Best wishes

Best wishes to all of our students who are heading back to school!  I hope you have a terrific year full of fun, friends and learning!  Keep in mind that your hard work can pay off for you with entries into the "Good Grades Jar".

Our Harry Potter Inspired Music Class

As you can clearly see from the photos above, we had a TERRIFIC time with our Harry Potter Inspired Music Class!  I think that my husband and I had as much fun as our students!  All of our students who are working from Level 1 lesson books or higher were invited to this special one time only group piano class!  Many students arrived in costumes and/ or brought props!  All of the students enjoyed snacks, including Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans & listened to some Harry Potter Soundtracks.  I think that the ear wax & soap flavors were more popular over booger, black pepper, dirt, earthworm, grass, rotten egg, vomit & sausage flavors.  All of the students (also known as Muggles & Half Bloods) watched a documentary on the music and sounds effects of the Harry Potter Movies.  During the documentary, we had paused to have multiple discussions about how important a soundtrack is to a movie, how the music was composed & transposed, etc.  Our Muggles LOVED the interviews with the composers!  Following the documentary, our students were "sorted" into houses for a special project.  Thank you to my friend, Patti, for letting us borrow her Sorting Hat.  Thank you to my friend, Michael, for letting us borrow his cauldron!  Once our students were sorted into houses, we formed alliances and went into the piano studio to study a simple version of "Hedwig's Theme".  Then our houses of Hufflepuff and Gryffindor worked together while Ravenclaw and Slytherin worked together.  Each of the two teams recreated their own version of "Hedwig's Theme" and performed it for the other houses and parents.  As a souvenir of our journey, each student received several Harry Potter silly bands to wear & trade.  So much fun was had by all!  Thank you to all of our students who participated!

Miss Danielle

Please join me in a huge round of applause for Miss Danielle!  Miss Danielle successfully completed her Level 1 "Red Books" Piano Adventures Series yesterday.  She has already started to work on the pieces she hopes to perform at the Annual Winter Holiday Recital.  Miss Danielle has performed at the local nursing home and the Holiday Recital in the past.  In May of 2011, she successfully auditioned before the National Piano Guild Judge and became a Local Member of the National Piano Guild.  When Danielle is not playing the piano, she enjoys spending time with her friends and her family.  Danielle is also a terrific artist.  She recently had her works on display at the local mall and her work is on display at her school.  CONGRATULATIONS!

Miss Arden

Congratulations to Miss Arden for completing her Level 1 "Red" Piano Adventures Series last week!  Miss Arden has already started to work form her Level 2A Books!  Miss Arden has performed in multiple Winter Holiday Recitals and multiple nursing home recitals.  When Arden is not practicing the piano, she enjoys horseback riding and spending time with her family.

Thank you to Miss Arden for the donation of the adorable Horse Stickers!  I am sure that other students will work extra hard in the piano studio to earn those stickers.

Miss Vibha

Hooray to Miss Vibha!  Vibha completed her Primer Level Piano Adventures Series this evening!  Miss Vibha has already started to work from her Level 1 Books!  Miss Vibha is excited to be preparing to perform in her first Winter Holiday Recital this year.  She is consistently eligible to enter into the Practice Jar Contest on a weekly basis.  Maybe she will be our winner this year!  Vibha enjoys school, playing with her friends, swimming and arts & crafts.  She recently recreated the song "Trains A Coming" into a color coded bead project.  It is beautiful!  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the bead song!  Congratulations Vibha!  We are very proud of you!

Miss Lailany

Congratulations to Miss Lailany!  Lailany finished her Level 2A Piano Adventures Series Books this evening!  She has already started working on her Level 2B Books.  She has already started to work on two songs to perform at the Winter Holiday Recital.  Lailany  has performed at the local nursing home on many occasions.  She has also performed in two Play A Thons.  This spring she successfully auditioned for the National Piano Guild.   Lailany also plays volleyball and is in her school One Act Play Club.  Miss Lailany is an honors student at her school and is a Girl Scout.  In addition, Miss Lailany is a child care provider for Ms. Renee's children on a regular basis during other students' lessons.  Hooray Lailany!

Miss Elizabeth

Congratulations to Miss Elizabeth for completing her Level 3A Piano Adventures Series of books last evening.  Miss Elizabeth has already started to work from her Level 3B (Purple) books!  Elizabeth has participated in one Winter Holiday Recital, two Play A Thons, two National Piano Guild Auditions, and multiple nursing home recitals.  She is a gold pin, National Member of the National Piano Guild.  (Which means she performed 9 songs, 9 coordinating scales and 9 sets of coordinating scales from memory and one sight reading piece in front of a National Judge).  Elizabeth has already started to work on her pieces for this year's Winter Holiday Recital.  Elizabeth is a consistent member of the honor roll at her school.  She also plays soccer, runs cross country and is actively involved with the Girl Scouts.  In her free time, she enjoys video games and her dogs.  Hooray for Elizabeth!