Category: Previous Studio News

It’s been a great start to Term 1 this year, everyone came back to music lessons remembering most or all of their skills and pieces, I am very impressed.

Group lessons

Tuesday 28 February
Tuesday 14 March

Pieces to practise:
Book 1 – Twinkle, Lightly Row, Song of the Wind, O Come Little Children, Allegro, Perpetual Motion, Allegretto, Etude, Minuet 1
Book 2 – Chorus, Musette, The Two Grenadiers, Gavotte by Lully
Possums in the Roof – Night Sky, Bandicoot Boogie

For violin students in Books 1 and 2, on two Tuesday afternoons a term.
4.30 pm to 5.30 pm at Buda Garden Room, 42 Hunter St
Tuesday afternoon students will have their individual lesson on Thursday (or another mutually convenient time) instead of Tuesday, in one of those group lesson weeks (two for Perryn).

Suzuki Music Autumn Festival is on again, this year it is Thursday 20 to Sat 22 April (inclusive), closing date 26 Feb
suzukimusic.org.au
If you can go, it is very worthwhile, please consider it, it will considerably boost progress. In order to encourage you, I offer a $50 discount on Term 1 fees to those who enrol for Autumn Festival.
I will probably be there teaching and taking professional development classes.

Lesson schedule (as at 16th Feb)

Mondays
1.00 pm Parents’ class (30-45 mins fortnightly)
2.30 pm Ada
3.00 pm Gabrielle (60 mins fortnightly)
4.00 pm Gwen
4.45 pm Bibby from Week 6 (45 mins)
5.00 pm Perryn for 5 weeks
5.30 pm Paddy
6.00 pm Owen (60 mins fortnightly)

Tuesdays
4.15 pm Alex
4.45 pm Isabelle
5.15 pm Dante
5.45 pm Perryn (from Week 7)

Wednesdays
10.00 am Bob
11.30 am Elena
4.45 pm Elsie (45 mins)
5.30 pm Sebastian/Imelda (60 mins)
6.30 pm Kyle
7.00 pm Bibby (45 mins) for 5 weeks, possibly longer

Zoom lessons
In-person lessons can be replaced with Zoom online lessons whenever anyone (including me) has cold or flu symptoms, has Covid, or is a close contact. Please try to give 24 hours notice regarding a switch to Zoom. Please update Zoom and use a satisfactory external microphone for best-practice internet music lessons.

Term 1 starts Monday 30 January
Term 1 ends Thursday 6 April
No lessons Monday 13 March (Labour Day holiday)

Looking forward to enjoying the experience of making music together again!

Studio Concert

Date: Saturday 12th November
Time: 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm
Rehearsal: 2.00 pm
Place: Anglican Church
8 Mostyn St, Castlemaine
Accompanist: John Tungyep 0419 565 006

Group Pieces for Concert

Suzuki Book 1: Twinkle Variations A,B,C,D,E & Theme, Lightly Row, Song of the Wind,
O Come Little Children, Long Long Ago, Perpetual Motion, Andantino, Happy Farmer
Suzuki Book 2: Gavotte from Mignon
Suzuki Book 3: Humoresque
Possums in the Roof: Hannah the Goanna, Bunyip Creek, Bilby’s Trilby

Group lessons

Tuesday 25th October
Tuesday 8th November
4.30 pm to 5.30 pm at Buda Garden Room, 42 Hunter St
For violin students in Books 1 and 2

Zoom lessons
In-person lessons can be replaced with Zoom online lessons whenever anyone (including me) has cold or flu symptoms, has Covid, or is a close contact. Please try to give 24 hours notice regarding a switch to Zoom.

Term 4 starts Monday 3 October
Term 4 ends Friday 16th December
No lessons Melbourne Cup Day Tuesday 1st November

Looking forward to our first live studio concert for over a year!

It_Takes_a_Village_Parent_Education_Session

Spring-Workshop-flyer

Closing Date for Spring Workshop is Friday 26th August.
Save $22 – see the ‘It Takes A Village’ flyer.

Theme for Term 3
The theme for this term is Playing together – Duets and Trios.

Group lessons
Tuesday 9th August
Tuesday 30th August
for Books 1-2 violin students, 4.30pm to 5.30pm at Buda Garden Room, 42 Hunter St.

Suzuki Spring Workshop
This is at MLC, Kew, Melbourne on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October. If you are interested in learning from top Australian teachers, getting inspired, and meeting lots of families learning through Suzuki method please enrol now.
Closing Date is Friday 26th August.

Virtual Solo Concert
Performances from Term 2 are ready to view, see Solo Concerts.

