APRIL studio news
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 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:
- IN PERSON at your lesson
- MAIL CHECK: 814 Pineland Dr, Cary, 27511
- ONLINE PAYMENT: Venmo & Zelle
April Schedule
There are no regular lessons scheduled from April 14-18.
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!
Musical March Madness
Musical March Madness brackets are due whenever you complete them! Students who complete their bracket will be recognized at our May 3rd recitals. Please turn in your page when it is done. Looking forward to see which of your pieces made it to the WINNERS circle!
Sharing our gift of music is not only a motivating reason to practice, but a useful insight as to why we spend hours mastering an instrument. AND, a wonderful byproduct --- spreading joy to those around us! Be creative in ways you share your gift: knock on a neighbor's door, video call a family member who lives far away. Have another idea? Please share! I'd love to know about your experience.
Group Class
Group Classes will meet on Friday, April 11th. Location: Saint Francis UMC. 2965 Kildaire Farm Road, 27518, Sanctuary.
This month's classes will follow our usual schedule. Details for class that month can be found in the event on the studio calendar. Group schedule:
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*plan to arrive 10min prior to your assigned group time to unpack and be ready to tune.
May Solo Recitals
On Saturday, May 3 we will present our spring solo recitals! We will again have TWO recitals to accommodate the increase in number of students and limit the length of the recitals.
As with the outreach concerts, you can sign up for your recital time preference to avoid possible conflicts you have with one of the recital times. To sign up via the MMS calendar: Log into your MMS account. Go to the Calendar tab. Click on the May 3 event you wish to perform on and register your student. Any students not registered by April 21, will be assigned a recital time.
Families are invited to attend the recital they are not assigned to and support all the students in the studio. Join us for the final group piece, if you are there!
Outreach Concerts
All students are invite to participate in the final of our TWO outreach concerts this year at Spring Arbor of Cary. These events will require 14-16 studio participants. We will prepare (during weekly lessons) a 20-min concert for the residents on either the upper or lower level. If you did not participate in the September outreach, consider joining us for the one in May, there are still spaces remaining.
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).
Local Summer Music Camps
Lamar Stringfield Music Camp: https://stringfieldmusiccamp.com/home
Day camp Session 1: June 15-20
Day camp Session 2: June 22-27
A great opportunity for introducing your student to music camps and/or playing in a string ensemble. Past students have enjoyed the energy and excellence the camp faculty and directors pour into this week of music making. Plus, it's in our backyard! Take a moment to read more on their website.
Triangle Youth Music Camps: https://www.triangleyouthmusic.org/summer-programs
String Orchestra Half/Full Day Camp (all levels)
July 14th - July 18th Peace Presbyterian Church in Cary
Triangle Youth Music runs the largest, multi-level music education organization in Raleigh. During the school year, they host 5 orchestras, 4 jazz bands and multiple smaller ensembles. Their summer camp is a great way to experience their program on a smaller scale. Take a moment to read more on their website.
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/teachers/teacher-training/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, June 23-29. 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://gwsuzukiinstitute.org/
I will also be teaching at the Univ of Louisville Suzuki Institute, June 8-13. Here is the link for more info: https://louisville.edu/music/outreach/suzuki-studies/suzuki-string-institute
Our state has a local institute! Consider heading a little east to join them for a week of music making! North Carolina Suzuki Institute, July 13-18. https://www.ncsuzuki.org/ncsi-home
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! As my colleague David Strom has frequently expressed, "institute participants come away from an institute having gained one whole year of musical growth in just one week!"
Inclement Weather
During seasons when school could be cancelled and storms cause travel to be unsafe, remember that we have many options for moving the lesson to an online format. Of course, this is given that we still have power to run our devices! The missed lesson policy will remain in place if you do not attend a lesson that we have agreed to move to an online format. In the event of a location change, I will contact you via text or email and will update the lesson location in the MMS calendar of events.
Studio Videos
Reminder: link to our YouTube folders: https://pinelandsuzukistrings.mymusicstaff.com/Video-Links
For now, I have posted links to 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/Student/v3/en/online-resources
The Year of Listening
It has been exciting to see the progress of everyone's listening journey on our studio chart. There are a few more weeks to log listening days. In fact, if you don't complete the next 50-day chart by the May 3 recitals, Keep going!! Awards will be handed out anytime you complete a chart from now until we restart for the 2025-26 Listening Challenge!
****Everyday is a new opportunity to listen.****
****When you complete your second, third OR fourth 50-day chart,
please hand it to Dr. Baker in your lesson.****
A reminder of why listening needs to be a focus each week:
This year, to encourage and build healthy habits, we will hold three Listening challenges. Each semester, there will be a 50-day listening challenge and throughout the winter a 100-day challenge. Students who complete a challenge will be recognized during the recital at the end of each timeframe, with a MASTER LISTENER award being presented to students who achieve the maximum 200-day listening challenge at our May recitals.
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 SooBeen Lee. (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!
Violinist SooBeen Lee has been called “Korea’s hottest violin prodigy” (HanCinema). She has already appeared as soloist with every major Korean orchestra, including the Seoul and Busan Philharmonics and KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra.
SooBeen Lee began studying the violin at the age of four. At eight years old she won the National Competition of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, she won First Prize at the Russia International Youth Violin Competition the following year, and she captured First Prize at the 2013 Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition. Ms. Lee studied with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory, where she performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto as winner of their Concerto Competition.
Introduction and Rondo Capriccio, Saint-Saens: https://youtu.be/18gX2pbB1mc
"Melodie", Tchaikovsky: https://youtu.be/tx31Ym8ui6Y
Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (Winter) A.Pizzolla: https://youtu.be/rG3K1FuNAIs
Piano Trio in B-flat, Schubert: https://youtu.be/53J56m_MP98
Local Performances
*April 4 & 6 - NC Opera presents The Marriage of Figaro by W.A.Mozart: https://ncopera.org/2024-2025-season/the-marriage-of-figaro/
NC Symphony upcoming concerts webpage: click here
*denotes Dr. Baker is performing
