APRIL Studio News

  Monday, April 1, 2024 by Cortney Baker | Uncategorized

   April tuition                              

is due at your first lesson of the month.  Consult your monthly invoice for the exact amount. 

Ways to pay:

1. IN PERSON at your lesson
2. MAIL CHECK:  814 Pineland Dr, Cary, 27511
3. ONLINE PAYMENT: Google Pay or Zelle

   April Schedule                             

Log in to your MyMusicStaff portal to see your specific lesson dates, times and location.  Also included in your account: the link to access the Zoom webpage, previous lesson notes, the monthly studio news, and much more!

   April Group Class                       

Group Classes will meet this month on Friday, April 13th.  Location: Saint Francis UMC. 2965 Kildaire Farm Road, 27518, Sanctuary. Everyone keep your review of past Suzuki pieces up to date - we will be highlighting a few in each book again.  Book 1 & 2 students, bring your Music Mind Games materials. Book 4+ student we will be reading through several new pieces again!  

Group schedule:

                                 *arrive 5 minutes prior to group start time

   Outreach Concerts 2023-24               

All students are invite to participate in our monthly outreach concerts at Spring Arbor of Cary.  These events will require 2-3 studio participants each month.  We will prepare (during weekly lessons) a 20-min concert for the residents and perform it twice within an hour.  Please plan to participate in one of these monthly concerts.

To participate, log into your MMS account.  Go to the studio calendar tab and add your name to the event on the month you are available (See the How to Register for an Outreach Concert file in the online resources for more details).  

A hearty thank you to Cataleya Kelley and Joshua Chen for their preparation and participation in our March Outreach Event.

Lower Level Concert

    Studio Videos                                   

Reminder: link to our YouTube folders: https://pinelandsuzukistrings.mymusicstaff.com/Video-Links

For now, there the folders are for the Pre-Twinkle videos, Book 1 accompaniment, Daily Do (for Music Mind Games class), and Christmas Carols.

 

   Parent Education                              

I have loaded several articles to the Library & Downloads page in your MMS portal with articles and handouts for parents.  Find a title that interests you and read it!  I highly encourage you to take a moment this month to choose one and read it.  There is so much value in motivation for the Suzuki parent.  Let these articles give you that blessing!!   This link might help to take you there: https://app.mymusicstaff.com/Teacher/v2/en/online-resources

  

This month I want to highlight Dr. Suzuki's reasoning behind his emphasis on REVIEW.  Raise Your Ability With a Piece You Can Play is an excerpt from Dr. Suzuki's book, Nurtured By Love.  In this excerpt Suzuki elaborates on where the concept of Review came from, the results to expect from including or not including it in your weekly routine, and even how it ties in to the art/act of LISTENING (another of the top 10 traits of Suzuki pedagogy).  

Coming out of our March Group Recital, it is refreshing to read his thoughts and remind ourselves that there is benefit to slowing down and focusing on past pieces--think group recital, think 100x charts, think book Graduation, think Musical March Madness, think outreach performances.  How are you including REVIEW in your student's routine?  Every time you help them include REVIEW, you are raising their musical ability. 

To access these articles, you can also log into MMS and use the tabs to find our Online Resource's folder>Parent Education. 

 

Let me know what you think! If you have time, send me your reaction, thoughts. etc. I would love to know what speaks to you.

   Suzuki Summer Institutes                  

Registration for SUZUKI Summer Institutes is underway! Use this link to view all of the options around the country for summer study: https://suzukiassociation.org/events/institutes/

What is an Institute?  It is a 5-day family camp.  Each day, students have a Masterclass lesson and 2-3 classes (group repertoire, group technique, chamber music, orchestra, fiddle, etc) depending on the level of the player and their ability to read music.  Want to know more, please ask me!   

I want to encourage everyone to look at the dates and see how you can fit one of these amazing camps into your schedule this summer.  Several students have attended the NC Institute (which doesn't look like is happening this summer), others have attended virtual camps - there are LOTS of these to consider. 