Zoom lessons
In-person lessons can be replaced with Zoom online lessons whenever anyone (including me) has cold or flu symptoms, has Covid, or is a close contact. Please try to give 24 hours notice regarding a switch to Zoom.

Term 3 started Monday 11th July
Term 3 ends Friday 16th September

Looking forward to a productive and happy term making music together!

Group Lesson dates for violin students in Books 1 & 2
Tuesday 31st May
Tuesday 14th June
4.30 to 5.30 pm at Buda Garden Room

Concert news
The next studio concert is postponed to Term 3 due to Covid. Instead, please prepare a solo and we’ll record this with piano accompaniment to share on the website.

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Carnival of the Animals
https://www.mso.com.au/performance/2022-carnival-of-the-animals

https://www.mso.com.au/performance/carnival-of-the-animals

Melbourne Symphony orchestra is performing Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens, one of our pieces explored last year. The ticket cost is only $9 or $19. UPDATE Tickets are still available for Thursday 19th, Friday 20th, and Saturday 21st May.
See Classics for schools, Classics for kids on MSO website – Learning
These concerts usually sell out, be quick if you want to go.
Thanks to Elena and Emily for sharing this.

The theme for this term is the same as last term – Music Reading and Theory
Last term every student made good progress, keep going, make it a goal to finish whichever book you’re using by the end of the year.

– Possums in the Roof
– Possums at Sea
– Aural & Theory Workbook
– String Techniques for Superior Musical Performance.

In-person lessons can be replaced with Zoom online lessons whenever anyone (including me) has cold or flu symptoms, has Covid, or is a close contact. Please try to give 24 hours notice regarding a switch to Zoom.

Term starts Tuesday 26th April
Term ends Friday 24th June
No lessons Monday 13th June (Queens Birthday holiday)

Looking forward to a musically exciting term!

Group lesson dates this term

Tuesday 15th March, 4.30 to 5.30 pm
Tuesday 29th March, 5.00 to 6.00 pm NOTE TIME CHANGE
Venue: Buda Garden Room, 42 Hunter St, Castlemaine

Group lessons are for all violin students in Books 1 & 2.
Tuesday students will need to have their individual lesson on a different day in one or both of these two weeks, to be arranged.

The theme for this term is Music Reading and Theory
Four books have been selected, according to your level.
– Possums in the Roof
– Possums at Sea
– Aural & Theory Workbook
– String Techniques for Superior Musical Performance.

In-person lessons can be replaced with Zoom online lessons whenever anyone (including me) has cold or flu symptoms, Covid, or is a close contact. Please try to give 24 hours notice regarding a switch to Zoom.

There has been a small fee rise, the first for many years, from $68 to $72 per hour for individual lessons (so 30 min lessons are now $36 and 45 min lessons are $54). Group lesson fees remain the same at $16 per group lesson ($10 in first year of learning; no group lesson charge for parents learning violin).

No lessons on Labour Day Monday 14 March.

Looking forward to this year’s musical journey!

We had a fabulous online concert on Monday, well done everyone, it was really enjoyable.

Good news – in-person lessons are back, from Monday 13th September.

Term starts on Monday 12th July, and ends on Friday 17th September.

The Music Olympics personal best practice challenge is ready to go! Can you start today?

Music-Olympics-Practice-Challenge

Download and print your Music Olympics Practice Challenge

Group lesson & concert dates, please arrive 15 minutes early for tuning.

Group lessons for Book 1/2 students (Buda):
Tuesday 10th August, 4.30 to 5.15 pm At least this went ahead
Tuesday 31st August, 4.30 to 5.15 pm CANCELLED

Trio group lessons for Elsie, Bibby, Owen (19A Brown St):
Monday 9th August, 5.30 to 6.20 pm CANCELLED
Monday 30th August, 5.30 to 6.20 pm CANCELLED

Concert (online):
Monday 6th September, 5.00 to 6.30pm

Listening piece

This term’s listening piece is ‘Simple Symphony’ by Benjamin Britten.
In the first video here, Douglas Bostock talks about the music, and the string orchestra play excerpts to demonstrate his points.

Here are some questions about the music, please write down your answers and bring to your next lesson:

1. What are the instruments being played?
2. What are the names of the four movements?
3. What technique is used throughout the 2nd movement, and sometimes in the 1st movement?
4. Which movements are the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra playing?

Performances on YouTube:

Welcome to Term 3 of violin lessons, this term runs from 13 July to 16 September.

At this stage we are continuing with face-to-face lessons, though it is possible that Zoom lessons will return, depending on the virus situation in our region. It doesn’t look likely that we will return to group lessons this term, instead I will ask everyone to record a piece and we will share these recordings. So you’ll be able to see what pieces everyone is playing. As I said, everyone made progress in Term 3, well done.

