November Updates

Happy November! The Fall Quarter has zipped by - on top of lessons, we've already had our first Performance Class where everyone performed a piece, and 2 Master Class/Lesson opportunities. Students have all been practicing and making amazing progress! Here are some upcoming events for the last couple months of 2025.

1. Saturday, November 8 @ 3:30pm: Autumn Recital @ Sunbreak Church - see website for more details. Free and open to the public.

2. Tuesday, Nov. 11, 1-2pm: 2nd Group Performance Class for all students! Since this is Veterans Day/No School day, our class will be earlier in the day. Secret Piano Pal (aka annual Composition project) will be introduced. This is time of year to get the creative juices flowing - I love to see what amazing songs these students create!

3. Sunday, Nov. 16 @ 1:15pm: CONCERTO RECITAL! Concertos are a big project in the fall that students have been diligently working on. They are sounding AMAZING! This recital is a chance to hear all of our students at one time - at the competition, they will be in different divisions throughout the day. Feel free to bring a snack to share, invite family and friends, and enjoy an hour of beautiful concerto repertoire.

4. Saturday, Nov. 22, all day @ Gospel Outreach Church: OMTA Concerto Competition. Students in Elementary, Intermediate A & B, and Advanced A & B will perform in separate divisions throughout the day. Best wishes to our wonderful students! Free and open to the public.

5. No Lessons Thanksgiving Week - Happy Thanksgiving!

6. Saturday, Dec. 6 @ Barnes & Noble: Annual Holiday Play-a-thon! Keep in mind that this event is just a week after Thanksgiving, so make sure to budget your practice time!

It's been a great first quarter with these delightful young pianists!

So proud of Rye (Burgmuller Arabesque) and Alex (Debussy Arabesque #1) who performed for the community at the Autumn Festival Recital - beautiful!

Concerto Recital - students performed concerti by Moskowski, Hummel, Shostakovich, Anna Asch and Rocherolle, plus bonus pieces by Burgmuller and Haydn. What an amazing recital!

Bonus Photo! Pierre Laurent Aimard came to Seattle to perform the complete Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2, truly an historic work of art, and an historic concert. So great to catch up with Chloe who is enjoying her first year at UW as a music major!

Master Lessons with Art Peterson!

Master Lessons with Art Peterson, took place on Saturday, October 25. Students not only heard many useful tips for technique, but also stories about Stephen Hough, Rachmaninoff, Hoffman, Eugene Ormandy, and other famous musicians of the past!

Here are some of Mr. Peterson’s “Pro Tips”:

  1. Practice ideas:

    1. do LH alone, and exaggerate movements, lift fingers high!

    2. Play in different octaves

    3. Play one hand legato and the other staccato/accented

    4. Practice without pedal

    5. Play SLOWLY with metronome

    6. Play with shoes on, so you can get the feel of the pedal

    7. Backwards practice, start from the end.

    8. Practice with rhythms, but SUPER exaggerate the dots

    9. In unison passages, try crossing hands!

    10. Block intervals

  2. Engage your brain by:

    1. looking at your LH while playing

    2. Play LH while closing right eye; then play RH while closing left eye.

  3. Use fingerings wisely - check if it’s working or not.

Gracie trying the “cross-hand” technique on a difficult technical passage!


Vespers Recital

You’re invited to a Vespers Recital, featuring your teacher with some friends (violin, trombone, tenor) on Sunday @5pm! We will be playing Classical and Sacred music, including Bach's Toccata and Fugue in Dm, Beethoven's Spring Sonata, Franck’s Panis Angelicus, and other well-known hymns and tunes.

Dr Thomas Otten Masterclass and Workshop

October 4, 2025 @ Westminster Presbyterian Church

The Olympia Music Teachers Association invited well-known pianist and pedagogue, Dr. Thomas Otten, for a day-long workshop about “How do I get my student to sound artistic?” Dr. Otten studied with Nelita True and John Perry, both giants in the piano world, and he communicated many helpful and practical tips to reveal and coax ARTISTRY from our students. It was inspiring to the teachers!

