Helena Protopapas

Hi! My name is Helena Lalita, and I’m a passionate violin, viola, and fine arts teacher with over 13 years of experience. I’ve had the pleasure of working with students of all ages and abilities, and I genuinely love sharing my love for music and the arts with them. It’s amazing how much joy I get from connecting with my students on a personal level.

I started playing the violin when I was just four years old and was trained in the Suzuki method. I was part of the orchestra, the York Symphony, and many music summer camps. From a young age, I was also trained in jazz, improvisation, classical Indian music, traditional folk, and the fiddle. My parents, who are both experts in world music, have been a huge influence on my love for different genres.

After high school, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the music industry. I was signed to Warner Brothers Records as a recording artist and songwriter, and I even led several songwriting camps in LA. But it was during this time that I realized my true passion was teaching and sharing my love for music, creativity, and self-expression through the arts.

In 2012, I decided to move back to the East Coast to focus on my private teaching practice. I have a degree in Art Education and Contemporary Art History, and I believe in choice-based learning, which I incorporate into my teaching. I’m so grateful to be living closer to my family and in beautiful rural Pennsylvania. I’m surrounded by a wonderful community of creative, dedicated, and talented students, and I’m constantly inspired by them.

My teaching style is very intuitive and practical grounding in technique, foundational learning and very fun:) I tailor all my lessons to the learning style and interests of each student. For complete beginners, the focus always is on learning technique, proper form, ear training and then music theory ( if the goal is classical music). If my students' goals are more focused on improvisation, writing their own music, or learning folk melodies. I take a different approach that supports this:)