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

OAPC Winners Recital - Recap

An eager audience of about 40 attended a recital put on by Avah and Enzo, 2 of the top winners of the Outstanding Artist Piano Competition (Junior Division). They amazed us with their talent and artistry! Afterwards, we had a short Q & A, snacks and sodas, where the crowd was able to ask them questions. Some snippets: How old are you? (ages 13 and 14); how many hours do you practice every day? (2 to 3 hours/day!); what do you do for fun? (sports, reading, playing games, hanging out with friends and family, playing duets with family); favorite pieces and composers; information about their pieces; other instruments they play, etc. These students are incredibly talented, and yet it was nice to see how normal and down-to-earth they were. It was a delightful way to spend the afternoon before Thanksgiving!

Piano Pal Studio Challenge!

For our next studio challenge, I am going to ask everyone to improvise on a scale, cadence pattern or arpeggio for a few minutes - 3 minutes for K-5 and 5 minutes for 6-12th (charts coming home next week). For some this will come easy! For others, you may be watching the clock! Here are great some ideas that we learned from Jennifer Bowman:

1. Try 2 chords in the LH (like I and V) and a RH scale for melody. Try “cousin chords” that share notes. Try the “rock star LH”.

2. Give yourself some rules and boundaries, and keep it simple!

3. No judgement! Just play around and try things - different chords, keys, styles. Build on small patterns.

4. Copycat other pieces that you like, or are playing!

5. Try organizing the form of the piece, like into groups of 2, 4 or 8 measures.

6. Most of all, have fun!

You can find more information on Jennifer Bowman, including her recent Bridgerton film contest submission at https://www.jenniferbowmanmusic.com!

November Group Performance Classes

Our November Group Performance Class was quite impressive and exciting!

First of all, we had a group class for all of the Concerto students - WOW! They worked so hard and their hard work paid off! Lots of awards at the Competition too (see below)

Secondly, our non-concerto students performed for each other. I loved their comment cards to each other! From "it sounded like a lamb discovering there's a world beyond the hills" to beautiful drawings of what the piece made them feel and "I felt happy, to sad, and loved the sound", it was a great experience for both performer and audience.

Lastly, we were privileged to have Jennifer Bowman, composer/pianist/teacher extraordinaire, come and demonstrate her composition process. She showed us various ideas on the piano as well as on her laptop and music composition software. She inspired us and got our creative juices flowing, especially helpful as we begin our annual Piano Pal composition project. See next post for some of her great ideas. Her website is: https://www.jenniferbowmanmusic.com, where you can find more of her music and projects.

Concerto Competition - Results are in!

Congratulations to all of our amazing students who took part in the Concerto Competition! This competition is for students who are willing to take on a significant piece of concerto repertoire and push themselves. I’m so proud of them all - Josie, Landon, Alexander, Grant, Max, Chloe, Sky. Also, the students who learned a concerto movement and performed at the recital/group class - Justin and Charles. Way to go!

How many students can say they have learned and memorized a concerto movement, and performed it on stage? Not everyone got prizes, but all of them earned bragging rights. I congratulate ALL of them for their hard work and determination!

Four of our Elementary and Intermediate A students - so proud of them! For 2 of them, this was their very first competition!

Results:

Alexander, Honorable Mention (Elementary - Concerto in Classical Style/1st mvt)

Grant, 3rd Prize (Int. A Division - Vandall Concerto in G/3rd mvt)

Max, 1st Prize (Int. B Division - Asch Concertino)

Chloe, 1st Prize (Advanced B - Tchaikovsky 1st/3rd mvt)

Sky, 2nd Prize (Advanced B - Shostakovich 2nd/2nd mvt)

Congrats also to Josie and Landon (Elementary - Olson Celebration/2nd and 3rd)

As first prize winner of Advanced, Chloe will perform her Tchaikovsky with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra in February. We are so excited!

Way to go, everyone!

Grant - our 3rd prize winner of the Intermediate A Division! What a great performance!

