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Music Alum Featured in her Local Magazine

By Jennifer Chavez

Staff Writer

Nissequogue Village Living (NVL) magazine spotlighted music performance alum Ashley Akl (2018) on the front cover of its September 2019 issue. Akl is a self-employed piano instructor who volunteers to write about music and the arts for her local magazine, NVL. She began writing for the magazine in January 2018 because of her love for music. “I really wanted to write for the magazine to initiate appreciation for music,” Akl said.

At the age of 5, Akl developed her love and passion for the piano. “I always knew I wanted to do something with the piano since a young age,” she said. When members of NVL reached out to Akl for an opportunity to write for their magazine, she was very excited. “There was nothing related to the arts [in the magazine],” she said, and she wanted to be the first person to “educate the public” on the subject.

Although Akl has a strong passion for music, she also loves writing. “I actually took extra writing classes because I love it so much,” Akl said. She believes writing for NVL gives her the platform to “spark public appreciation for the arts.” “I feature all kinds of things that relate to music,” Akl said. She expressed that writing for her local magazine is somewhat of a “self-promotional program.”

The NVL magazine releases a new issue every month and Akl is looking forward to having the responsibility of writing every month. She writes on various topics relating to music and the arts in each issue. “I explain different topics in different angles…to teach the public on topics they may not necessarily know a lot about,” Akl said. “It’s almost like a ‘Dummies 101’ book for everyone to understand.

“[Playing the piano] is something that came naturally to me as a child,” Akl said. However, “training in the music field gave me the knowledge to write about [music] that I can now pass down to others.” She believes her recent publications are a great way to “boost LIU and the music department.”

Akl has a website where she shares all her stories written in the NVL magazine, www.ash-leyakl.net. Her website is also used to schedule piano appointments instructed by her.

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