Closing out the 2022-2023 Piano Year

A reminder that our final Group Performance lesson will be this coming Tuesday, May 30, 4:30-6pm...one last chance to practice performing before the National Guild Auditions and our Spring Studio Recital! This will be a combined class for Elementary, Middle and High school; students are welcome to stay for all or just part of it. Come ready to perform and also give feedback to your fellow young pianists!

Next Sunday, June 4, is National Guild Auditions (St. Martins University)! This is our big culminating project, reflecting the amazing work of the past 9 months. I am so proud of these incredible students. Only a week and a half to go, so push yourself to do your very best!

The week of June 5 is our last week of Spring Quarter lessons, ending with our Studio Recital on June 11, featuring all of our talented students (1-2pm at Good Shepherd Lutheran). It's free and open to the public, so bring family and friends!

It has been a fantastic and awesome year of piano music-making! I have enjoyed working with the students immensely! Let me know if you have any questions.

National Guild - Schedule is posted

National Guild Auditions are Sunday, June 4 from 9-4pm at St. Martins University. Our judge this year is Linda Chu. Only the student and judge will be allowed in the room, with parent/family seating outside.

Please remember to:

1. Bring all of your music pieces, with the scores marked. Measures should be numbered for pieces longer than 1 page.

2. Dress nicely.

3. Be prepared to play your technique (technical phases). All pieces are to be played from memory.

4. Smile! Have confidence for all of your hard work - you will do GREAT!

9:00 Grace (1st year! EA)

9:15 Josie (2nd year - EC)

9:35 Landon (4th year - EF)

10:00 Grant (1st year! IA)

10:30 BREAK

10:45 Max (5/8th year - Int)

11:15 Chloe (12th year - PS)

12:05 LUNCH

1:05 Sky (6/8th year - PC)

1:50 Judah (1st year! EA)

2:05 Judson (8th year - IF)

2:35 BREAK

2:50 Alexander (3rd year - IA)

3:17 Charles (1st year! IA)

3:45 Sally (1st year! EB)

I am so proud of these students and this huge accomplishment! Since everyone has learned a 10-piece program, I encourage all of the students to put on informal recitals for family and friends before (and after) the Guild Auditions. This will help to practice poise and performance practice, as well as sharing their beautiful music with their loved ones.

Pop/Jazz & MLP/Theory & MCE Updates

Talk about a busy day! May 13 had at least three piano/musical events going on in Olympia.

Pop, Jazz, Ensemble Recital at Gloria Dei - Grant, Landon, Grace, Sally, Josie, Charles, and Alexander all gave the audience toe-tapping renditions of songs such as: “Weeping Willow Rag”, “Chocolate Eatin’ Piano Player Blues”, “This Land is Your Land”, “The Chicken Dance”, “River Flows in You”, and “Don’t Stop Believin’” Quartet! All students got to celebrate with a soda “pop” of their choice.

Before and after the Pop Recital, six of our students participated in the Music Literacy Program theory tests, from levels 1 to 7. Congratulations to all of them, everyone passed with 90% or higher! We even had one 100%. Students received a beautiful ribbon for passing.

Sally, Level 1 - 100%; Charles, Level 4 - 99%; Alexander, Level 7 - 98%; Josie, Level 2 - 90%; Grant, Level 5 - 90%; Landon, Level 4 - 94% - AMAZING JOB, everyone!

Lastly, props to Alexander who took part in the Masterworks Chorale Ensemble Youth Competition, performing “Laser Light Show” by Jennifer Bowman. Fantastic job!

Clinks and cheers for a great recital!

Young Pianists Perform at Local Retirement Home

In the past year and a half, quite a few our students have gone to perform at Stonewell Senior Home. This lovely residence for the elderly has an old grand piano, and students are welcomed and their music is always appreciated! The residents also love to talk to the students and share about their lives. We go almost every Friday afternoon. It’s a great way to spread our music and love to our community. I hope all students have a chance to go! Here is a photo of 3 students who went this past week.

