Meet Orlando Johnson of Music Instruction For All Learners, Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Orlando Johnson.

Hi Orlando, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Originally, I am from North Philadelphia. At the age of ten, I became the victim of a family situation, I had to go live with my aunt Jennie in another part of North Philadelphia, ninth and Indiana. One day I met to a young lady who was giving free piano lessons in the neighborhood Ms. Darlene Mumbaur. Like all kids, my cousins were taking lessons, and I chose to do the same. When I started, Ms. Darlene saw that I was taking it seriously and my learning increased with each lesson that I took. I would practice daily at the church or the neighborhood community center, Crossroads Community Center. And not knowing this, Ms. Darlene was using this to get neighborhood children interested in attending church. She was evangelizing.

By high school, I have been playing for years now, and started playing the trumpet too. It was not hard because I was already reading music. They only had to teach me the mechanics of the instrument. I sang in the choir, performed in the jazz band, and performed in concerts. I remember being poor, I never had my piano, I would always have to find a way to get a piano to practice. I got a key to the church at the age of thirteen and could practice whenever I needed to. I remember when I was getting ready to play Fur Elise by Beethoven in a high school concert for dual piano, I would get up early in the morning and catch the bus before you could even use tokens. The bus driver would ask where I was going at 5:30 or 6:00 AM, and I would tell him that I was on my way to school to practice on the piano. They had often looked at me funny but would let me on.

By the age of 18, I’d been playing for a while. I started playing for my home church, Second Mennonite Church in North Philadelphia, and teaching piano lessons. I was reading all kinds of music, hymn books, and Kirk Franklin music that I loved to read and play. I was always purchasing music from different parts of Philadelphia and learning. Moving forward, I graduated high school, started college, and here’s a fun fact, I wanted to be a doctor for many years. Still, after starting Community College of Philadelphia and taking many classes, the math classes were kicking me in the butt, so I ran to the music department, auditioned to change my major to music, passed the audition, and the rest is history. I eventually transferred to Temple University, where there I earned my BA in music, studying music education. I then taught for several years in different school districts live Philadelphia, PA, Camden, NJ, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City. I was a music teacher, but I discovered that that wasn’t quite the fit for me. They weren’t treating the arts the way they should be treated. So eventually, I let that go. After life-altering moments came upon me in 2020, I moved to Baltimore, MD, to teach music in Baltimore County. Since I played for my home church for over twenty years, I thought I was finished with playing for church and retired for a minute. I got some piano students and started teaching piano. Getting board, I found a church and was hired as their church pianist. This was when Music Instruction For All Learners was born. In 2006 I came up with the name Music Instruction For All Learners because God instructs us from the Bible, and that’s what I like to do, instruct or facilitate and let the student learn and do their job.

We started having recitals just like the ones I was in when I started with Ms. Darlene, as we did in college. I’ve always been taught the way that I was taught. When you practice, you’re practicing to perform what you’ve been working on. Years later, I Incorporated Music Instruction For All Learners, Inc, and came up with the motto “Where Music Knows No Age” because I taught piano in Philadelphia, I’d travel all over the city and taught students of all ages from five to almost sixty. Music is a language that people of all ages share and enjoy. I took that same love that God gave me and have been sewing that same seed that Ms. Darlene sewed into me at the age of ten today to students of all ages. As the Bible said, 1 Cor 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Ms. Darlene sewed the seed into me over four decades ago, and Music Instruction For All Learners, Inc. was created from one seed. She planted, I nurtured it, and God gave the increase to where we are today; that is our program’s main theme: We are seed planters. God does the rest.

