansion and they were looking for teachers. Answering an ad in the paper Mr. Jamie interviewed with them and has been teaching there ever since. Along with private lessons in Clarinet, Piano, Computer Animation, and at times Flute, Sax, and Trumpet Mr. Auberg has taught workshops on Recording Techniques, Animation (both computer and stop motion), and Movie Production. He also runs Instrument Petting Zoos where students get to try playing an instrument.

-- Auberg Instructional Innovations: Needless to say (but we say it anyways!) Mr. Auberg has done a lot, and this just lists the jobs that were music related! He has also worked Baskin Robbins, Farm Fresh, construction, etc...). Finally we have arrived at the company that this site is about! Auberg Instructional Innovations came into existence in January 2014 after Mr. Auberg saw an ad for selling and teaching using a music program called The Music IQ Club. When he applied for the job he learned that it was actually a franchise type opportunity and so he started his own business. Did we mention that Mr. Jamie is not too fond of sales jobs? This turned out to be heavy on the sales side with the main product being The Music IQ Club which was set up to be an after school music program. Mr. Jamie was not successful at getting Music IQ Clubs set up at local schools despite visiting tons of them. The only success he had was with the Newport News Parks and Rec who were very interested in getting music classes going again (they hadn't really had any since Mr. Jamie's music store closed 10 years prior -- his store had been running the parks and rec music classes). However, the Music IQ Club format did not work with the Parks and Rec setup, so Mr. Auberg decided to break it off with the franchise and go on his own. He wrote his own curriculum and began teaching classes in piano, guitar, recorder, and computer animation. Recorder did not catch on so it was dropped. Ukulele and Little Ones on the Drums were added. Classes expanded from the Denbigh Community Center to the Midtown Community Center in 2015. In the Summer of 2016 another animation class was introduced, "Making Toys Move (Animating Building Blocks)" where students make animated videos using Lego bricks (note this class is not endorsed in any way by the Lego Company). In 2018 Computer Skills classes and Knights of the Round Drum (a drum circle) were introduced and Mr. Jamie launched a second YouTube channel dedicated to animation, "Auberg Animation Studios."

The Covid Era

Due to the pandemic it became necessary for Mr. Jamie to seek another source of income. In 2020 he began working and studying in an Electrician Apprenticeship program with IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers), Local 1340. Mr. Jamie worked for Power Solutions for 6 months as an electrician apprentice. The dust on the construction site proved to be quite problematic for his sensitive respiratory system. He left the apprenticeship in April 2021 and returned to teaching full time.

Jellynote Publications (online sheet music company) brought him on as a freelance arranger and has published numerous of his clarinet (and other instrument) arrangements. https://www.jellynote.com/en/creators/jauberg

Then, during the 2021 - 2022 school year, Mr. Jamie taught general music to a homeschool group of 10 students as well as Kidz Rock and Jr. Rocker classes at Centerstage Academy.

Over the years, Mr. Jamie has collected (and is still collecting) a number of "unusual" (not common) instruments. Now, Mr. Jamie is greatly pondering starting a museum: The Museum of Unusual Musical Instruments (MUMI). For now, he has created a show / class called "The Museum of Unusual Musical Instruments."

AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

-- PTA Reflections: Music -- 2nd Place (High School)

-- Edgar Webb Band Scholarship -- Denbigh High School Band

-- Arrangement of "Everything I Do I Do it For You) performed by the Peninsula Youth Orchestra (High School)

-- Commissioned to compose original piece for the Peninsula Youth Orchestra, "Flight of the Falcon." (performance never occurred because the commissioning director had to leave suddenly for an emergency situation)

-- Asked to participate in the George Crumb Masterclass where his original piece "A Prayer and a Praise" was performed and then evaluated by Mr. George Crumb (CNU)

-- Auditioned and landed a clarinet position on the Music Tour of Scotland (CNU)

-- Several compositions performed by fellow students (CNU)

-- Composed music performed on the Music Tour of Germany (CNU)

-- Original piece, "A Prayer and a Praise" was taken on tour with the Langley Air Force Band Clarinet Quartet

-- Publications: 1) "Navigating the Noland Trail" for Tuba Quartet published with Tuba Press and 2) String Quartet published with Alcove Music.

-- "Battles of the Soul" for 2 Clarinets and Guitar recorded internationally on an album called "Unforgettable Hues"

-- Multiple performances annually at the Phi Beta Scholarship Fund Concert and Art Show

-- Over 3000 subscribers on YouTube with the most popular video series being the "Make and Play Paper Instruments" series.

-- Freelance Computer Music assistant to local (and becoming world renowned) Band and Orchestra composer Aldo Forte. -- I turn handwritten scores into computer print outs (called "Engraving"), help produce individual instrument parts for performances and set up realistic computer audio demos.