Students and Parents -
The cello recitals are scheduled for Saturday, May 17th at 11:30 a.m. and Saturday, May 24th at 12:00 noon.  Both will be held at the Musik Innovations Recital Hall on the first floor.  Students, please arrive fifteen minutes early so all the cellos may be tuned.  Please bring parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends.  Music stands will be provided.   Both recitals will be short, about 30 - 40 minutes.  Suits and dresses are not required, but please do not wear jeans or sneakers.   Check below to make sure you are scheduled on the correct day:
May 17th - Andrew B., Faith B., Nate C., Madi B., Natalie M., Elena C., Kevin C., Sarah M., Katie S., Maria H., Leah D.
May 24th - Dana R., Michael M., Stephen S., Erin N., Steven M., D’Ann S., Noah S., Zach C., Brittany H., Drew R., Russell R., Brian D.
Good luck to everyone!
Please note that the summer schedule begins on Monday, June 16th.  Please talk to me about scheduling as soon as possible.   I will be teaching on Tuesdays, 11 - 9 and Thursdays, 10 - 3.  Other hours may be available if necessary.  Thank you.”

Attention, students!  Please note that the recitals dates will be May 17th at 11:30 a.m. (Musik Innovations Recital Hall) and May 31st (location TBA)  Please let me know which date you want to be scheduled, and how many family members you will be bringing.  Check this site for the program and order.
Congratulations to my two graduating senior students, Nate Carlin (NASH) and Dana Rosen (Pine-Richland).  Both will be attending Duke University in the fall.  They will be missed.
Congratulations to Elena Capaldi on her successful audition with the Pittsburgh Philharmonic.  She will be playing their May 17th concert at North Hills Jr. High School.  It’s an astronomy-themed concert and they will be playing Holst’s “The Planets,”  Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony, selections from “Stars Wars” and other pieces.  Start time is 7:00 p.m.
Congratulations also to Leah Dutton, who has been accepted into the National High School Music Institute at Northwestern University for their summer program.

As of right now, the summer teaching schedule will remain the same as fall schedule. I think it might be easier not to move kids around but keep the same time slots.  I will be teaching in the summer Mondays - Wednesdays from 3-9.  Please remember that it is a lot easier to make up lesson in the summer, so do take advantage of it!

We welcome your opinions, suggestions, and any ideas you might have on this web site. We try to improve this web site and value what others have to say about it. Please help us with your input!

I came upon this site by accident http://www.dsokids.com
It is a lot of fun and educational at the same time. Upon opening, click on “students”, category for kids which takes you to a music room full of furniture. Once you there - start exploring! Click on piano - learn about different instruments, click on a green chair - gives you ideas on practicing, click on the computer - play different games. The site is part of Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and I think they came up with a great idea on how to introduce kids to music!

 This is an average amount that I think students should spend practicing.  Everyone is different, so adjust based on a child, time frame, schedule and other factors.  It also depends on how long a student has been taking private lessons. For example, a six-year old child who has been taking lesson for one year will be able to handle longer practice session verses a fifth-grader who recently started lessons and is not used to working on his own for a long time.  Here are some minimums:

Ages 4-6: three ten-minute sessions per day. Keep them short, but productive.

Ages 6-9: two fifteen-minute sessions per day.

Ages 9 and older: at least half an hour a day; better yet - two twenty-minute sessions. Again, CONCENTRATE ON QUALITY OF PRACTICING, NOT THE LENGTH OF TIME PRACTICED!

Here is a really good web site for music students:http://www.musictheory.net

It is very easy to use even for kids as young as five or six. It offers a lot of tools to drill notes, key signatures, scales, chords and more… I use it a lot with my students who are computer savvy and enjoy it. They can test themselves on a given skill and are given a score at the end; it seems like having a goal of getting a high score gives them an incentive to learn that skill and beat the previous score, so it becomes a game. Check it out!