January update

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break with your families! As we start back up with lessons in the new year, I have a few very important announcements to relay to you:

1. I will need to lighten up my teaching schedule for January as my husband will be traveling quite a bit more through the month. *Also tuition will be half this month.* 

   - All Tuesday and Friday lessons will be on the first and third weeks. 

   - All Thursday and Saturday lessons will be the second and fourth weeks. 

   - If this poses any problems for you with your schedules, or if you have any other questions, please send me a text and we’ll work it out. 

2. March Masterclass will be Saturday, March 26 @ 10:00 a.m. This year it will take place of all lessons for the last week of April during our spring break. 

3. Spring Recital will be Sunday, June 5 @ 5:00 p.m.

4. If you would like a link to our Winter Recital to send to anyone who wasn’t able to join us, let me know 

Here’s looking forward to a Happy New Year full of more music!

FALL & WINTER NEWS

DATES + DEADLINES
December 17: deadline for performance videos due by end of day
December 19: Winter Recital @ 3:00 p.m. via zoom (invite with zoom link to come)
January 4: Lessons resume

HOLIDAY HALF TUITION

I will be teaching through December 18th this year so will only be charging half tuition which is due the first lesson of the month. My studio Christmas Break will be December 20 - January 1. Keep playing through the holidays!

WINTER RECITAL

With students in New Hampshire and Washington D.C., I have decided to host via zoom again this year on December 19th @ 3:00 p.m.. The best part is all family and friends are invited to attend the Winter Recital watching party! 

For my local students, I will be doing recordings during lesson the week of Dec. 14 -17. For those in D.C., I ask that each student to make a video to send in by Dec. 17 which I will edit together into a recital movie. Read on for details:

PERFORMANCE VIDEO RECORDING TIPS

1. Dress for success! Wear something Winter Recital-worthy that will help you be in a performing mindset. 

2. The audience will be watching the recital through the virtual window of zoom. Set up the camera horizontally so that we can see you and your instrument — not the tight vantage we use for lessons. Create a nice looking space: books away, pencils, etc. 

3. Make sure you record horizontally in an mp4 file. Most phones can do this fine and have good sound quality. Tripods (or propping it up against something) work nicely to keep the camera steady. 

4. Record! Stand to the side of your instrument, state your name and “I will be playing ——.” 

5. Relax, take a deep breath, and show your best of everything you have been working so hard for this fall!  Remember all the things we talk about in lesson: good posture, position, and technique. Above all, have fun playing!

6. When you finish. Pause, stand, then bow. Smile and wait 5 seconds (for applause) then stop the recording. You did it!

7. Send to me by end of day Friday, December 17. I’ll be sending out an invitation with all zoom and recital etiquette info once I receive your video. 

Thank you so much in advance for all this recording work at your end! I’m so excited to put this together for you all to show your hard work to family and friends! 

I'm excited to announce my 9th Annual Halloween Master Class will now be held Sunday, October 24 at 3:30 p.m. It will be an enriching experience for each student to have the chance to perform with their fellow musicians. As always, I'll be teaching a bit of music history with my usual Halloween music listening party. Click on the link below and listen to just a taste of what we'll be doing. Some details:

:: For my local students, you are welcome to come to my home studio masked and in-person. For my D.C. students, and those who would rather tune in from home, I will be running a zoom window in to the master class where everyone can participate. I'll be sending zooming details via text just beforehand. Please let me know which option you choose, in-person or remote.

:: Come in costume. Keep practicing your pieces to showcase all you've learned so far this year. Keep in mind, we will all be nervous together! Do your best and come have fun with us. 

:: As always, please reach out with any questions. Thank you for supporting this next generation of musicians!

To all my seasoned and new students, welcome to my '21-22 music season! Now that everyone's first week of school is over with or underway, I'm happy to announce that lessons for all piano and cello students will start next week. This is going to be such an exciting year with a few changes but more of the same spark-lighting for the next generation of musicians. 

SCHEDULING For those of you who are relatively new, you may be wondering about lesson scheduling. Thank you for your patience! I always wait until everyone's school + activity schedules settle in (including the many moving parts of my own!) before opening up my schedule. This year, I will have more students than ever before so I will be doing things a bit differently. Below is a list of my open days + times. Please text me your 1st and 2nd choice of days and time preferences by Friday at 5:00 p.m. EST. I will get my final schedule set Saturday and text you individually with your assigned slot and total tuition for the upcoming week. As always, I try to be as flexible as I can so if we need to adjust exact times on your assigned day, please let me know. 

OPENINGS
Tuesday 3:00-5:00
Thursday 3:00-4:15, 4:45-5:30
Friday 3:00-5:30
Saturday 8:00-11:30

TUITION + EXPECTATIONS After a summer of relaxation, half-time lessons and much reflection, I've decided to do a long-overdue (15 years!) update and streamlining to the business end of my music teaching. Over the past several years, I have added recital videos, remote master classes, and much more individualized solo arranging for my students without raising my rates. My rates will now be the same for all instruments and time frames which for some of you may mean a tuition increase. My family discount stays with a percentage bump as well. Click here for more details. All lessons, master classes, original arrangements, and recitals are included in the tuition price. 

UPCOMING DATES
Tues. September 6 :: starting week of lessons
Sat. October 30 @ 11:00 a.m. EST :: Monster Master Class (student solos + music history feature Beethoven!)
Sun. December 12 @ 5:00 p.m. EST :: Christmas Recital (details to follow)

Thanks again to all you amazing parents who balance it all and still encourage and support your budding musicians. And to my students, it's going to be a year! Let's play hard!

