Junior Emily Patt walks through the front doors of Rock House at 1742 Glenview Road, sad that the cafe has closed yet excited to continue with her music lessons. Open mics at Rock House will always have a place in Patt’s memory: waiting to see the audience’s reaction and trying out new material. Patt has been an avid performer at Rock House, playing acoustic country pop original songs and covers.

“Performing there just taught me how to be a good performer and how to show emotion on my face and keep the audience engaged,” Patt said.

According to senior Jack Sundstrom, if someone were a young musician, Rock House was a nice place to start. Back when he was an aspiring musician as a sophomore, his first performance was at Rock House, Sundstrom says.

“It was the first place I performed and the place to really learn music is on stage,” Sundstrom said. “No matter how much practicing you do it’s never going to teach you as much as actually getting to go on stage and perform and learn how to perform in front of people.”

Music Director of the Rock House location in Glenview, Rudy Bless, says that Rock House’s ultimate goal is to get their students to eventually perform on the stage and that process will be encouraged through the expansion of the school which requires the cafe to be closed down.

“We are going to refocus [the use of the stage] so that we are giving our students here the priority to play as much as can or as they want,” Bless said. 

The cafe in Rock House has been closed and all performances have been canceled, according to Bless.

“At first I was disappointed because I wouldn’t be able to perform there anymore, but I still get to take lessons there,” Patt said.

Freshman Bella Chiarieri, a current stududent of Rock House’s Music School, says that there is now much more space for practice rooms as well as more teachers available for music lessons. Rock House has largely impacted her musical ability, Chiarieri says.

“[Rock House] taught me a lot about music in general, like how to perform.” Chiarieri said. “It’s really helpful and you become better as a musician because you’re learning from teachers that are willing to help you with anything.”

Sundstrom said that Rock House is a great place to get lessons and that this is a great way to expand business. According to Chiarieri, each lesson is one on one, just you and the teacher.

“A positive is definitely more space so more people can take lessons.” Chiarieri said. “The negative is that they’re getting rid of the cafe part and stage area.”

Although the music school is expanding, Patt says that she will miss performing at Rock House. Not only was she able to play her own songs, but Patt says that it was an amazing opportunity for her to learn how be become a performer by being onstage.