I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Easter weekend!
Saturday was my students’ Spring Recital! Like last year, I held it at my local library. My students all did such a nice job — they make me so proud!
In photo above you’ll see each student with a rose, which is a tradition I’ve kept up for the last few years. It’s nice to give something at the end of the recital, and giving a rose is a nice, affordable gesture to congratulate them for their performance and hard work.
Do you have a recital tradition? 🙂
I do a different one each time as a gift. The first recital I had as a studio was last spring and we did certificates. In the winter I gave them traditional Christmas poppers that were wrapped in solfege paper and had little trinkets inside for fun and I gave the older students ornamnets that I handmade out of old sheet music.
This spring I’ll be giving them frames with a picture of all of us that I painted the frame on from the $1 section of Michaels. I’m hoping to maybe get some more individual pictures of just me and the student till May and put those in but we’ll just have to see.
I just have one recital per year… in June. I make a rather big affair and for years now I have been giving each student a music book – at or below their grade level – for pleasure, in hopes that they keep playing over the summer. The next year they bring their book with them to lessons and we use it occassionally for a fun supplementary piece. It costs a bit, but I have found a website where I get a 20% discount and that helps a lot. And I find that the students and parents are very appreciative of the gift.
I hold recitals either in my home or at the local Alzheimers’ daycare center, where we always have a warm and enthusiastic audience in a low pressure environment.
In the past, I’ve given the performers ” I love Piano” pencils which I buy in bulk by mail-order, or when I’m feeling really creative, I make little music notes from black clay, and attach them to key-chains or earring backs ( I buy them in a craft store)- my students love them!
Dear Judy – So nice to hear that you also hold recitals in an Alzheimer’s Home. I’ve done that, as well as performing with my students in “active seniors” residences. For my recital this June, I will have it in our church basement – the piano will be tuned. 😉 With 10 students, 2 parents each, siblings and grand parents who want to come, that’s quite a horde of people descending on a senior’s residence.
At Christmas we had enough students that we performed The Nutcracker Suite, with my newest student narrating the story. Each of my students received a small nutcracker. This June I’ll give all my kids the colouring books that are so popular now. Not a music theme, but I think they’ll like it. Cheers! Irena T.
You do your spring recital much earlier than I do. I would be interested to hear what your yearly calendar layout is and what makes you do your spring recital at the beginning of April. Do you also do a year-end recital? My “spring recital” is my “school year end” recital, the third Sunday in May, right before we move into summer session. Just curious. 🙂
Spring is so busy and crazy, that I try to schedule the Spring Recital early — the end of March or sometime in April. I think students are less over-scheduled this time of year, so they are more likely to participate. In my area, there are a few ribbon festivals for students to participate in during the month of March, so I thought it was appropriate to have our recital a few weeks later so they could perform the same piece for the recital.
I don’t plan to hold a year-end recital, but I might do some other kind of studio-wide project…we’ll see! 🙂
That is so neat, Joy! How did you get the piano into the library?
I’ve only done one recital so far. I gave away three door prizes that the audience got to pick: one for a piano student, one for a parent and one for a guest that they brought.
I didn’t have to move the piano at all — my local library happens to have that lovely little Steinway grand! It is a really nice room that seats about 100 people and it only costs $50 to rent. Next year I might have to find a bigger venue, though…we’ll see!
I love the rose tradition!!! I give all 40 of mine a certificate and a JUMBO Mr. Freeze….which is usually very welcome on a hot June evening! 😉
…love your library… woooowwww! I’m traditional – recital at local church with grand piano followed by piano teacher punch and cookies! I don’t give out any gifts, though I think the rose is a very nice gesture. I’ve actually considered presenting a little something to the parents to validate and encourage their crucial support, but haven’t taken that idea to the next level yet.
I have given helium balloons from the dollar store with blowpops to anchor them for the students. They make a neat backdrop for the piano.
Thanks joy! What a wonderful idea! I contine to give out trophies in different sizes according to certain goals reached. Last year I let a student design our program cover and that generated a lot of excitement!!
I do flowers as well–roses, carnations, or whatever else is in stock. They stand in a vase on the stage during the performance, then I hand them out at the end. The only disadvantage is the leftover petals and leaves on the floor afterwards. Something about the beauty of nature along with the beauty of music that keeps this going for me.
My other spring tradition is to have the students write short bios about themselves that I print in the program. I give them suggestions like age, school, what you like about piano, other interests. Some examples:
My name is mm. I will be 12 years old this year on May 16th. I go to Anytown Middle School in Anytown, Ohio. I have played piano for about 5 years and also play the saxophone. I love to play soccer and do tae-kwan-do, (I am a black belt.) I love the flow and magical feeling of my song “Brush of Autumn”. It just echoes and has a magical and spellbinding feeling that just sweeps me up in the music.
GG – My favorite number is 4, I am 9 years old, and I am in 3rd grade. My favorite colors are pink, purple and black. I started playing piano when I was 5 and violin when I was 4. I have one sister named xx and one brother named yy. I don’t like going to bed early, but I know when I need to go to bed. At my school we are hatching chicks and raising butterflies.
My name is rr. This is my first year of piano. I am nine years old. My favorite piece is Bullfrog Blues. What I like doing is this: playing piano and reading and climbing trees. My favorite movie is Star Wars. What I want to be when I grow up is a nun.
I am 16 years old and a junior at Worthington Kilbourne High School. It took me a long time to truly appreciate the piano, but I really enjoy it now. I love the feeling you get when you’re just playing around or when you’ve been working on a piece for a while and it starts to come together and just feeling the music. I also play guitar, drums, bass, clarinet and I’m trying to learn the harmonica. I also love playing frisbee with my friends, and drawing and painting.
Hello, my name is qq and I am almost 9 years old. I am in the third grade at QWE School. I have been playing piano with Ms. Benson since I was 5. I enjoy playing piano, soccer and softball. I am excited for summer vacation, I love to be outside!!
I am 6 years old and attend kindergarten at Tremont Elementary. I have been taking piano with Mrs. Benson for 9 months. I like piano because I like to make music and it sounds pretty. I also enjoy tennis, ice-skating, roller-blading and swimming.
And my favorite of all times:
I am six years old. I have been playing piano for one year. I don’t like piano….I LOVE piano! I like playing songs really fast. I practice whenever I can. Some day I want to play piano while my sister plays violin.
Great idea, Laura! 🙂