District IV Honor's Recital, May 7

The District IV Honor Recital featured some of the top students from Clark County, Mason County, Lewis County and Olympia. Lasting about 45 min, students performed a wide range of repertoire beautifully. Chloe and Alexander represented Olympia and our studio very well! All of these students were selected from the regional WSMTA Honor Recital Competitions back in March, and all were the top prizewinners and alternates. In addition, they are invited to be honored and perform at the State Conference recitals on June. What a fun and inspiring concert!

Chloe and Alexander are all smiles after their fabulous performances at Centralia Church of the Nazarene!

May News! Events and Happenings

As May arrives, the end of the school year is in sight! We have only 6 more weeks until the end of our Piano Year. All of these wonderful students have worked hard and made amazing progress in the past months. It has been delightful to see them every week, growing and learning as pianists and human beings!

This month and next, we have quite a few events, both optional and not!

May 7 @ 3pm: District IV Honors Recital - features winners of the regional honors competitions. Winners will be eligible to perform at the State Conference! Centralia, Church of the Nazarene. Congrats to Chloe and Alexander who will represent Olympia and our studio! Free and open to the public!

May 13 @ 11:15: Pop/Jazz/Duet Festival at Gloria Dei Lutheran, followed by the Music Literacy Program Theory exam. This fun and exciting event is free and open to the public. Grace, Sally, Charles, Landon, Alexander, Grant, and Josie will be taking part, playing pieces such as “This Land is Your Land”, “The Chicken Dance”, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, “River Flows in You”, “Weeping Willow Rag”, and more!

May 13 @ 10am: Masterworks Chorale Ensemble Competition - Good Luck to Alexander!

June 4, all day: National Guild Auditions! This is the big day we’ve all been preparing for. All students will perform up to 10 memorized pieces/phases for a wonderful judge. What a huge accomplishment!

June 11, 1pm: Studio Spring Recital - An awesome culmination of the piano year! End of Spring Quarter.

Other newsworthy items…Congratulations to our Scale Olympians! See “News” below for who won Gold, Silver, and Bronze!

“4 Pianists For Piano”

Thanks to all who came out for our “4 Pianists For Piano” concert. What a great crowd!

Congrats to Luke!

He was featured in the most recent Piano Guild Magazine as a scholarship winner, and recipient of both the High School Diploma and Paderewski Medal. He is now finishing his first year at UW as an engineering major, and enjoys playing the piano frequently in his spare time!

April Group Performance Classes

Here is recap of our April Group Performance Classes. Everyone had a chance to perform a piece for the class, as well as give feedback and comments to their fellow musicians. And Scale Olympics was back in session! Student had 2 minutes to perform as many technical phases from their Guild levels. Congratulations to everyone for their hard work, much improvement was made. Winners are listed below!

Elem/Middle Class:

Gold: Alexander (35 points); Silver: Grant (25 points); Bronze: Judah (24 points)

Middle/High Class:

Gold: Judson (30 points); Silver: Chloe (18 points); Bronze: Charles (17 points)

For our last class, we had a new monthly challenge - the Scale Challenge! Three students successfully completed it. Congratulations to Grace, Landon, and Judah!

MAP/Adjudications 2023 is done - Congrats to all Students!

MAP/Adjudications 2023 is a wrap! Every student in our studio presented two pieces to our Visiting Artist, Dr. Renato Fabbro, a culmination of many hours of practice. Dr. Fabbro told me that he was impressed with everyone’s playing and had helpful comments for students. Good job to Judah, Alexander, Sky, Grant, Landon, Josie, Sally, Max, Charles, Grace, Chloe, Justin, and Judson, and Derek and Sam!

HONOR RECITAL WINNERS: Chloe (Chopin Ballade in Gm), Sky (Ufie III by Onieji) and Judson (Kolling Autumn Leaves)! These three performed beautifully at the Honor Recital! Congratulations!

ALTERNATES Selected: Grant (Joplin’s Weeping Willow Rag) and Judah (Misty Morning) - yeay!

