A couple of things to warn
you about:
-
Steinway Gallery is
really, really, really booked up this spring. I tried
so, so hard to get performance class times that were conducive to family
schedules but some of them are just downright inconvenient. We could maybe go back to the choir room at
Central Pres but I would have to work something out with the music director… I
kind of feel like I owe him something (like singing in the choir) for allowing
us to use the space and quite frankly, I really don’t have the time to commit
to that this spring.
-
We are going to do a
festival. We’re going to just try it and see how it
goes. The National Federation of Music
Clubs has a really good group of teachers here in St. Louis that my teaching
mentor has ushered me into. I think it
would be really good for the kids to have this experience. If you aren’t familiar with Federation, you
can think of it as a competition, but it’s really not. The kids only “compete” against their own
merits and since we’re starting out with a clean slate, they have nowhere to go
but up. Plus, they get the experience
of preparing and memorizing pieces, playing them for a judge, and getting
feedback from someone else. It’s scary
enough to make them work hard but nothing they can’t handle without proper
coaching and a little encouragement.
They’ll be working on pieces that are right at their level, but taking
it to the next step by memorizing them and playing for someone else. All of the teachers in the Federation group
want the kids to succeed and want it to be a positive experience for them. Believe me when I say I will do everything I
can to make sure my students are adequately prepared and that the entire
experience is as successful as humanly possible.
-
We’re going to go to the
Symphony. I want to attempt this at least once or
twice. The St. Louis Symphony has an
awesome palette of concerts on the docket this spring. It would be good for the kids to have the
experience of going at least once, especially if they’ve never been
before. My undergraduate advisor always
used to say that music doesn’t exist in a vacuum and neither do we. So it’s important to get out of the living
room and experience it in a live setting, especially when you get to see it
done by the pros.
-
And last but not least, I
want us to do a little reading. There’s a book I read during my undergrad
that was phenomenal (“The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle). It completely changed my life as well as my
philosophy of teaching… so much so that
I think it’s worth being read and discussed by the studio parents at some point
this semester. I think you can pick up the
hardcover on Amazon for about $15. And
there’s always the library.
Studio Semester
Schedule / Logistics / Overview
- Semester runs from January 9 – May 18, 2012
-
19 weeks total, instead of
18 like Fall 2011
-
16 weeks of lessons, 2
make-ups, and a Plus 1 Week (aka a free lesson or a free make-up week… you
decide which one you need more)
-
Tuition is the same as last
semester, either up front or divided into five installments, due at the first
lesson of each month. Federation
participation will be an additional $23 per solo entry.
-
Make-up weeks are March 5-9
(I go on tour with Lutheran High Mar 8-11) and May 14-18 (week after Recital),
and Plus 1 week is April 2-6 (Holy Week)
-
Federation participants need
to come to TWO performance classes before March 4; All other students
are expected to come to THREE performance classes before the recital. Students who participate in both Federation
and the Recital are encouraged to come to FOUR performance classes throughout
the semester (two before Federation and two before Recital). Although not an absolute requirement for
participation in both, it is strongly encouraged.
Performance Class / Recital Schedule
-
Performance Class: Sat, Feb 4 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm @ Steinway
Gallery
-
Performance Class: Sat, Feb 25 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm @ Steinway
Gallery
-
Performance Class: Sat, March 3 from 10:30 – 11:30 am @
Steinway Gallery
-
St. Louis Area National
Federation of Music Clubs Festival:
Sun, March 4, Time TBA (afternoon) @ St. Charles Community College
-
Performance Class: Sun, April 1 from 3 – 4 pm @ Steinway
Gallery
-
Performance Class: Friday, April 20 from 5 – 6 pm @ Steinway
Gallery
-
Performance Class: Friday, May 4 from 5 – 6 pm @ Steinway
Gallery
-
Recital: Saturday, May 12, 9:30 am @ Steinway Gallery
… seriously, I’m so
sorry. I was on the phone with the
administrative assistant for a long time trying to figure it all
out. I think other teachers must’ve
booked the hall a year ago.
St. Louis Symphony Concert Dates
-
Mozart’s Magic Flute
[Family Concert]: Sunday, January 15 at
3 pm
-
Leon Fleischer plays Ravel’s
Piano Concerto for Left Hand Alone:
Sunday, April 15 at 3 pm
-
Beethoven Symphony No. 5 /
Stephen Hough plays Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3: Sunday, May 6 at 3 pm
All concerts are at Powell
Hall. The Mozart is a family concert
(tickets will be much cheaper, roughly $7-15) as opposed to the others, which
are part of their regular concert season (approx $20/ticket or $10 with valid
student ID, each ID able to purchase up to 4 tickets). There are a number of other fantastic
concerts I am unable to attend, which you might want to look into as well on
your own, like the 5 Browns… five pianos on stage. I encourage you to check out the schedule on
their website: www.slso.org.
Book Discussion: Date and
Time TBA. We can talk more about this
later, when I find out who wants to participate. Highly, highly recommended reading though.