The workshop was followed by Masterclasses for both Intermediate and Advanced young pianists. Alexander, Landon, and Shaylan were able to participate in this event - good job to all! Demanding and direct, yet encouraging and positive, Dr. Otten demonstrated an approach uncompromisingly dedicated to helping students play more musically and artistically (“which is the whole point of music”)!

First Group Lessons of Fall!

Happy October, everyone! Students have been practicing diligently this fall, and Group Performances Classes are an opportunity to share what we've been working on. There are no Regular Lessons this week unless previously arranged. Please bring your music and be ready to perform a piece for your fellow young pianists.

Our Group Lessons:  
1.  develop performance skills!
2.  bolster management of performance stress!
3.  hone good listening skills!
4.  give exposure to more piano music!
5.  develop a community of young pianists!
6.  are full of supportive and empathetic listeners!
7.  enhance theory and history knowledge through games!
8.  and more!!

Summer Movie and Lake Afternoon!

Students gathered for an afternoon of Disney’s original “Fantasia” (1940), one of the top 100 films of all time! Some of the favorite sections were “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas, the “Nutcracker Suite”, and the hippo ballet (aka “Dance of the Hours” by Ponchielli). They even enjoyed a FULL length Symphony (Beethoven’s “Spring Symphony”), which is quite a lot to focus on!

With such beautiful weather, they finished off the afternoon with paddling, swimming, and kayaking on the lake. And of course lots of yummy snacks to fuel all the great energy!

Alexander at the WA State Conference!

On Monday, June 30, Alexander performed at the WA State Conference for one of the Honor Recitals. Performers are selected during MAP week at the WSMTA Honor Recital Competition, and Alexander was selected as the First Alternate. He performed Chopin’s Waltz in Ab, Op. 42 (a favorite of President Harry Truman, who was a fine amateur pianist)! One of the highlights of the performance included performing on a very rare (and expensive) 9’6” Bosendorfer Imperial Grand Piano - with 9 extra keys! Great job representing Olympia Chapter, Alex!

Chloe's Senior Recital June 6 - Stunning Performance!

Within a week after earning both her High School Diploma from Olympia High School, AND Diploma in Music from the American College of Musicians, Chloe presented her SENIOR RECITAL for her friends and family and community! It was a culmination of many years of practice, honing her musical talent, and she performed some of her favorite piano works, some of which were pieces she had dreamed of performing for much of her life.

The recital began with the awe-inspiring Bach Prelude and Fugue in Fm, WTC 2, followed by Beethoven’s stormy and agile Tempest Sonata. The Heroic Polonaise was a dream piece which took years to develop the demanding technique required. The first half ended with Prokofiev’s “Young Juliet” and the heart-stopping Pletnev-Tchaikovsky “Pas de Deux”. After a brief intermission to catch a breath, Chloe wowed the crowd with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue! Two encores followed: Chopin’s Black Key Etude and the “Brahms in Salsa” duet!

In between numbers, Chloe gave a brief description of the pieces and what they personally meant to her, something the listeners loved. It was a great crowd, probably close to a hundred people, out to support and enjoy Chloe’s beautiful music! Afterwards, the hungry audience enjoyed lots of snacks, drinks, and photos. We will miss Chloe very much, and we wish her all the best as she moves on to pursue her music major as a scholarship student at the University of Washington!

National Guild Recitals

National Guild Recitals: I encourage everyone to do one or two (or more!) performances of your wonderful Guild Repertoire for family, friends, neighbors, etc!

Phoebe performed at Stonewell last week!

Landon performed for friends a few days ago, along with a few other activities - we called it the Piano, Pizza, Popsicle, Pokemon, Ping Pong, 3D Printing, and food Pantry Recital!

National Guild 2025 Update!

National Guild Auditions Update: Kudos to all for a Guild Audition well-done and well-prepared! All students passed with high marks. The practice and extra effort paid off.

These are pins awarded to National Guild participants. The top octagonal one is for the 15-piece International Programs, such as the High School Diploma Audition. The bottom left is for all students who do the 10-piece National Level Program. The bottom right is the Composer Pin awarded to all students who have 5 or more National Level Auditions. This year’s composer is Mendelssohn. Congratulations, Everyone!