Honorable Mentions: Justin (Linus and Lucy), Alexander (Laser Light Show), Josie (Fur Elise), Grace (Indian Feather Dance). Way to go!

For a complete list of Winners, Alternates, and Hon. Mentions from the OMTA MAP, please see: www.olymusicteachers.org.

Absolutely stunning performances by Sky (Ufie III), Chloe (Ballade in Gm), and Judson (Flying Leaves)!

Dr. Fabbro shares expert tips with Landon! Below, a short snippet of Sky’s riveting “Ufie III” by Christian Onieji.

WSMTA Honor Recital Competition RESULTS!

Judson, Alexander, Grant, and Chloe represented our studio at the WSMTA Honor Recital Competition a Sunday in early March. All played the best I had heard them! Our two judges were Margee Webster and Dr. Renato Fabbro.

Results:

Chloe (Debussy Toccata from Pour le Piano)- WINNER! She will perform at the State Convention in Sun Mountain Lodge (Winthrop) in June. CONGRATULATIONS!

Alexander (Laser Light Show)- 2nd Alternate! GOOD JOB - to all of our young pianists!

Judson and Alexander gave great performances of Claude Debussy’s Prelude “Girl with the Flaxen Hair” and Jennifer Bowman’s “Laser Light Show”!

It was an honor to have the composer of Alexander’s piece, Jennifer Bowman, in the audience. She loved his performance, as did the whole audience!

Chloe and Grant performance Debussy’s “Toccata from Pour le Piano” and Joplin’s “Weeping Willow Rag”, delighting the audience!

Composition Contest Winners

COMPOSITION CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED
First Annual Composition Contest

Congratulations to these students!!!


Elementary/Middle Group:  
  1st Prize:  Alexander
2nd Prize:  Landon
  3rd Prize:  Grant
HM:  Sally

Middle/High School:
1st Prize:  Chloe
  2nd Prize:  Justin
  3rd Prize:  Charles
  HM:  Judson, Sky

Elementary Silver and Bronze Winners: Landon (“Pink Space”) and Grant (“Flight”)

High School Silver and Bronze Winners: Justin (“Fever Dream”) and Charles (“Shades of Green”)

March Performance Class Update

We had some GREAT March performance classes before MAP!  All of the students have clearly been practicing hard and making noticeable improvement - way to go, students! 

During our performances, students were reminded to do the THREE B's - BOW (announce piece and composer), BENCH (take time to adjust as needed), and BREATHE (2x, to calm yourself and focus)!  Practice doing these at home!  The students and I shared some tips for staying focused - like "Don't think about each note, think of the bigger sections instead."  "Think of the mood or story you want people to hear!"  "Practice performing in front of others."  "Record yourself and listen back."  "Practice a lot!"  


MAP/WSMTA THIS SUNDAY AND MONDAY
As you know, our WSMTA Honors Competition and MAP/Adjudications will take place this Sunday and Monday at St. Martin's University (see schedule on website).  Please:
1.  Come 10-15 min early to give yourself enough time to get situated.
2.  Park in Visitor Lot N (near Marcus Pavilion in order to avoid a ticket.
3.  Bring your music, and dress neatly, nails trimmed.  No photocopies (I will bring originals).  
4.  Do the Three B’s before starting your piece (see above).
5.  Be ready to ask questions of our Visiting Artist - this is your chance!

I am so happy to hear how everyone is sounding, and it will be a wonderful MAP!  

TECHNIQUE PIANO CHALLENGE
Lastly, we have a new piano challenge for our next group class - "The Technique Challenge"!  Our April 24 Group Class will once again feature the Scale Olympics, so this challenge will motivate students to prepare for this, as well as our National Guild Auditions in June.  Each student will practice technique *at their own level* for a certain number of minutes during practice.  For example, an Elementary level student would practice 5-finger or 1-octave scales, chords, etc for 4 minutes, while a Prep level student would do 4-octave scales, chords, etc, for 12 min.  Follow instructions on the sheet, and there will be a prize!  There are 22+ practice ideas listed on the sheet.  

