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The high level of work from our studio was apparent in the number of scholarship awarded to these students!
OMTA Student-Teacher Scholarship: Luke, Sky, Chloe
OCO Scholarship: Chloe
OMTA Concerto Scholarship: Chloe
Sky: Raissa Tselentis Early Bach Scholarship for highest score nationwide
Guild Scholarship from the American College of Musicians: Luke
Congratulations, students! We are so proud of you!
Hooray to all 11 of our students who performed for the National Guild Auditions! Our judge was Barbara Woodring Brown, and she was most complimentary, awarding a Superior Plus to almost all of our studio!
At the National Level:
Josie, 1st ever!
Landon
Alexander
Linnea
Gavin
Judson
Sky
Sonata Plaque: Chloe, International Level
High School Diplomas:
Gabriel, International Level
Luke, International Level
Hobbyist: Max
Paderewski Medal and Guild Scholarship: Luke
WAY TO GO, EVERYONE! I hope everyone feels very proud for a job well done!
Gavin holds the ribbon for his 8th National Level Program, good job!
What a fabulous performance of Chopin’s 1st Piano Concerto in Em, 3rd movement! Chloe was the 1st place winner at the OMTA Concerto Competition, winning a performance with the orchestra and a scholarship from each the OCO and the OMTA! Congratulations, and what a fantastic concert!
Chloe performs under the baton of Maestro Nickolas Carlson, and with the OCO.
All smiles after a big job well done!
Duo concert at Westminster Presbyterian
What a wonderful way to wrap our piano year, with fantastic performances by these young Olympia pianists! For news and bios on the students, please see the Newsletter.
Spring Studio Recital 2022
Congratulations to our 2 seniors, Luke and Gabriel!
Special recognition to our 3 students teachers, Chloe, Sky, and Luke, who all received an OMTA scholarship for their work with their students!
So glad these two graduates came back to play for us! Gershwin “Rialto Ripples”.
We have 11 students taking part in the National Guild Piano Auditions this June. Congratulations to all, what a HUGE accomplishment! Students have prepared a 10-piece National Program, or a 15-piece International Program, all memorized.
Location: St. Martin’s University, Fine Arts Bldg
Revised Schedule - FINAL
Saturday, June 4:
2:52-3:11 Linnea
3:11-3:41 Max
3:41-4:26 Chloe (Sonata Plaque)
4:26-5:11 Sky
5:11-5:30 Alexander
Monday, June 6
9-9:20 Landon
9:20-9:40 Josie
9:40-10:15 Judson
1-1:30 Gavin
1:30-3pm Luke (HS Diploma)
3:10-4:40 Gabriel (HS Diploma)
The end of Spring Quarter is quickly approaching! Here are some important upcoming dates.
June 1: Group Lessons – our final performance class of the year! Come prepared to perform one more time before Guild and Recital!
K-6th: 5:30-6:30pm
7th-HS: 6:45-7:45pm
June 4 & 6: National Guild Auditions (please note the date change! HQ just notified me)
June 4 mid-afternoon – Schedule to be posted soon!
June 6 all day - Schedule to be posted soon!
June 7-10: Final week of regular lessons – Spring Quarter. (June 6 students will be rescheduled).
June 12: Spring Recital! 6pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church (Boulevard Rd). Free admission.
June 12: OCO Concert, featuring Concerto Competition winners – Chloe and Chopin’s 1st Piano Concerto! 2:30pm at Good Shepherd Lutheran. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.olympiachamberorchestra.org/event-details/brilliance
June 18: Duo-Piano Recital, featuring Ramona Allen and Hannah Cho! 3pm at Westminster Presbyterian, 2 Piano and 4 Hand music. Donations will go to the IRC to aid Ukrainian refugees.
Summer Lessons: These will be offered on an a la carte basis. Two lessons minimum are required for students who plan to take part in fall competitions, such as the OMTA Concerto Competition. Please let me know if you are interested, and I will send you the dates available.
Fall 2022 Lessons begin on September 12!
Have a wonderful end of the school year - what a year it’s been! Congratulations to all for your amazing progress and hard work!
