March 2014 Newsletter

Cedar Grove Piano Studio

March 2014 Newsletter

Studio Festival Workshop – Sunday, March 23, 2014

            The Festival Workshop at the Abbey for the Arts is coming up this week!  So soon!  Practice up this week – I know it’s been March Break – so some of you have been away, and busy with other things.  Let’s make great performances at the Workshop.  Check the last Newsletter for your performance time.

1.      Bring your music with you in case you need it.

2.      Dress for a performance… since we’re not doing rock band music – no jeans please.  Casual dressy would be great!

3.      Please arrive about 10 – 15 minutes early – you know me, I will be trying my best to stay on time.

4.      Bring your smiles and great bows!  Be a good sport and congratulate others on their performances.

Composition Project

            This year we are going to work on compositions for the last lessons from now until the recital in June.  EVERYONE is going to compose a piece of music.  YIKES!  Not really – it will be fun to see what each of you can come up with.  I will be giving you direction on how to go about doing this.  You might already have an idea of what you would like to do.  That’s great!  But if you don’t, don’t worry – I have lots of ideas and ways to get your creative juices flowing.  At first you will be writing your compositions on staff paper that I will provide.   Later, when most of the changes are done, we will be writing it into a music notation program.  Parents – if you have access to the internet (I know most of you do) – please allow the students to download a program called Musescore.  It is a free download available at http://musescore.com/  Students will need a thumb drive to save their project on and bring to lessons. For those of you who do not have access to the internet, we will work on writing the student’s composition on Musescore here at the studio. 

If you need more staff paper to work on, just click here  and you will find a pdf of various sized paper you can choose from that I got from another site (Joy Morin)  Just print the size you need. I will also put some staff paper under the "free music" listing at the side.

End of Year Recital

            I cannot believe how quickly this year is going!  Mark your calendars for the end of year Recital – Friday, June 13, 2014

Music Camp – 2014

            Music Camp dates are set for this year.  You can download a camp brochure here or pick one up at the Studio Festival Workshop or at the Studio.  Applications are due by June 15^th (the Recital basically).  I have added a new camp this year.  Forte Camp is the same as the Fortissimo Camp, but is packed into a three hour morning. 

If you have friends or neighbours that take lessons from someone else, they may be interested in attending one of the camps.  This is fine as long as they continue on with their own teacher in the fall.  Your word of mouth endorsement of the camps is the only way these camps will continue to be offered.  So feel free to take some extra brochures to pass out, or refer your friends to the website where they can see pictures of past camps and download their own copy of the brochure. There are also 2 camps available for those who have no piano lesson experience – the Adventure Camp for 6 – 9 year olds in August is a general music camp, and the Piano Discovery Camp for 4 and 5 year olds is just that – where young ones can get some exposure to the piano… great fun! (Just so everyone is aware, schools are not keen on passing out information like this because I am considered a private business person - neither will the library allow me to place my information there, and community bulletin boards are very limited.  This is why I rely on you to pass the word around... with a big thank you!)

Music Camp 2014 Brochure

A half dozen Summer Lessons

            This year I am offering a set of 6 summer lessons.  Current students can take advantage of these lessons if they wish to keep going for a time over the summer months.  Those who would like to “try out” the piano can also do so for this limited time with no obligation to continue lessons in the fall.  Cost and details are below. If you know of someone who is thinking they might like to take lessons, but is concerned about whether they will like it, this is a perfect way to give it a try.

30 min lessons - $100

45 min lessons - $150

60 min lessons - $200

Terms and conditions:  

These six lessons are sold as a block of lessons that must be used between June 16 and August 15, 2014.  Lesson times must be booked in advance but can be flexible in that there may be 2 lessons one week and none the next, for example.  Lesson times that are booked and missed without notice will not be made-up. Lessons not used by the end of the day, August 15, 2014 will not be reimbursed or made up.   Books and downloaded music are not included in this offer and will be billed separately.

Thought you might get a kick out of this cartoon!  :)

It is my pleasure to teach your children! 

Blessings, Mary