Good luck to everyone, and let me know if you have any questions!

March 2023 Important Dates

Students have been working hard to prepare for our annual Music Artistry Program (MAP)/Adjudications! I'm so proud of their progress they have shown already this year.

IMPORTANT DATES:

1. Friday, March 3: Group/Performance Classes! This is one last chance for performance practice before MAP and WSMTA Honors Competition, and you also get to be the "Visiting Artist!". Come prepared to perform your 2 MAP pieces from memory. Elem/Middle: 4-5pm; Middle/High: 5-6pm.

2. Sunday, March 5: WSMTA Honors Recital Competition (only for students signed up) - 2 recitals, noon to 3, exact time TBA. I will send out an email to participants as soon as I find out!

3. Sunday and Monday, March 5 and 6: Music Artistry Program (MAP)/Adjudications with Visiting Artist, Dr. Renato Fabbro. The schedule is posted on our website, www.lakesidepiano.com. Each student will perform 2 memorized pieces, and have helpful feedback from Dr. Fabbro. Bring your music! Audition times are 10-30 min. long, depending on the level of the student. Please note, no private lessons the week of MAP, unless prior arrangements have been made. As MAP Chair, I will be at SMU for most of the week.

For all students, whether this is your 1st or 10th MAP, it's sure to be a positive growth experience. Come ready to learn and ask questions about your pieces! It is a wonderful opportunity to get outside feedback from a well-respected pedagogue.

I hope all have had a restful Mid-Winter Break. I'm looking forward to our regular lessons and Group Classes next week!

MAP 2023 - Schedule Posted!

Music Artistry Program/Adjudications will take place on March 5 and 6! Students will perform 2 memorized pieces for our Visiting Artist, Dr. Renato Fabbro. Dr. Fabbro is a well-known pedagogue from Oregon. See his full bio at: https://fabbropianostudio.weebly.com

Date: Sun/Mon, March 5 and 6, 2023

Place: St. Martin's University, Fine Arts Building

Monday, March 6

11:40 - Grace

11:50 - Judah

12:00 - Sally

12:10 - Alexander (end 12:30)

1:30 - Grant

1:55 - Josie

2:05 - Judson

2:35 - Justin

3:00 - Landon

3:15 - Sky

3:45 - Consultation

Students of Sky: 4:25-4:55

Derek

Sam

Students of Chloe: 5-5:20

Eleanor

Sunday, March 5

4:00 - Charles

4:15 - Max

4:35 - Chloe (end 5:05)

Please bring your music scores (no photocopies please) and have questions ready for Dr. Fabbro! All students participating will be considered for the OMTA Honors Recital on Sunday, March 12. Let me know if you have any questions!

Chloe wins OSO Young Artist Competition AND brings home Gold Medal from ChopinNW!

Congratulations to Chloe! She performed her Chopin Ballade No. 1 at the Chopin NW Competition, bringing home the Gold Medal! What a fantastic performance. As winner, she was featured in a winners recital in Bellevue, along with a cash prize. You can catch her performance here: https://youtu.be/Wta-iO4vaoo

Yeay, Chloe (we were making her laugh)! The hat suits her, don’t you think?

In addition, the OSO announced the winners of its first ever OSO Young Artist Competition. Chloe won first prize in the Senior Division! She will perform a concerto with the OSO next season. This is such an exciting opportunity - thank you, OSO!

OCO Concert on Sunday, Feb. 19 @ 2:30pm - Chloe will perform her concerto with them. I hope many of you can make it!

February - Exciting Concerts Coming Up!

I hope many of you can attend two BIG CONCERTS in town this month!

Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:30 at the Minnaert Center: presents “Unrivaled: The Pianists of Cliburn”. Free tickets available for students! This will be the only West Coast presentation of the Silver and Gold Medalists of the Van Cliburn Competition. How lucky is Olympia to have these world-class pianists come!!! See “Events” for how to get free tickets.