On May 14, 2022, four of our students took part in the OMTA Pop Jazz Duet Recital at Gloria Dei Lutheran. What a fun concert! Featuring Linnea, Josie, Landon, and Alexander and students of all ages, a wide variety of pieces were performed on piano and vocals. Students received a beautiful certificate and a “pop” of their choice for taking part. Congratulations, everyone!
Linnea: Piano Playing Chocolate Eater’s Blues
Josie: Malaguena
Landon: Willow Tree Waltz
Alexander: Snowflake Rag & Toccata Vivo
Linnea, Alexander, Josie and Landon show off their pop after the Pop/Jazz Recital!
Congratulations to Josie! She is the first student in our 2021-22 Studio to reach 40 pieces! FORTY! What a huge accomplishment. Learning 20 pieces is impressive, 30 is amazing, and 40 is exceptional! Well done!
2pm Honors Recital Group
Sky and Gabriel - these two deserve flowers! Gabriel will represent our district at the WSMTA Conference to perform for the State Honors Recital!
Chloe and Luke - what inspriring performances! Also, Chloe was announced as winner for the WSMTA Honors Recital Competition!
3pm Honors Recital Group
The District IV State Winners/Alternates Recital was May 1 @ 3pm, Centralia Church of the Nazarene. This recital featured two of our own, Gabriel and Chloe! The students who were selected for this honor were Winners or Alternates at the Chapter WSMTA Honors Recital Competition.
Gabriel performed “Liebeslied” by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Chloe performed Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata, 3rd movement. Everyone enjoyed their amazing performances!
Congratulations to these wonderful students!
With the end of April, comes the approaching end of the piano quarter (June 12).
Here's an update on the Group Lesson/Performance Class yesterday. So great to hear everyone! The students all came prepared and performed for each other. A (very) few of our young pianists were not nervous at all, while others were able to practice channeling their nerves into positive energy for their performance. It's wonderful to see them develop these important skills of accomplishing what they set out to do ... under pressure, with an audience of peers! We heard Bach (on the harpsichord - so beautiful!), Brahms, Clementi, Debussy, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, folk songs and modern composers. It's amazing to hear all the progress that has been made since the fall!
One class did a deep dive into writing rhythms. Everyone added a measure or two to the project, and we made up a brand new song. Even the youngest in our group were able to add some excellent rhythms, and the older ones were quite complex!
The other class had a brief overview of western music history, from 1600 to now, delving into how the cultural, scientific and political world influenced the musical and artistic world, and vice versa. It's interesting to imagine the life of the composer you're playing and what inspired their composition!
A few important upcoming dates:
May 1, 3pm: District IV Honors Recital @ Church of the Nazarene in Centralia (featuring winners of the WSMTA Competition - Chloe and Gabriel!). Free and open to the public.
June 7, all day: National Guild Auditions! Many students who are taking part will perform 10 pieces for a judge and receive feedback. Big project, but these students are working hard to get prepared for this big goal!
June 12, 3pm: Spring Recital! Westminster Presbyterian Church, featuring everyone!
Since our recital and Guild Auditions are about 6 weeks away, please KEEP PRACTICING and reviewing those pieces and technique! You can work to make this your best performance yet!
As we approach the end of the piano quarter, please let me know if there are any questions.
This year, 14 teachers registered 114 students for Piano MAP in Olympia!
Congratulations to all students for their hard work and wonderful performances at MAP! Our Visiting Artist, Dr. Beverly Serra-Brooks, was amazing, one of the best we've had! She has travelled and performed all over the world, and she was most inspiring and insightful.
A few comments from Dr. B that came up several times that I really appreciated:
Music shows our humanity! Great composers from the past, their music lives on (through us!) because it shows the timeless beauty and ideals of the human spirit.
Music is a comfort and solace - no matter what you do in your life, music will be there for you!
Appreciate all the good work and music you create, don't focus on the mistakes (as we can be hard on ourselves), but appreciate the good!
Kudos to all for their hard work! And big thanks to the parents and families who encourage them and give them practice reminders! Dr. B had to choose Honor Recital winners, alternates and honorable mentions, and she said it was a very difficult decision, she even laid awake at night trying to choose between all of the young pianists in our studio.
