March Minutes
For the March minutes, please click here. |
Upcoming Events
April 21 - Awards Competition
April 27 - Awards Recital at the Steinway Gallery
April 30 - Scholarship Deadline for Music Camp
May 20 - Luncheon at La Tasca
May 21 - Certification Coffee at Jennifer Cohen's
June 3 - Board Meeting
|
|
|
|
|
A Note from Our President
Dear Members,
Greetings!
I can hardly believe this year is almost over -- it has flown by! I'm sure everyone is busy preparing spring recitals and end-of-year activities. I wish the weather would cooperate and it would start to feel like spring!
We had a wonderful teacher musicale at on Monday -- it was a beautiful variety of pieces and several 2-piano performances, thanks to Steinway allowing us to use their space and pianos. Thank you to everyone who participated, and to all who came to support their fellow teachers.
I am hoping we have a large turnout for the May Luncheon, on May 20th, at La Tasca Restaurant in Arlington Heights. Make your reservations with Justyna Krafft-Weirich!
Don't forget this Sunday's concert at 3:00 p.m. at Harper College, featuring our very own Janice Razaq & Olga Bornovalova. They will be performing "Starstruck" from Images (Michael Karasis), Concerto for Two Pianos in D Minor (Poulenc), Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saens), Carnival Overture Op. 92 (Dvorak). It promises to be a delightful program!
Amy Beaton, our member who is involved with Ars Viva, has notified me of another great opportunity for our students, with their Music for Life Program -- The April 28th concert at 3pm at the North Shore Center in Skokie we will feature 15 year old Ryan Jannak-Huang, student of Brenda Huang, performing the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2. All children ages 4-11 are welcome to attend the concert FREE with the purchase of an adult ticket. Older students can take advantage of a very generously reduced student ticket. Ages 4-7 will hear the first piece on the program, then go to a classroom in the building and learn about what they heard. Ages 8-11 will stay until intermission and will see Ryan perform. They will then go to the classrooms. Ryan will come visit after intermission. A healthy snack will be served.
Here is some information for your students on the above program:
Know the Score: Tone Color! On April 28, we'll dive into Corigliano's Gazebo Dances! We'll explore the tarantella and some of the other folk dances from this great piece! We'll read review and explore all of the families of sound, and read The Remarkable Farkle McBride! We'll hear some great performances by our student helpers from the Music Institute's Academy program, and have a special visit from the soloist and winner of the Music Institute's concerto competition. We'll finish our class by decorating our own Know the Score bookmark!
Also coming up is Glenna Sprague's 6 Piano Ensemble at Oakton Community College on Saturday, April 27, 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 28, 3:00 p.m.
Maureen Flood. President
|
Sunday Recital at Harper
Janice Razaq and Olga Bornovalova will be performing the Poulenc "Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra" and Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals" with the Harper Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, April 14, at 3:00 p.m. The performance will be in the Performing Arts Center at Harper College and tickets can be obtained by getting in touch with the Box Office at 847-925-6100.
|
April Program
|
Our April 15th program will feature speaker Barbara Kreader presenting: Tuning Into the You-Tube Generation: How Have Students Changed Over the Years?
This session will explore the ways students and teaching have changed from the days of the 1950s television program "Ding Dong School" to today's You-Tube educational tutorials. It will examine the altered pace and patterns of today's students ways of learning as well as their increasing need to master music of all styles. lisa Oehler, Program Chair
|
|
|
|
|
.
Note from the Editor
Sir Ken Robinson is a leader in the development of creativity and human resources. He speaks out for revolution, rather than reform in education, which he feels is in crisis. I suggest you read his books and hear him speak on the internet. He is a very humorous speaker. It will give you something to think about. And as educators, the topic should fascinate you.
As music teachers, we're aware that the longer our students have been in school, the more they're afraid to make a mistake. This wreaks havoc on trying to get a student to improvise or play by ear. Robinson points out our schools turn out fast food education where everything is guaranteed to be the same (even if it's not good for you). He encourages us to move to the Zagat type of education, which is built on diversity, with a personalized approach to what is offered. He strongly argues that the arts should be the center of education or there is no education!
.
Robinson laments that our schools do not teach creativity. Instead, students are being taught from the waist up, as if they only have heads and only on one side. What our students need are full physical embodied experiences. To quote Robinson, "Creative environments give people time to experiment, to fail, to try again, to ask questions, to discover, to play, to make connections among the seemingly disparate elements." Experiencing all of this may not lead to an artistic product, but it will teach someone the creative process.
If we can incorporate the above ideas into our teaching, we'll do an extraordinary job furthering our students education in music and life.
Sincerely,
Deb Lynch, Editor
|
Piano Teaches Have Good Taste
Chyi-Ling Evans and Fran Only are in the pink for the NWSMTA recital. It is not required to dress alike to attend, but they do it very well. They even both wore pearls. We can't wait for the next recital.
|
|
Northwest Suburban Music Teachers Association Maureen Flood, President Joan James, Webmaster
Deborah Lynch, Newsletter
|
|
|