Then God gave me another task. He said that since the arts aren’t being appreciated in the schools as they were years ago, I founded a new program under MIFAL INC. I created MIFAL Arts Academy with MIFAL INC as the mother company. With this company, we have several arts like Culinary Arts, where Chef Tiffony instructs that course. She’s phenomenal with the students because she has the same passion for culinary education as I have for music education. She is just one example of what I did again, sewing seeds. I met Tiffony in 2019 at a community event my pastor invited me and MIFAL INC to. Her daughter won a dance competition and was awarded a month of free piano lessons, and the rest is history, she became one of the family, and now she knows about the “MX,” The MIFAL Xperience. She’s been with us ever since, and we wouldn’t have it no other way. We are all working on bringing back the love of the arts, and there is a great future ahead for MIFAL, and its programs. We Bridge the Gap between the school systems and the arts they left open and give those who want it the love of the arts.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Has it been a smooth road? The honest answer is no. There is always something when you want to offer something that many clients want. When I incorporated and became a nonprofit, I thought it would be easier, but it wasn’t. I love music and the arts, and I try to pass that along the way. I took an entrepreneur class back in 2016 and was taught how to help the pains of your clients, and that’s what we try to do. Most of the pains are financial, so when you try to assist with that pain, we often get the raw end of the deal. We try not to turn anyone away. When CORONA-19 hit, we had to do all teaching virtually. We were meeting in my home studio holding lessons, but that stopped. My wife said, yea, we’re not having people in our home during this thing, and I respected that because we wanted to keep our family safe.

When I talked to business people along the way, they always told me that I should be further financially since we incorporated in 2015. Still, I’ve always tried to make things affordable, even if you couldn’t afford them. That was one of the things that kept me behind. The other thing was that I was doing everything all by myself: teaching, website design, billing, and the list. When building something of this nature, you can’t do it alone. You need help and more financing. People think that because you’re a nonprofit, you don’t have overhead, and they are so wrong. So, I brought on the help, a board, and more instructors to help with the load, but there still was something missing, we needed more students and monies to pay for the operations of the overhead expenses.

As a nonprofit, I always want to get people to see music and the arts the same way I see them, missing in action. And I want them to help me make an impact by taking action and donating to the mission and the cause. I call myself a man with a vision. When you’re a visionary, you have a lot of ideas for your baby, your dream, but all dreams need financing. That’s always a struggle to have enough money to sustain the business as you work on growing, building, and branching out. Not only financially, but you will see your students grow because you take time out of your life and show them something that would change their entire life. I want to be able to reach and connect music and the arts with all those who want it. I want to be that sewer that will reap the incomprehensible harvest.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Music Instruction For All Learners, Inc. (MIFAL INC) was birthed in 2015 in Maryland. It was birthed from the love of music that I’ve had my entire life. I started taking piano lessons at age ten in the city of Philadelphia. That was my first love. I was learning how to read and perform music, leading me to college and taking on the career of a music educator. I loved teaching in the school systems that I taught in.

What should you know about our organization? MIFAL INC’s Core concept is that everyone learns how to read music by learning how to play the piano. That’s how I learned, it worked for me, and it’s still working to this day. I’ve played for many churches throughout my life and career, and I’ve seen many church musicians that don’t read music, and yes, they play well, but they have a missing skill, they don’t read music, and if you ask them to play a hymn from a hymn book, they won’t be able to play it.

You learn how to play the piano. Then you’ll be prepared and ready to take on an instrument, vocal training, the list goes on because you’ll be one step ahead, you’re reading music already. I took that same concept from my college years, that if you’re an instrument or vocal major, you still have to take piano class, which builds your theory, ear training, and notation reading because they all go hand in hand.

What do you do, what do you specialize in / what are you known for? I am the Founder, President/CEO of Music Instruction For All Learners, Inc. I’ve taught many students, from Philadelphia to Baltimore, music education, how to play the piano, and mostly, the love and joy of music. You asked, what set me apart from the others? That’s a great question. I went to the local college in Baltimore and asked for help with my company with some students to help teach, and I was asked what makes me different from all the other neighborhood piano teachers. Well, all that did was light a fire under me, and I incorporated the business, and I’m building on all the knowledge I’ve learned over the years. So, no, I’m not the average neighborhood piano teacher. It’s a corporation. I’m teaching the same way that was taught to me in college, and we have nothing but the best faculty working in our program with that same love for music that I have, and we push for excellence.