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2:30 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church: presents the Olympia Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Nickolas Carlson. This concert will feature student winners of the OMTA Concerto Competition…including our own Chloe! She is a 4-time winner of this competition and will be performing the energetic and humorous 3rd movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. I hope you can all come to listen to great music and support her!

Piano Pal 2023 - 15 New Compositions for the New Year! And a Piano Cake!

Our 14th annual Piano Pal Composition Project - so impressive! 15 new and original pieces for the new year! Everyone embraced the composition challenge, and all appreciated having a piece of music written for them by one of their piano friends. For 6 of them (Grace, Grant, Judah, Sally, Charles, Justin), this was their very first composition. Another first - we had a young composer (Judson) include another instrumental part (cello!). Some students have been doing this every year for a number of years, and their experience shows! All pieces will be entered into the first annual composition contest. Results will be out soon.

We also had the chance to celebrate Sky - her birthday was Group Lesson day! Of course, the theme of the cake had to be fitting! Plus, Alexander, Justin, and Chloe have January birthdays as well. Happy birthday, everyone, including Mozart, whose 267th birthday was the 27th!

Happy New Year 2023!

January is already off to an exciting start! Superstar pianist, Seong-jin Cho, came to Benaroya, performing an inspiring program! He started with a Handel Suite (“Harmonious Blacksmith”), a Gubaidulina Chaconne (very modern!), and ended the first half with a stunning Brahms’ “Handel Variations”. The second half featured Brahms Op. 76 and Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes. Cho performed one encore, the Heroic Polonaise, much to everyone’s delight! What a concert!

Benaroya Hall

Chloe, Lilia, Sky, Jim and ShiauYun during intermission.

Of course, a yummy dinner at Wild Ginger beforehand was needed!

Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto was also on display during 2 recitals by Robert Jorgenson, with Ramona as the orchestra. One of the favorite piano concertos of all time!

January 16 will be our Group Lesson Week, featuring our very own Student Compositions - the Piano Pal Project. Students will surprise and present a composition to their “secret pal” and all will be revealed! This year, all compositions will be entered into a contest for the first time. Good luck to everyone!

December Update and January Dates!

Here is some information for events coming up in January.

1. Master Lessons with Dr. Oksana Ejokina (from PLU): Sunday, January 22. All Intermediate to Advanced students - please let me know by Dec. 24 if you are able to take advantage of this opportunity. She is an outstanding pedagogue, and I highly recommend it to all who are considering the WSMTA Competition, and Adjudications in March, as well as ChopinNW and OSO Young Artist Competition. 30, 45, and 60 minute lessons are available at $75/hour. She is graciously offering us a greatly discounted rate, so we are thankful to have this opportunity to work with Dr. Ejokina.

2. January Group Lesson will be our annual Piano Pal composition project! In addition to unveiling our secret pals, all compositions will be submitted for our first annual Composition Contest! 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes will be awarded to the top compositions.

3. Please make sure fees for MAP/Adjudications and Composition Contest are submitted by Jan. 4. Even though MAP is in March, we are required to sign up and submit all fees more than 2 months in advance. National Guild, which happens in early June, also has early registration (Feb).

Good job to all students who performed at Barnes and Noble! Thank you for sharing your music with our community! I wish you a happy and restful vacation and merry holidays to all of you!

Awesome performances and wonderful holiday attire was on display by these students!

Olympia Symphony Orchestra announces NEW Young Artist Competition!

Brand New!!!

The Olympia Symphony Orchestra, with its new director, Alexandra Arrieche, is announcing a new Young Artist Competition, Sunday, January 29, 2023!

There will be 2 types of auditions: Young Artist Live Competition AND a People’s Choice Video Audition. The Junior Division is ages 13 and under. The Senior Division is ages 14 to high school senior. Students may apply to both types of auditions.

For more information and application form: https://www.olympiasymphony.org/young-artist-competition