Music teacher had to wait till the pandemic to become a working musician
- Elisha Asif
Long Island local, Laurie Anne Creus, has been a performing musician for more than 16 years and a music teacher for 10, but that long run was brought to a quick halt by the Covid pandemic. She was disheartened at entering the lockdown, but the pandemic gave Creus a new direction which changed her career for the better.
“Chaos,” that’s how Creus described her everyday routine before the pandemic. She would start her day with giving voice lessons to toddlers who were assisted by their mothers, followed by voice and piano lessons for children between the ages of 8-11, and then either practicing her original music or going out to perform at gigs.
Creus had little to no time to devote to her personal music because of the teaching and gigging cycle she had been stuck in. Then, March 2020 came around the bend and put a stop to Creus’ work cycle.
“I was really overwhelmed and anxious when it (pandemic) started. I’m an extrovert and being locked inside was just strange,” said Creus. She remembers not being able to write music properly for the first two weeks because she was so accustomed to multitasking and finding a pinch of time to dedicate it to her own music.
“I was super busy with lessons, teaching a lot,” said Laurie, “but when Covid hit, all my work was cut from under me… it forced me to work on my own music and release my first single.”
“Nothing Lasts Forever” was the first single Creus released during the lockdown. Soon she began streaming on Instagram and Twitch and started collaborating with other artists. Other than collaborations, Creus did gigs over zoom for multiple corporate events where she played her original work for the first time.
While Covid opened a lot of new doors for Creus, she lost many of her students due to the parents not being able to seat their children through school and then music lessons over Zoom.
The students and Creus both had problems with learning and teaching over Zoom. “If I’m sitting next to them in-person, I could see their hands and literally just lift their wrist up and move their hand where it needs to be,” said Creus.
Once summer of 2020 came around, Creus was being invited to outdoor venues to play socially distanced gigs; but she was incredibly hesitant because she was living with her at-risk parents. Creus succumbed to her desire and played her first outdoor venue at Islip Arts Council’s first summer concert series which was aired on Youtube.
Even though there were only five people from the council's staff to record the show, Creus remembers her first outdoor performance as one to remember. “You cannot replace that feeling of hearing everything live, being on the stage,” Creus said.
After her first concert at the Islip Arts Council, Creus slowly started accepting more small venue gigs while keeping the covid precautions in mind.
​
The first big show Creus did was a sold-out venue at Industry Makers in October 2020 where there were more than a 100 people present. After the show at Industry Makers, everything slowly began opening up for her and by the time summer 2021 came around, Creus was booked out.
“I lost my voice three times this summer from gigging so much,” said Creus. Though Creus was overwhelmed at first, she appreciates the increase in demand and her being able to make a living off her original music.
Creus tries to meditate, stay active, and eat healthy to continue to do numerous gigs without getting burned out. Now-a-days, Creus isn’t teaching much. Most of her energy is spent towards gigging, writing original songs, and finding new opportunities.