I will be on faculty at the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute again this year, July 8-12.  I would love for you to consider joining me near our nation's capital.  Lots of fun sightseeing and history to observe when you are not in class!  Here is the link for more info: https://suzukiassociation.org/events/loc/university-louisville-suzuki-string-institute/

I will also be teaching at the Univ of Louisville Suzuki Institute, June 9-14.  Here is the link for more info: https://suzukiassociation.org/events/loc/university-louisville-suzuki-string-institute/

It seems that some Institutes are continuing virtual classes.  I highly encourage in person learning, but you can reduce the cost and time commitment and still experience some of what it is like to work with other teachers and students from around the country!  Several students in our studio have taken advantage of these opportunities in the past.  Each one has come away with a major boost in motivation and confidence! 

   Musical MARCH Madness              

Several of you are continuing to work on your brackets - whoo-hoo!!  Bring them in as soon as they are done.  

We will recognize another group of students at the May recital.   

   Special Listening                             

Just a reminder that wonderful videos and audio recordings of professional performers can be seen/heard on YouTube.  Use this as the Special Listening assignment for each week.  This month's famous performer is Akiko Suwanai (see notes below).   

There are other recordings - enjoy looking around and learning more about this great artist of our time.

Please share these with the kids.

Enjoy!

Akiko Suwanai 

 

 

Akiko Suwanai is a Japanese classical violinist. Winner of the 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition and the youngest first-prize recipient in the history of the competition, violinist AKIKO SUWANAI has established an international career as soloist and recitalist performing in the major cities of Asia, Europe and the Americas.  Distinguished by numerous awards, Akiko Suwanai has been a winner at the International Paganini Violin Competition, the International Japan Competition, and the Queen Elizabeth International Competition among others, as the youngest entrant. 

Suwanai studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music with Toshiya Eto, then at the Juilliard School and Columbia University with Dorothy DeLay and Cho-Liang Lin, as well as the Hochschule der Kunste in Berlin with Uwe-Martin Haiberg. Until 2019 she played the 1714 Dolphin Stradivarius, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. After it was returned she received the "Charles Reade" Guarneri del Gesù on loan from Japanese collector Ryuji Ueno.

 

Bizet-Sarasate – Carmen Fantasy for violin and orchestra (performed in 1990): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOexWWdSURc

Debussy Sonata in G minor (1^st mvt): https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=rd1SXqTyTZw 

Beethoven Violin Sonata #7 In C Minor, Op. 30_2 - 1. Allegro Con Brio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wNvMtFQufE 

    Local Performances                        

*April 21, NC Opera presents The Girl of the Golden West by Puccini: https://ncopera.org/2023-2024-season/the-girl-of-the-golden-west/

*denotes Dr. Baker is performing

    2024 Local Summer Camps                       

• Session 1 Day Camp: June 16-21
• Session 2 Day Camp: June 23-28

Triangle Youth Music Camps:

Financial aid is available for all programs and anyone is welcome!  See below for dates and additional details:

• Weekly Summer String Orchestra - Mondays from 6:30 - 8:00 PM at Peace Presbyterian Church in Cary, directed by Meaghan Clayton and Myriah Luke. Orchestra begins on June 17th and runs for six weeks, ending on July 22nd with final "in-formance" at 7:30 PM. Cost for six weeks: $100
• Summer String Camp (half day and full day available) - July 29th - August 2nd at Peace Presbyterian Church in Cary, directed by Meaghan Clayton and Myriah Luke. String summer camp will be a little different this year! From 9 AM - 12 PM, string students of any level can participate in traditional orchestra camp. For those who want to stay for the full day, 1 PM - 4 PM is our new enrichment session, where students can select two options each day, including chamber music (for intermediate/advanced students), TYM audition prep, music theory, music history, and/or music composition/ arranging. Please note: the enrichment portion is only available to students who participate in the morning session.  Cost for Half-Day: $300. Cost for Full-Day: $500
• Jazz Camp (full day only) -July 22 - July 26th, location TBA, All levels accepted, directed by Kobie Watkins and Gregg Gelb. Students will be broken up into smaller groups based on skill level. Musicians will explore jazz style, improvisation, and prep for TYM auditions. Cost for Full-Day: $500

Registration will be open soon! Contact Katherine Denton katherinedenton@ triangleyouthmusic.org with questions.