Honors Recital Winners (in order of MAP time):
Luke Miller - Root Beer Rag (Billy Joel)
Gabriel Ong - Liebeslied (Rachmaninoff)
Sky Lin - Rendez-vous manque (Michal Block)
Chloe Song - Prelude in G Minor, Op. 23/5 (Rachmaninoff)
Alternates:
Max - Beaumont Tarantella
Calvin Aldrich - Pietzonka Tarantella
Honorable Mention:
Gavin - Avalanche
Linnea - Liebestraume
Alexander - Toccata Vivo
Josie - Busy Fingers
I also want to acknowledge two of our student-teachers who entered MAP this year: Sky and Luke. Good preparation and performance to you and your students, Sam, Derek, Katherine and Samuel!
The 3 Musketeers? MAP Co-Chairs, plus Dr. B!
The end of February is already approaching, and with it comes the anticipation of Spring Quarter and spring piano events! All students have been practicing many hours this year and developing good musical skills! Students will have the opportunity to perform 2 memorized pieces for our Visiting Artists and receive helpful feedback from them.
IMPORTANT DATES:
Week of Feb. 28: Regular private lessons, AND March Group Lessons! We are changing the usual date, in order to give all students a chance for one more performance opportunity before MAP/Adjudications. Please note that we still have regular lessons that week.
March 4: GROUP LESSONS, FRIDAY, March 4. Please note change in day and time, which was done in order to give an opportunity to all of our students and student-teachers before MAP. Come prepared to perform both your MAP pieces!
Elementary-6th: 3:45-4:45pm
MS/HS: 6:45-7:45pm
March 6: WSMTA Honors Competition @ St. Martin's University (this is only for students entered in competition)
March 8: MAP/Adjudications at St. Martin's University (see website for your scheduled time!). MAP will take place in lieu of regular private lessons that week.
March 14: Back to regular schedule!
More of our students were published in the Winter Guild Notes magazine (Winter 2022, Vol. 71, No. 3). A photo of our entire studio recital back in June 2021 was included, along with an article featuring all of our Guild participants. In addition, you can read below features on Lucas, Sky, Chloe, and Megan. Good job to everyone!
Sky and Chloe are pictured in the Fall 2021 Piano Guild Notes! Students who have accomplished the International Early Bach Medal and the Founder’s Plaque can be found in one of the quarterly publications. Congratulations to you both!
Check out Alexander’s amazing Lego Piano! There are over 3660 pieces, and it moves and plays! The keys, hammers, pedals, bench, even the wheels, are all moving parts. You can control it with your phone. If you have a chance, ask him about it! The detail is astounding.
Congratulations to the Concerto Competition participants! All practiced so hard and performed beautifully! What a pleasure to hear all of you. I personally loved playing with each of you as well.
Results from our studio:
Elementary:
Alexander: HM
Landon: HM
Sam (student of Student-teacher Sky)
Upper Intermediate:
Calvin: 3rd PRIZE
Advanced A:
Sky
Michael: 2nd PRIZE
Advanced B:
Chloe: 1st PRIZE
Gabriel: 2nd PRIZE
Christine: 3rd PRIZE
As a 1st prize winner, Chloe will perform her Chopin Concerto with the local orchestra. Congratulations and we can’t wait to hear it! Well done to everyone!
Complete results available at olymusicteachers.org.
Elementary Division: representing our studio is Alexander and Landon! Sam is Student-teacher Sky’s student. Good job!
Calvin, 3rd prize winner of Upper Intermediate!
Sky and Michael performed Mozart exquisitely! Congrats to Michael for a 2nd place win!
Advanced B 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize winners!
Congratulations to Sky who recently received a letter from the American College of Musicians with a surprise scholarship check!
Back in June, Sky presented her international level audition of 15 early keyboard works of J.S. Bach for the Guild judge. She did well, but she was still surprised to have the best score of all students nationwide. We will be submitting this information for publication in the quarterly Piano Guild Notes. Well done, Sky!
From Sky’s letter: “On behalf of the American College of Musicians, we wish to extend our congratulations you for being the recipient of the 2021 Raissa Tselentis Scholarship for excellence in the performance of the Clavier works of Johann Sebastian Bach. This award is given to the student who played an Early Bach Program in the most recent Guild Auditions and earned the highest score of those participating.”
© 2016 Ramona Allen