Recital Time

Spring is recital time everywhere. I held my studio recital (I taught 22 students this year) a couple of days ago. I wrangle with myself every year about exactly when in the spring to hold it. I thought the Saturday before school lets out is late, but it turned out to be a good thing for several students who needed the extra time. This year's recital theme was "All That Jazz" and nearly everyone played jazz, a rag, or blues for their solos. We're definitely working on counting aloud through the summer and early fall!

Liam, above, playing his solo. He seems so unperturbed about being front of an audience. I hope he can hold on to that. Below, he and his partner Brennan play a duet called, "Secret Agent." They totally hammed up their walk onto the stage and everyone loved it.

Bronwyn painted her nails purple to match her dress. I can't believe how she is growing up. Those are my shoes (now hers) that she is wearing. She and Liam both played very well. :)

It's harder to see her duet partner Sarah on the other side of her, but they are wearing headbands with pipe cleaner antennae since their duet was called, "The Crickets Came to Dance." Sarah and Bronwyn had matching colored dresses on...totally unplanned.


The recital flowed so smoothly. I have worked my students hard this year, with challenging music and lots of it. Most of them handled it very well. Teaching is a constant learning experience for me. I figured out some things I would like to do differently this coming year, like practicing more counting aloud with simple pieces at every lesson because I frequently hear, "counting out loud is too hard!" from my students (mostly transfer students, interestingly). I'm so convinced a good sense of rhythm is a critical, basic fundamental that I'm going to really work into my students this next year. Perhaps if we do more with many different counting aloud activities that will help.