This will be the last week of 2020-21 lesson season. We will have a year review and introduction to the Summer Playlist (read: practice log *shh!*) that will help my students keep track of summer playing as well as their listening. I'll be sending out the Playlist along with a few worksheets to you by next week to print out and begin June 1. There will also be some worksheets for note recognition and rhythm that will help them keep all they've learned thus far, and have some fun in the process.

For those who are continuing with summer lessons, please make sure you go to the Signup Genius I emailed out this week to create your schedule: 2 lessons per month, along with the option of 4 lessons in August. I will send you an email back to confirm all dates. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me!

Welcome to May! It's time to wrap up the year with my Spring Master Class and Recital. I am so proud of all the hard work my students have put in — you are all amazing, parents included — so it's time to show each other what you've all learned!

DATES + DEADLINES
Saturday, May 8: STUDENTS ONLY SPRING MASTER CLASS @ 3:00 p.m. 

For all my new and seasoned students, this will include my traditional student "playaround" in which each student will have a chance to play one of their recital pieces for positive feedback from fellow musicians and a little further polish from me. A few things to remember:

1. Make sure your camera/tech is lesson-style ready.

2. Have your music ready to go.

3. Come zoom with us! {zoom info. will be sent in a text with this post}

See you Saturday!

Monday, May 17: PERFORMANCE VIDEO DEADLINE (*see below for instructions)

Sunday, May 23: SPRING RECITAL @ 3:00 p.m. via zoom (invite with zoom info. to come)

June 1: SUMMER LESSON HALF SCHEDULE BEGINS I will be contacting you regarding your personalized schedule.

*PERFORMANCE VIDEO RECORDING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Dress for success!

2. The audience will be watching the recital through the virtual window of zoom. Set up the camera horizontally so that we can see you and your instrument — not the tight vantage we use for lessons. Create a nice looking space: books away, pencils, etc. 

3. Make sure you record horizontally in an mp4 file. Most phones can do this fine and have good sound quality. Tripods (or propping it up against something) work nicely to keep the camera steady. 

4. Record! Stand to the side of your instrument, state your name and “I will be playing ——.” 

5. Relax, take a deep breath, and show the best of everything you have been working so hard for all year! Remember good posture, position, and technique — all the things we talk about in lesson. Above all, do your best and be proud of your hard work so far this year!

6. When you finish. Pause, stand, face the camera, then bow. Wait 5 seconds (for applause) then stop the recording. You did it! Don't forget to smile.

7. Send an email with your final recording to me by end of day Monday, May 17. I’ll be sending out an invitation with all zoom and recital etiquette info once I receive your video. 

Thank you so much in advance for all this recording work at your end! I’m so excited to put this together for you all to show your hard work to family and friends! 

SPRING NEWS

Listening assignment for all students:  Debussy's Arabesque No. 1. We will be talking about this in lesson next week.

HAPPY SPRING!  I am so proud of all the hard work, dedication, patience, and stellar progress of each one of my students. Each of them has learned so much and risen above the challenges of learning music remotely. Who knew phone drops, glitches, and battery life would be a regular part of music lessons? Luckily, we've found ways to laugh through the frustration and play on! To finish off the year, I am pleased to announce my Spring Master Class & Recital which I will be holding again via zoom. Have your schedules at the ready and read on for dates and details:

SPRING MASTER CLASS & RECITAL 

MASTER CLASS :: Saturday, May 8 @ 3:00 p.m. :: Each student will have the chance to perform for their fellow musicians to learn how to give and receive constructive feedback as well as have fun learning from their fellow budding musicians. This student-favorite event will also feature my music appreciation/listening presentation at the end of the zoom session. 

ZOOM RECITAL :: Sunday, May 23 @ 3:00 p.m. :: Invite family and friends from near and far to enjoy this recital video watch party. Each student will submit a performance video of their best work, which we will be working out in lessons over the next few weeks. More details to follow! For those who would like to see the Winter Recital for reference, click here. 

SUMMER PLAYLISTS & SCHEDULES

LAST WEEK OF LESSONS :: May 24 – May 29 (For my New Englander students, I will be teaching through our spring break the last week of April and will contact you individually to shift your times to mornings for that week.) 

SUMMER PLAYLISTS :: The last week of lessons, I will give each student a customized playlist with exercises and songs that will keep their music going through the summer until lessons start up again after Labor Day. 

In the meantime, keep playing and let's all work hard as we all get ready for Spring Recital 2021! 

 

JANUARY NEWS

I am so excited to start up the rest of our '20-'21 music season this week! Read on for updates and what to expect in the weeks to come.

EXPECTATIONS
I would like all students to review my expectations prior to lesson this week.

TUITION

Tuition will continue to be due the first week of the month. If this poses any difficulty, please let me know and we can work something out.

REMOTE LESSONS
Lessons will remain remote through the end of this school year. This is both for convenience of my students as well as everyone's health and safety. The much anticipated vaccine is forthcoming, so I will assess the situation as we receive more news. 

LESSON PLANS
For the first two weeks of this month, I will be working on intensive foundation studies with all my students during their lessons with more sight-reading and individual work on their own during the week to ascertain their knowledge. Foundation studies, such as scales, exercises, and music theory, will continue to be a part of their regular lessons.

LISTENING IS BACK

Prior to lessons each week, all students should watch the posted music appreciation video. Stay tuned!

RECITAL VIDEO
Also, a huge thanks again to all who attended and participated in the Winter Recital. I am so proud of all my students and can't wait to see what they accomplish the rest of this year. For family and friends who may have missed the recital on December 20th, I am posting the video here so you can forward on or watch again.