Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Miss Vibha
Congratulations to Miss Vibha! She sang "My Favorite Things" in her school talent show on Friday evening. Then on Saturday she sang in a festival at her temple. Now that is a busy weekend of musical performances! Way to go Miss Vibha, we are very proud of you!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Miss Lailany
Best wishes to our very own Miss Lailany! Lailany will be performing with six of her classmates this weekend in a One Act Play Competition. Miss Lailany has been rehearsing for this play all while she prepared to perform before the National Piano Guild Judge last week. Good luck Lailany! We can't wait to see photos!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Miss Elizabeth
A big thank you to Miss Elizabeth for the donation of adorable stickers to our piano studio! Our students are very motivated by fun stickers! I know they will enjoy working hard to earn them! Thank you for your kind donation!
Thank you to Miss Jaimeson & Mister Trevor
Thank you to Miss Jaimeson & Mister Trevor for the generous donation of yummy candy for the piano studio candy dish! I know that many of our students will enjoy working extra hard at the piano to earn candy! Thank you!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Good luck to Miss Natalie
Good luck to our very own Miss Natalie! We are super excited for our Miss Natalie as she will be performing in her school play production this weekend! We can't wait to hear all about it and see photos!
The 2011 National Piano Guild Auditions
The 2011 National Piano Guild Auditions were held this week at our studio. I am elated to announce that all 18 of our students who auditioned, passed with flying colors! All of our students did an incredible job! All of our students tried their very best! I am very proud of each of them! Thank you to all of the students, parents, and grandparents who helped make this day a huge success!
Together, our students earned 442 C's. C's represent "commendable" and is the best mark a student can receive. Our students collectively earned 57 A's. A's mean that the specific area "needs attention" and is the lower mark that a student can receive. I think that is a wonderful report card for our studio! HOORAY! Thank you to all of the students who put their heart & soul into these auditions. These 18 students worked on their scales, chords and songs for weeks & months. These students gave up many other fun activities to practice, come to lessons and audition. These students missed part of their school day to participate in this event. Many parents took time away from their work day to ensure that their child could participate in this event.
There were tears from students and tears from me the teacher when no one was looking to get us ready for this big day. In the end, I know it was worth every second and tear! I know it was worth my sleepless nights. I know it was worth me making muffins and scrubbing the kitchen floor only hours before the audition. I know it was worth it by looking at my students faces when they walked out of the studio after their audition. I can tell by the high 5's I received. I know by the shrieks in the students' voices when I called them with their results on the telephone! I know it was worth it all by watching them smile when they received their pins & certificates. Am I willing to do this again next year? YOU BET I AM! Last year, we had 9 students audition. This year, we had 18. Do you think we can have 27 next year? I can only hope & dream!
The 18 students who participated this year have become better pianists while preparing. Some of them don't realize it just yet - but they have. While preparing for these auditions, our students also learned a lot about presenting themselves with poise & confidence. We worked on shaking hands & introducing ourselves to a stranger. We worked on making eye contact and smiling. We worked on breathing, remaining calm & staying focused in a very stressful situation. I know that not all of my students will use these skills while playing the piano for the rest of their lives. But I do know that they will use these skills later in life in other aspects - and I am thrilled!
Our judge was fair in that she complimented the aspects that each student was successful and yet noted the areas in which each student could improve. We will take these comments to heart & use them to our advantage to help our students improve individually and as a group. I am currently conducting student / parent / teacher conferences with each Guild Member to review the report card & detailed comments for each student. I will send an e-mail to all students / parents regarding the more global comments & suggestions that were gathered. Personally, I think the day went very smoothly. I am thrilled that all of the students have glowing report cards! I think that we all have plenty to learn about how to improve.
So what is next for the Note-worthy Experiences Studio you wonder? Well, believe it or not... summer fun and resting upon our successes for just a bit. Each Guild Participant is asked to take the drivers seat for a little while and we are going to work on what they want to. Then we will get back to our basics and then, drum roll please... we will prepare for our 5th Annual Winter Recital to be held in December! Of course we will make a few appearances at the local nursing home in between now and then!
Together, our students earned 442 C's. C's represent "commendable" and is the best mark a student can receive. Our students collectively earned 57 A's. A's mean that the specific area "needs attention" and is the lower mark that a student can receive. I think that is a wonderful report card for our studio! HOORAY! Thank you to all of the students who put their heart & soul into these auditions. These 18 students worked on their scales, chords and songs for weeks & months. These students gave up many other fun activities to practice, come to lessons and audition. These students missed part of their school day to participate in this event. Many parents took time away from their work day to ensure that their child could participate in this event.
