Meet Your Instructor

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     Joel Clay is the founder, owner, and only teacher at Ars Nova. His musical journey began at an early age with piano lessons. He and his siblings were homeschooled, and while each child took piano lessons initially, each of the four brothers and two sisters later took up instruments of their own. A group of homeschool families had organized to form a stage band, and the Clay kids represented themselves in the woodwinds, brass, and percussion sections. Joel joined the band as the bass guitarist.

     In high school, Joel played in a cover band with two guitarist friends and his brother on drums. This was his first introduction to songwriting as the band attempted to compile a small number of original songs for an EP. Since bass guitar was his primary instrument at this point, Joel was forced to pick up an acoustic guitar for the first time in order to more creatively contribute to the band’s songwriting endeavors. The brothers were always involved in the worship band at church, as well. Joel regularly serves at his church as a keyboardist, bassist, and guitarist.

     After high school, Joel was resistant to higher education, but eventually relented to the wishes of his parents and enrolled at Colorado Christian University, where he graduated with a degree in Music Composition. In many ways, college ignited a passion in him for education. Upon graduating, he began teaching private lessons and continued serving on the music team at church, but with newfound musical expertise was able to develop skills as an audio engineer and production technician.

     Most recently, Joel started Ars Nova with the purpose of bringing his passions for music education and worship together for the first time. Ars Nova exists for the purpose of teaching music to students of all ages, and to partner with local churches to bring music education to volunteer musicians, allowing them to serve their churches with joy, to the fullest of their abilities.