Performances

My 2025 Studio Piano Recital (with a Food Theme!)

It’s that time of year: recital season!

On Sunday, my students presented a recital of music around the theme of FOOD. Earlier this year, I had granted my two high school seniors the honor of choosing the theme, and that was the result. After the recital, we enjoyed a potluck meal together. Many of the families brought a food item that was related to the title of their student’s piece, which was fun.

We held our recital at the church where I am employed as part-time director of music. The church was recently blessed with a donation of a new piano: a Yamaha U1 with a Disklavier player piano system. (This is a story I hope to blog more about soon!) It’s a fantastic piano, making this venue even more ideal for our spring recital.

I was pleased that a few of my Ohio-based students were able to make the hour-long drive up to Michigan to participate in this recital. It made my heart happy to have my students together and get to hear some of my long-time students alongside the young ones.

One of my students was recognized with a Legacy Award — marking eight years of study with me.

My two senior masterminds behind the Food Theme – the one on the left was the new legacy student.

I’m sure many of you are in the midst of recital season in your own piano studio. Happy recital-ing to you!

P.S. Registration is open NOW for “Organize Your Life With Notion,” the acclaimed online Notion workshop with Amy Chaplin and me! Join us May 7, 14 and 21 from 12:30pm-2:30pm Eastern and we’ll help you unify your digital life in one place! Read more and register here.

Announcements, Performances, seasonal / holiday

Studio Christmas Party Update – Food!

My apologies for being MIA from the blog the last few weeks!  At the beginning of the semester, I put up posters around the music building of the university in my town for freelancing as a collaborative pianist.  A few music majors contacted me rather last minute to ask if I’d accompany them for their end-of-the-semester juries as well as a concerto competition.  Learning their music and scheduling rehearsals has kept me very busy the last few weeks!  But I’m grateful for the extra money, especially after finishing all my Christmas shopping.  🙂  Anyway, I’m back now!  Juries are today, and this week will be much less hectic than the previous few weeks.

Now I’m focusing on the last stages of planning for my Studio Christmas Party on Saturday.  A couple of parents have volunteered to bring goodies, so I just need to make a few things.  I found some great food ideas on Pinterest.  (I love Pinterest! Are any of you on Pinterest?  Feel free to follow me, and I’ll be sure to follow you back!)  Continue reading “Studio Christmas Party Update – Food!”

Announcements

As Promised: Master’s Recital Video Recordings

As promised, here are a few selections from my Master’s Recital in January!   I would have loved to be able to post the Gwyneth Walker piece for you to hear, but it is not old enough to be in the public domain yet so posting a recording online would not be legal (if I have my facts straight).  All the clips were edited with iMovie, a free video editing software that comes on all Apple computers.

Click here to view the post with the program notes for each piece.  Enjoy!

Haydn: Sonata No. 52 in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI:52 L. 62, Allegro.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpEDQNlKZw4 Continue reading “As Promised: Master’s Recital Video Recordings”