Of course if any of us have cold or flu symptoms we should stay home, and it’s okay to request a Zoom lesson even at short notice.

I will consider requests to have a Zoom lesson every other week if you would like that. It is good to change the Zoom audio settings to maximize the sound of the violin, and consider buying an external microphone to improve your sound.

There are new pieces in the Scores page, they are Angeline the Baker, De Colores, Moon and Seven Stars, Spotted Pony. These pieces are fun and easy, please print and learn one or two if you are at or past Minuet 1. Links to audio or video performances will be in the Performance Links page.

On 16th July  a new Parent’s Course for Suzuki parents is starting online, by Suzuki Teacher Trainer Zohara Rotem. I can personally recommend Zohara, one of Suzuki Music’s top Teacher Trainers with tons of experience and insights. The course has a fee, I am sure it will be worth it. See the link below.

It’ll cover all Suzuki points ( good for new AND old parents) and will be addressing many issues concerning these challenging times. If you need time to consider and start the course late there will be replays to watch.

https://www.zohararotem.com/parents-course.html

Please take care to wash hands before lessons, or use the hand sanitizer in the studio, and keep violins and bows clean.

Looking forward to making music again!

We have now resumed face-to-face lessons.

Thank you for your tremendous patience and good humour which has made the Zoom and Skype lessons reliable and productive.

Some students worked so well they have progressed to the next Suzuki book, congratulations to Ruben (now in Book 3). Others are about to start the next book and are working hard towards that goal. We welcome Peggy back to the studio.

We are now nearly at the end of Term 2.

Ten lessons were included in the Term 2 fees, and there are eleven weeks in this term, and there was one public holiday on a Monday.

Therefore students with Tuesday and Wednesday lessons will finish in the week of Friday 19th June. Students who have Monday lessons, who missed a lesson on the 8th June public holiday, will finish in the week of Friday 26th June.

Term 3 starts on Monday 13th July and I expect group lessons to resume in August, we’re really looking forward to meeting up as a group again, catching up and seeing the amazing progress everyone has made.

Group lessons are on Thursday afternoons at Buda.
Book 1 students from 4.00 to 4.45 pm.
Book 2+ students from 4.30 to 5.30 pm.

Skype lessons next week –  The virus news continues to change rapidly. So next week’s lessons will all be given using Skype. I will contact you this week to start the initial Skype contact, then next week each person has their lesson by Skype at their usual time.

This could come in handy in other circumstances also. For example, when you or your child have a slight illness and need to stay home but you feel well enough for a Skype lesson.

Concert –  Unfortunately the concert that was planned for Sunday 22 March is cancelled, due to the coronavirus. It will be rescheduled for a later date.

Term 2 plans, hoping that normal life resumes in time

 ‘Our Golden Thread’ by Wendy Rowlands.

On Saturday 13th June, 7.00 pm, at Castlemaine Town Hall, it is hoped that there will be a combined string quartet and children’s choir concert featuring a new work “Our Golden Thread”. While this concert won’t feature our violin players directly, it features the string orchestra of Castlemaine Secondary College, the Castlemaine Chamber Players string quartet, and massed children’s choir.

If you are in Grades 4, 5 or 6 in a local primary school  you could sing with the choir. Or you could be in the audience!

Informal Solo Concerts
This year, from Term 2 we will have more informal solo concerts, in order to give students more performance practice in a friendly supportive environment. They will be at the same time as our regular group lessons, that is, after school on Thursdays, so there will be three Thursdays a term with after-school violin.

More repertoire
There will be more repertoire taught in addition to the core Suzuki pieces, to excite students with the wonderful range of music available to play, and to improve reading skills.

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End of term party

Let’s finish the violin lesson year with a party!

• DATE  Thursday 12th December
• TIME  4.00 pm to 5.30 pm
  If you can’t come for the whole time, drop in when you can
• PLACE  At my house
• Snacks provided
• Music games
• Bring your instrument

Concert report

We had a terrific concert on 26th October at Buda garden room. Almost everyone was able to be there and each student played a solo as well as playing in many group items.

Pauline on piano and Paul on guitar were our supporting artists. For our advanced ensemble we featured gypsy jazz tunes, with some improvised solos. We also presented a version of Chopsticks that had Butterfly Twinkles in, and the ‘Baby is Sleeping’ Twinkle variation was reworked as a tango.

Solos included La Folia from Book 6 and group items included The Two Grenadiers by Robert Schumann.

A delicious afternoon tea and the garden surrounds of Buda made this a great way to celebrate the achievements of our Suzuki violin studio.

Term 4 dates

Term 4 starts Monday 7th October
Term 4 ends Friday 13th December

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