Refreshed and Rejuvenated

I love attending our annual music teachers conference in the fall. The presenters almost always have interesting things to share, and it's a chance to hear inspiring, wonderful music performed. This year was no exception, and I had so much fun attending with other teachers in my chapter. By the end, though, my brain felt too saturated to take in any more. I came away from several great ideas that I want to try with my students (look out kids!). Two of my students also performed for a duets master class. These two young ladies did a marvelous job playing their duet in front of several hundred people and then staying on the stage while the guest teachers (Dallas Weekley and Nancy Arganbright) talked with them about their performance and had them try several things to improve their working together and their sound. They were very brave, I thought. I found myself getting anxious on their behalf, but they looked so calm and cheery there on the stage. I was very proud of them. They represented themselves (and me!) very well.

I had several favorite sessions that I attended. Two were from our main guest, who is the head of the piano department at the Eastman School of Music, one of the most prestigious music programs in the country. She was witty, interesting, and able to explain so well what she talked about. In fact, her presentation and demonstrating were so interesting that no one noticed the passage of time, and at one point when she was told it was time to take a break she said, "Do I have to? Let's not!" I laughed to myself because she sounded just like a child who was being interrupted in the midst of her favorite game. I think I took pages and pages of notes. Again, beware my students! There were a couple of sessions which were somewhat over my head, but I came away from them with several things I learned and some things I would like to try with my students. For instance, I liked the idea of having students copy four bars of music daily, just to learn the art of writing down music. It also helps in teaching students to read music more easily and feel comfortable with all of those lines and dots and squiggles on the page. I think what you write down becomes a part of you. If it worked for J.S. Bach, it can certainly work for others! It's a good thing there is a year between conferences because I think it will take me a year to work through all of the new things I want to try.