What are you most proud of brand-wise?
I’m most proud of the brand wise is that MIFAL INC pushes for excellence. You’re taught excellence from the start when you come to us to learn music and the arts. Learning how to read music is the most important step for your future. That right there will open doors for you in the future, you may not know it now, but it will. You will be one step ahead of the game. Our brand is completely different from other brands because of the way we teach/instruct the step-by-step method. We give you information piece by piece so that as you learn, you’ll retain information better. Today schools teach to the test. They don’t teach to help the students retain information. It’s been confirmed that the arts help you retain information for future use. Even if it’s just a small part of a piece that you haven’t played for 30 years, once you start, the muscle memory will set in and take over from there, and you’ll be playing it like it was just yesterday. You may not remember the whole thing, but since you read music, you can always pick it up again and start practicing it again; that is the fun part; you’re learning something all over again, and it’s not going to sound the same from the last time you performed it, it’s going to be better.

I can still play my first Christmas song, “O Com Little Children,” which I learned at the age of ten; that song has been retained in my memory for almost fifty years, and that’s because of music learning, and the steps involved help you retain information. Again the muscle memory kicks in, and there you have it.

The brand is something that I’m truly proud of because the brand was created from experience, I was the first client over four decades, and it’s still working to this day. Once you start reading music, it’s with you for the rest of your life. We sew, we build, and we nurture. That’s our brand, and it works.

What do you want our readers to know about your brand, offerings, services, etc.?
I want the readers to know this. I always hear that I have always wanted to learn how to play the piano, or I wish I had kept taking those lessons. Or am I too young for old to take lessons? The simple answer is that you are never too old or young. We start them at all ages because music knows no age. Our motto is from 5 to 105. We offer music and art classes like piano instruction, violin instruction, dance, culinary arts classes, etc. We make each class fun, exciting and affordable, and there are two yearly recitals where you can highlight all your challenging work for family and friends to see you show off and perform. We will be there to enrich you with the love of music, and we promise that you will enjoy the ride along the way.

We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success not in me but my faculty and students. The thing I love is when a student performs, and they perform well. That means that the relationship between the student and the instructor was a good match, they worked well together, and the end product was a great performance.

Case and point. I met Rachel Harris in 2016. She was around 13. I knew her mother. We talked about her joining our program. Rachel didn’t know anything about the piano. She danced and took violin lessons. So, I told her mother about our program, and she registered me in the program. I started teaching her piano and coaching her in violin, she performed in our recitals on violin and piano, and dance always did well. We eventually brought on Mr. Leon, a Peabody violins performance graduate from China, and he took over for me and did a phenomenal job with her. She then started writing violin music, and her piano playing truly improved.

She later went to college, but it didn’t stop there. Her mom told us in a board meeting that Rachel is writing EPs and has over a thousand downloads of her songs on Spotify. She’s playing piano for a Florida church and singing up a storm. What did MIFAL INC do? We planted the seed, nurtured it, and God did the increase. It’s not me, I’m just the vessel God uses, and He does the rest. Your question is, how do I define success? Success is the students defining themselves.

Pricing:

• $185.00 for 4 Monthly Piano Instructions
• One Free Piano Introductory lesson

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mifalinc.org
• Instagram: mifal_inc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MIFALINC/
• Twitter: mifal_inc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdESFp9ehF2xdxLnICTXXug

Image Credits
Mr. Orlando, Tayanita Watson and Kelaysha Williams Mr. Don Moore on Violin Mr. Leon, and Kelaysha Shahyan Harris on Violin Rach Harris and Mr. Leon Violin Arian Dearry, taking test Mr. O.Q. Johnson, the Man Behind the Vision