The past few weekends have been very musical! I am very excited to talk about how musical they have been!
February 21 and 22 were my mini recitals for all of my students. On February 21, I had two recitals, both piano, and on February 22, I had one recital, piano and vocal. All three recitals were such a success! I heard many great compliments from family members, friends, and other guests about how well the students did. All of the students were so well prepared with their music, and some even decided to perform their pieces completely from memory!
At the first recital, there were students from ages 7-17. Two of the students that performed at this recital were getting ready to perform at the festival the following weekend. The second recital had students from ages 5-10. One student who performed had only been taking lessons from me for a little over a month and a half! It was great to hear all students and to see the confidence as they played the piano. I saw many proud parents, grandparents, and other family members as well.
The recital on Sunday had both vocal and piano students. These students were all in high school, ages 15-18. This recital had everything from students singing, students playing and singing at the same time, students playing piano, a vocal trio, and a concerto! For those who are not familiar with a concerto, it is a classical piano piece that is accompanied by another person at another piano. It is different from piano duets, which is written for two people at one piano. My student, who is a senior, performed Joseph Haydn's Piano Concerto in C Major, III-Finale. If you would like to look it up online, it is pretty amazing to see! My students did a fantastic job at this recital as well, and this teacher could not be prouder!
Below are a few pictures and videos of some of the students from the recitals. It is truly amazing to see how much a student progresses in one year, and a recital is definitely the best way to show off his/her talents and how far he/she has come! Congratulations, students, on a job well done!
Kennedy and me before her recital!
Kennedy performing at the recital!
Ava!
Carson!
Alexius performing at the recital!
Vocal Trio--Emily, Addie, and Elise
Piano Concerto, Macy at the grand piano, and me on the other piano
Ashlyn, Addie, me, Emily, Elise, Macy, and Teagan
The following weekend, February 28, two of my students performed at the North Dakota Federation of Music Club Festival. This festival is held once a year in Valley City. Any student can perform and is scored on their own performance, not against other performers. There are different categories the student can be in, such as piano solos, piano hymns, vocal solos, piano duets, piano concertos, etc. Every year you get a rating from superior, excellent, satisfactory, etc. The higher the rating, the higher your points are, with 5 points being the most. Once each student receives 15 points in any category, that student receives a gold cup. I had been in this festival for 14 years and performed in all the categories mentioned. It is such a great experience for the students and it gives the student something to work toward to get a gold cup. It can be very scary to perform in front of a judge, but it is such great experience.
Both of my students performed in the hymn category, and both received superior ratings! I couldn't be prouder! They are well on their way to receive a gold cup! I felt so proud to see the students play and have such high confidence in themselves. I would love to have even more students perform in the festival next year and work towards earning the gold cups!
Kennedy with her superior rating certificate!
Kennedy ready to perform with her hymn book!
I know I have said this numerous times, but I am so truly proud of all of my students and all the hard work they have put into the recitals and festival! It is so amazing to see the growth in each student and the success of their performances. I truly love what I do and how I have the opportunity to work with such bright students every week. Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, other family members, my family, my husband, and everyone else for all your support you always give me. If it wasn't for you, these wouldn't be such a success!!