Congrats to Max - 1st prize in Intermediate B! That’s a nice shiny accessory to the suit.

When did this kid get so tall?!!!

Congratulations to Landon (one of my favorite students in the world)!

These two are just fabulous - 1st and 2nd Prizes in Advanced B! Truly artistic performances.

As First Prize winner, Chloe will perform with Tchaikovsky with the Olympia Chamber Orchestra this season! What a nice trophy to add to your collection. Congratulations, we are so excited for you and proud of your artistic achievements!

Josie played so well! This was her very first competition, and she performed with courage and grace!

Concerto Recital - Wowza!

Our annual Concerto Recital was held at Good Shepherd Lutheran. Everyone played so well! We have several students for whom it is their first concerto, and others who have performed a half dozen or more, and those in between. We ended with a rousing quartet of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’. All are welcome to come to the Concerto Competition on Nov. 19 and 20! See “Events” for times and details.

First Fall Group Classes!

What fun to hear everyone's first performance this fall! Everyone bravely played their piece(s) and listened respectfully to each other. It was fun to meet new piano friends and reconnect with old ones. Here's a recap of our class time. You can ask your student about more!

1. Teams Bach, Beethoven and Brahms tried their hand at Piano Trivia! Did you know that the piano was invented in 1709? The modern grand has over 10,000 moving parts? The most expensive piano ever made was The Crystal Piano built for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, $3.5 million? That the piano has a range larger than ALL of the other instruments?

2. A number of students brought in wonderful lego and artistic creations representing their piece! It was impressive and fun to see another creative side to them. Pictures posted below.

3. We got to hear everyone's exciting performance. Each student also did a fabulous bow, announcing of their piece, and even some historical background to their piece and composer. Such a great way to hear other repertoire and for performance practice! The Elem/Middle class got to hear the very first performance of the "Don't Stop Believin" Quartet! Phew, it was close, but they made it through!

4. Our composer focus was Claude Debussy of the Impressionistic Era. We listened to Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque and learned about his life. What an amazing artist!

5. Of course, we had to have a musical snack - cookies to represent half and quarter notes. Students who brought in art/legos also took home freshly picked apples from Bellewood Acres. Students were given a piano challenge for this month - hopefully many of them will take it on!

Our next Group Performance Classes will be:

Nov. 15 (concerto students, 4-5pm), and

Nov. 21 (non-concerto, 4-4:30pm). Here's an exciting announcement. For our Nov. 21 class (4:30-5:30pm), after performances, we will have local composer, Jennifer Bowman, come and share about her pieces and her compositional process! I'm so thrilled to offer this opportunity to meet a real live published composer! I think this will be very inspiring for everyone, as we prepare for our annual Piano Pal composition project.

It's such a great group of young piano students, we are off to a wonderful year of learning and sharing our music!

Students from the Elementary class show off their artistic and lego creations! Pieces about Rubik’s cubes, sunsets, a pony and a dog, Tchakovsky, and a Chopin Waltz were all represented.

The “Don’t Stop Believing’ Quartet” - first performance!

Luke Receives High School Diploma in Music and Paderewski Medal!

Congratulations to Luke who earned the HS Diploma in Music from the American College of Music! This diploma is awarded to students who have performed National Level auditions for 10 years at a high level. This comprises 100 pieces of memorized music, scales, technique, improv, ear training, improv, sight reading, etc! In addition to the diploma, Luke received the Paderewski Medal for 10 years of excellence, and the Guild Scholarship. He is now headed to UW to pursue a degree in engineering.

Senior Recital featuring Gabriel!

Senior Recital - By Gabriel! July 2022, at The Chapel @ TUCO. Gabriel’s wonderful senior recital program included Beethoven’s monumental “Appassionata”, along with Bach’s Fm Prelude & Fugue, Rachmaninoff’s Liebeslied, Chopin’s Winter Wind, and more! Two weeks later, Gabriel performed an Oboe senior recital with a bassoonist.

Gabriel will attend Rice University as a Computer Science major. We’re so proud of him and wish him all the best!