This last Saturday was an emotional one for me as I held the final recital for my piano students here. I started out teaching as a way to help bring in a little extra income and because I enjoy the piano - not realizing how much I would come to love it & these students of mine!
The recital theme was "Just Keep Playing" a little spin off of Dory's "just keep swimming" tagline in Finding Nemo. These kids have started out on their musical journey in life and where ever it takes them I hope they remember the good feelings they have when the share their music with others! Anyway here are a few snapshots of our last performance together.
The welcome table with some floral arrangements brought by students <3
Families starting to gather to hear some lovely performances!
Serenity Seevers
Abigail Carter & Sofia Escobar - these two cuties started out in my "Music for Little Mozarts" class. They both worked so hard and graduated from the class - they did lessons together.
Abigail played "Quiet River"
Adelynn & Carter Gray. Addie is my most advanced student & she earned the MTNA Achievement in Music Award. They both had GREAT performances!
Addie performed "Calypso Holiday"
Ainsley Coleman - such a sweetie!
Anora Elliott - she is also a graduate of my "Music for Little Mozarts" class & has excelled in private lessons this past year!
She performed "Indians"
Austin Orozco played "Love Somebody"
Tino looked so cute in his cowboy boots :)
Carter has been taking for the last year and FLOWN through the level one material! I can't believe how quickly this boy learns.
He played "Stitches" by Shawn Mendez
Chase Mendoza looked sharp wearing bright blue - he is such a dedicated boy.
Chase and Elijah went the extra mile and performed a duet together
As for his solo, Chase played a piece called "Rockin' on 6ths"
As part of her award Addie had to learn a duet. She decided to perform "Sand Dunes" with her Mom (it was so cute). Claire is a fellow piano teacher and I have loved bouncing pedagogy ideas off her! It was a sweet mother daughter moment.
Eli and Leah Beam are also quite dedicated pianists! I have had them for the past year and they have tackled some incredibly hard challenges. They both have a natural sweet demeanor too.
Eli played two pieces - "The Clown" and "Fanfare and Canon"
Cute sibling duo Elijah and Naomi Paddock
Elijah Davis is another student who has absolutely CRUISED through level one! He is one bright dude with a cheery attitude!
Elijah P performing "Three Little Pigs"
Elijah D performing "The Caravan"
Garry Adams was one of my students from the beginning! He is an incredible musician and very smart. He and his sister would come to lessons together and he'd always be working on something for school or reading during his time off - in all aspects a very focused and good dude! His parents must have some good tricks up their sleeves because the Adams kids were amazing.
Hunter Dodds - one of the most naturally talented students I had. He was one of the only ones who could sightread so well that sometimes he could fool me if he hadn't practiced (I know this because he would admit apologetically if he hadn't gotten around to a piece). He played "Toymakers Dance."
Irelynn (left) was a guest in the recital! She and Rexi played a song called "The Donkey" as a round. It was so cute - they made a dynamic duo!
Leah performed "Aloutte" (this was a level 2 piece and she is only on level 1B! One smart cookie).
Lizzie tackled a hard song! She worked to learn "Fur Elise" as well as a song called "Blues Scales"
Cute Lydia Cory - (another Music for Mozarts graduate) performed "Gee We're Glad." She is so sweet and with a pianist mother will be set to master the craft :)
Marcus Orozco performing "Choose the Right"
Marcus has pushed himself to learn hymns and primary songs along side all of his other music assignments - he would come to lessons bringing songs he'd found in the friend or requests for me to help him find arrangements of certain pieces.
Naomi Paddock - she is one adorable kid. She pushed the boundaries of what I even knew was possible in the realm of piano as she was three when she started and took to playing like a fish to water. It was so fun to see her grasp how to play at such an early age!
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Sweet Rachel Adams playing "The Caravan" and "Get Away." She is a phenomenal musician. It is fun to teach kids through what I like to call the "lightbulb" period. It's the transition they make when they understand music on their own. I saw that happen for Rachel and it was SO fun!
Cute Reagan Dodds - she learned a whole book of songs outside of her assignments called "Songs I Already Know." For the recital she performed one of them - 'Are you Sleeping?'
Friends Irelynn Reeve and Rexi Oh
Rexi also passed through the learning curve quite quickly! She is almost done with level 1 and she has an incredible work ethic. She is so sweet and mild mannered during her lessons - she was a joy to teach.
She performed "Charlie the Chimp" and "Bingo."
Rora Domineck is my firecracker student! She always says the cutest things during lessons - and keeps me on my toes! I have adored teaching her.
Here is Serenity playing from Frozen "Let it Go" and "Who Built the Ark"
Sofia played "Indians"
Lizzie and Sophie Allen were another two students who went the extra mile to earn the MTNA award. They are darling musicians!
Sophie performed "The Cuckoo" and "Ping-Pong"
Trent is getting advanced & learning some very fun pieces now! For this recital he tackled "Fur Elise"
Domineck siblings - Trent & Rora