Another National Guild Audition in the books! Here are some of the students with their Superior ribbons - 10 to 15 memorized pieces - well done!

Mini Pianos

Some mini pianos have been spotted around the studio! L to R: Lego Jazz Quartet, 3D printed upright, paper and tape piano made by Landon.

Spring Recital Update!

Part of our recital included celebrating our amazing senior - CONGRATULATIONS, CHLOE!

Check out the Spring Newsletter to read more on Chloe’s many accomplishments. The future is bright!

End of Spring Quarter Events

The end of the Spring Quarter is approaching, and we have some exciting culminating events coming up!

RECITALS AND NATIONAL GUILD

*June 1 (Sunday) @ 3pm: Spring Recital! Location: Westminster Presbyterian Church - this is only a couple weeks away, and everyone has been working hard to prepare!

*June 8 (Sunday) @ 9-3pm: National Guild Auditions. Location: St. Martins University - students are performing International, National and District level memorized programs, a huge accomplishment! This is only about 3 weeks away, so I have been encouraging all students to put in extra practice every day, +30 would be great!

*June 13 (Friday) @ 6:30pm: Chloe's Senior Recital. Location: Gospel Outreach Church. Come support Chloe as she presents an amazing program before taking off for college!

END OF SPRING QUARTER

The final private lessons of Spring Quarter will take place the last week of May (5/26-30) - regular lesson schedule. We will be changing our Group Performance Class to June 3. If anyone needs an extra lesson, we will add that on the week of June 2.

SUMMER LESSONS

Summer lessons will be offered on these weeks. Sign up for a minimum of 4 if you plan to take part in the Concerto Competition, and please let me know ASAP which weeks you would like lessons.

Week of: June 9 & 16; July 1 & 21; August 4 & 25

PERFORMANCES

Consider putting on a small recital (or two) for family and friends! It's a fun way to celebrate the talent and hard work of each of our young pianists. I would love to see photos and/or recordings of any such events! Also, congratulations to our students who performed in the District IV Conference Recital in Chehalis, the Pop/Jazz/Duet Recital in Olympia, and the MCE Competition at SPSCC!

Let me know if you have any questions, and let's finish out the quarter strong!

Pop/Jazz/Duet Recital and District IV Conference Recital weekend

It’s been a great weekend of music with the Pop/Jazz/Duet Recitals on May 3rd, followed by the District IV Conference Recital on May 4th.

Landon and Seiya played a duet by Czerny, full of sparkling runs and flashy fingers. Sebastien played the cello with Landon on the piano for a rendition of Vince Guaraldi’s Linus and Lucy for a very cool finale to the recital. Everyone got to celebrate the Pop/Duet recital with a soda “pop”!

All Winners (Chloe), First Alternates (Alexander) and Honorable Mentions (Grant) from the WSMTA State Conference Competitions were invited to be showcased in the District IV Conference Recital. Winners came from about 6 different counties. Alexander performed Chopin’s Waltz in Ab, and he will represent Olympia at the State Conference this June - congrats! Chloe performed Pletnev-Tchaikovsky’s Pas de Deux, much to the delight of the audience (and just a week after winning at State with this piece!). A delicious cookie reception followed (chocolate strawberry whoopie pies, anyone?)

Congratulations to all of these fine young pianists!

State Solo & Ensemble Results (Congratulations to Chloe!) and Scale Olympics Result

State Solo & Ensemble: April 26 at CWU - Congratulations to Chloe - 2nd Place Winner (Solo Piano Division) in the whole state 🏆! This annual state-wide competition features the winners from every Washington state high school, the best in each region.

Our studio also had some student winners in the orchestral and chamber divisions - well done!

The annual Scale Olympics took place at our April Group Performance Class. Students raced through their Guild technical requirements - it’s amazing how much faster and stronger everyone’s fingers have gotten this year! From scales, to Dominant and diminished 7th chords, arpeggios, modulations, and cadences, these skills help in the formation of '“fine-motor athletes”. Good job to everyone!

Gold: Chloe

Silver: Alexander

Bronze: Phoebe