about us
Our mission at Soul Space is to foster creativity and collaboration through music, play, and thoughtful mentorship.
Early on in my career as a studio music teacher and throughout my own music education, it became clear to me that something wasn't working. Despite knowledgeable mentors and parent support, the bulk of my students were not progressing from week to week. These budding musicians, frustrated by the difficulty of the craft and bored working the same song week after week, burnt out before they ever got to experience the magic of collaborative music making.
I wanted to understand why this might be happening, so I spent my graduate degree studying creative practice and mental health. As I dove into the research on practice theory, burnout, education, and music-making, the issue became clear: Students are being taught what to practice without first being taught how to practice.
With modern life being so busy and demanding, building a practice doesn't come naturally to most of us! It takes time, energy, resources, and space. If we don't acknowledge this, we learn instead that creativity is a right for the hyper-disciplined, the naturally gifted, and that it's "just not for everyone." But this isn’t true. Music belongs to all of us.
Soul Space lessons are designed to give students enough space to build a meaningful, joy-filled, life-long music practice. And it's not just about music-- practice provides children with routine, teaches them intentionality, fosters their sense of flow state, promotes communication skills, and connects them to a community. Building a creative practice in early childhood has life-long benefits. We're excited to share this practice with you!
-Miranda Sofe Nelson, MSW
Meet the Team
Miranda Sofe Nelson, MSW
Soul Space Founder
musical theatre and contemporary voice studies
Randi is an actress and singer from Billings, Montana. She began her classical voice training at age ten and has studied several styles since, including jazz, musical theatre, choral, and contemporary. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Montana, where she practiced several types of performance but fell in love with Shakespeare, opera theatre, and jazz vocals.
Randi has been teaching at music studios for several years, including Meridee Winters School of Music, Earth Song Creative Arts, Maestro's School of Music, her private voice studio, and as a Rock Camp counselor at the Zootown Arts Community Center in Missoula.
She has a clinical Master's in Social Work from Walla Walla University, where her research interest focuses on creative practice and quality of life. She hopes to spend the next ten years teaching music, performing and directing Shakespeare, facilitating group therapy, and building a career in artistic leadership. When she’s not in the practice room, she might be guzzling down white tea while listening to a blue note album, exploring Missoula in search of the perfect breakfast burrito, or watching The Sound of Music for the billionth time.
Ayla Andersen
in-home early music, in-studio early music
Ayla Andersen is a musical theater student at the University of Montana. She grew up in Missoula and spent her childhood performing in choirs and children’s musicals, taking piano and guitar lessons, and performing around town in bands she created with her friends. She’s a lifelong lover and learner of music and hopes to inspire the next generation of performers and musicians.