There were tears from students and tears from me the teacher when no one was looking to get us ready for this big day. In the end, I know it was worth every second and tear! I know it was worth my sleepless nights. I know it was worth me making muffins and scrubbing the kitchen floor only hours before the audition. I know it was worth it by looking at my students faces when they walked out of the studio after their audition. I can tell by the high 5's I received. I know by the shrieks in the students' voices when I called them with their results on the telephone! I know it was worth it all by watching them smile when they received their pins & certificates. Am I willing to do this again next year? YOU BET I AM! Last year, we had 9 students audition. This year, we had 18. Do you think we can have 27 next year? I can only hope & dream!
The 18 students who participated this year have become better pianists while preparing. Some of them don't realize it just yet - but they have. While preparing for these auditions, our students also learned a lot about presenting themselves with poise & confidence. We worked on shaking hands & introducing ourselves to a stranger. We worked on making eye contact and smiling. We worked on breathing, remaining calm & staying focused in a very stressful situation. I know that not all of my students will use these skills while playing the piano for the rest of their lives. But I do know that they will use these skills later in life in other aspects - and I am thrilled!
Our judge was fair in that she complimented the aspects that each student was successful and yet noted the areas in which each student could improve. We will take these comments to heart & use them to our advantage to help our students improve individually and as a group. I am currently conducting student / parent / teacher conferences with each Guild Member to review the report card & detailed comments for each student. I will send an e-mail to all students / parents regarding the more global comments & suggestions that were gathered. Personally, I think the day went very smoothly. I am thrilled that all of the students have glowing report cards! I think that we all have plenty to learn about how to improve.
So what is next for the Note-worthy Experiences Studio you wonder? Well, believe it or not... summer fun and resting upon our successes for just a bit. Each Guild Participant is asked to take the drivers seat for a little while and we are going to work on what they want to. Then we will get back to our basics and then, drum roll please... we will prepare for our 5th Annual Winter Recital to be held in December! Of course we will make a few appearances at the local nursing home in between now and then!
Miss Jaime
Congratulations to Miss Jaime for playing a flute solo at her school band concert on Wednesday evening! Unfortunately, Jaime was not able to perform this same flute solo during the school day on Wednesday for her entire school because she was playing the piano for the National Piano Guild Judge. Now that is a busy musical day! Way to go Jaime!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Miss Vibha
Please join me in congratulating Miss Vibha! She recently played Ode to Joy for her entire music class at school on the piano from memory! Vibha stated her favorite part was when the class clapped for her! She is looking forward to playing the piano again for her class. HOORAY!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
83 Songs
83 Songs, yes that is the number of pieces that 18 of our students are preparing to perform from memory in front of a National Piano Guild Judge here at my studio on Wednesday. This does not include the number of scales and chords that will be performed from memory! I am proud of each and every one of my students for all that they try and achieve. I am extremely proud of these 18 students who have opted to take their piano playing to the next level of dedication. Participating in this event is optional, but does include a lot of work and preparation. In order for these students to prepare, many of them make other sacrifices. I am thrilled that these students have made that decision. I am so happy that several students have been able to state that their piano skills have increased greatly in the past few months while they have been preparing. No matter what the results are at the end of the day next Wednesday, I will be elated and proud knowing that each of these 18 students worked hard and tried their very best.
Miss Jacklyn
Congratulations to our very own Miss Jacklyn! Jackie recently performed at a local piano retailer showroom while the business owners held a business networking mixer event. Jackie played one of her favorite pieces, "Butterfly Fly Away" by Miley Cyrus. Miss Jacklyn performed on piano that was once played by Tony Bennett, took two years to make and is valued at $160,000. Jackie had a terrific time. Thank you to our friends Peter & Elizabeth for making this opportunity available to Jackie!
Miss Claire
Please join me in a huge round of applause for Miss Claire! Miss Claire completed her Primer Level Piano Adventure Series Books on Monday evening! She has already started to work from her Level 1 "Red Books". Claire has performed in our Winter Holiday Recital, a nursing home recital and the local Play A Thon. When Claire is not playing the piano, she enjoys spending time with her family, and their two dogs. She is also a member of a local summer swim team and Brownies. Congratulations Claire! We are VERY proud of you!
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