A NEW SCHOOL YEAR!!!!!

Dear Students and Parents,

I am looking forward to seeing each of you next week! 

Mr. Purchase and I just came back from a two week, 35th Anniversary trip to Brussels, Bruges and Ghent in Belgium, Prague, Czech Republic and Vienna, Austria. We saw amazing architecture, heard beautiful chamber concerts in a castle, visited breath taking art museums and even visited Mozart's home in Vienna! It was very inspiring to see how music and art are such an integral part of the culture in Europe. The dedication to exquisite craftsmanship and detail 3-4 centuries ago resulted in a timeless beauty that has transended the ages. I attached a few photos to illustrate- please forgive the bad photography!!!!

This striving for excellence is something we can all benefit from incorporating into our own lives and I have listed below some steps that will help students to be successful in their musical studies this year.

1. Please make note of important dates that are up on the website Calendar of Events, so that students know what is coming up and can prepare and plan accordingly

2. Come to lessons prepared, having practiced, bringing all materials you will need.

3. Set aside regular practice time as a daily appointment that you do not miss for any reason

4. When you sit down to practice, please look at your notebook, where I will write suggestions and assignments for your practice time.

5. Practice your existing repertoire at least twice a week, first with the music and then without. 

6. Listen to really good music and attend the many free and low cost, high quality concerts that are made available to us through the Miami International Piano Festival and the National Chopin Foundation, to name a few. I will always forward the information regarding these concerts to you when I receive them.

 

 

 

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Summer Lessons and News

Summer is flying by! I hope everyone is getting the rest and relaxation that they deserve! I have been traveling quite a bit in between teaching Summer Lessons.

I am getting ready to attend the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in Chicago in late July. I am looking forward to hearing the many workshop presentations and to see the latest trends in technology and in teaching. Just the jump start needed for the fall! I can't wait to share what I learned!

I will email the summer lesson schedule to students each week. If you do not receive the schedule and know you signed up for lessons, please call me on Mondays before the Tuesday lessons just to check that you are on the schedule. 

GUILD Auditions AND YEAR END NEWS

I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by! We have been in a whirlwind of musical activities since September and are heading into the home stretch with State Junior Convention this weekend in Jacksonville, National Piano Guild Auditions beginning May 23, a nursing home performance May 29th, our Spring Recital on June 1 (see post below!) and Summer Lessons beginning on June 9th!  

Thank you, all for your commitment and support for your children and their musical endeavors. I am so proud of them all!

We just finished FSMTA District VI Student Day Performance Evaluations on April 25 and 26. 30 Students entered from Level Primary through Level 12. All Students received Honors in either Written, Aural, or Performance, and 27 of 30 received  Honors in all!!!! (scoring 90 or above in all areas) 28 received Honors in their Performance exams, qualifying to participate in the North Area Honors Recital! Needless to say, I am so proud of all of them.

Especially Alex Griswold who received the Aural Theory Prize for the District VI highest score at Level 12 and Melissa Redway, who received the District VI highest score for Written Theory!

Here are a few photos of the students who were able to attend the Honors Recital.Clara, Brett and Dylan 

Right: Esther, Jiully, Kaitlyn, Andrew, Christine and Francesca

Left: Love the tie, Dylan!!

                                                     

Left: Kaitlyn performing Spanish Romance by Mier

Right: Andrew performing Mouse Hunt by Roubos

Just a few reminders regarding the months of May and June:

1. Guild Auditions will take place the week of May 23-28th. These auditions will take the place of your regular lesson for the week.

(If you are not participating in Guild, we will set up a time for your lesson around the auditions)

2. The last week for lessons for the 2014-2015 school year is the week of June 1-5

3. Summer Lesson registration is now open. Please see me to sign up for lessons. I will be teaching 6 weeks on TUESDAYS, beginning:

June 9, June 16

July 14, July 21

August 4, August 11

Please see me to schedule these. They will be on a first come, first served basis.

4. REGISTRATION for the Fall 2015-2016 school year is now open. The deadline for re-registration is Saturday, June 27th NOT July 1, as I will be out of town and unable to receive your registration forms and fees on the usual JULY 1. There are several students on the waiting list for the fall. If you are not planning to continue study in the fall, please let me know right away, so that these spots may be opened to new students. If you have younger children you would like to begin lessons, please let me know that as they will receive priority consideration.

I think that is it for now!

Love,

Mrs. Purchase

SPRING RECITAL Monday Evening June 1, 2015

Annual Spring Recltal

Monday June 1, 2015

7:00 PM

First Christian Church - Main Sanctuary

201 SE13th Street - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33316

Dear Families: You may invite friends and family to attend the recital. You may video. Please arrive in plenty of time to set up. Be sure your battery is fully charged as I (or whoever is videoing for me) will be using the outlet to record the recital.

No flash photography will be permitted during performances. It can be detrimental for your child to have distracting flashes going off while they are trying to focus on their performance.

Dear Students: Please wear formal recital attire. Long dresses or skirts for young ladies and suits or dress pants, and dress shirts with a tie for young gentlemen. Absolutely no jeans, shorts, tee shirts, short skirts, sneakers, flip flops, clunky jewelry, long fingernails etc. Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the recital and check in for seating with the other students.

Dear Parents: Please bring a tray of food for the reception table. Please bring a little more if you have a large group attending. Please bring it to the table in the choir room before the recital. I will provide the paper goods, coffee, cake and punch.

Also, please allow one and a half to two hours for the recital. Remember that many people will spend hours at a sporting event, yet have a hard time sitting through a shorter cultural event like a piano recital. I promise that we will move as quickly as possible through the evening and, hopefully, you will enjoy every minute. This is a celebration of all that your child has accomplished musically through out the year.

District VI Student Day Performance Exams

FSMTA District 6 Student Day Performance Exams will take place April 25 and 26, 2015 at Broward College, Central Campus. This is the same location that the Theory Exams took place. I will notify you of the schedule in early April.

The District VI North Area Honors Recital will take place the following Saturday, May 2, 2015  at St. Mary Magdeline Church in Coral Springs.