Summer Catch-Me-Up

So, I didn't sleep last night.  After tossing and turning, reading, and counting sheep, I finally gave up, got up, and listened to a webcast on making and keeping a Piano Studio Website.  Most important takeaway from this lesson: update often.  Having obviously failed in that regard, I offer the past piano year in a nutshell, just to catch everyone up. 

Last September opened with a Duet Recital.  I actually wrote about that in my previous post.  We jumped quickly into Halloween Season music.  The Frederick County Music Teachers Association sponsors a Halloween recital each October, to the delight of all involved.  Everyone comes in costume; our emcee this year was Sponge Bob!  I had 6 students performing, and of course they each were stellar performers.  A 7th student participated in a piano competition that very same day.  She played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and the reviews came back very positive.  She was nervous, but apparently hid it well.

Over the Christmas break, the FCMTA sponsored a holiday recital at a local assisted living residence.  Four of my kids performed, and one very brave young student took part in the Spring Keyboard Musicianship Testing event.  Our Spring Studio Recital at the end of April did not close out the year: 2 additional performance opportunities awaited.  I was thrilled to have 4 students perform at the Frederick Arts Festival.  In addition, we spent the month of May learning bug music, i.e. music inspired by insects.  I read portions of David Rothenberg's Bug Music, highlighting the incessant call and response on the cicada, the rhythmic chirrups of crickets, and other tidbits on the contributions of insects to music.  We closed the event with a lively exchange on rhythm cups, enjoyed by students and parents alike.  All in all, a fun event, and a performance-packed year.

I am so proud of one of my school-age students who auditioned and was accepted at Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Hagerstown, and will start there in September.  Another of my students went on to study music and psychology in college; she found me after 30 years and took up lessons with me again after a hiatus!  What a treat for me!

This summer, all of my students, young and old, have been working on excerpts from Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals, which they will perform for each other in September.  I can't wait!