Apr 7
Hello all,
Welcome to the 2nd Monthly Newsletter of the Nurtured Creativity Violin Studio!
It has been a busy spring already, and I can smell a little bit of hope in the air :)
All of my students have continued to work very hard this month and I continue to be so proud of everyone. I want everyone to have the opportunity to showcase all their hard work! So, I am officially organising the very first studio concert.
In preparation for this concert, I want to offer my more advanced students the chance to give and receive feedback from their peers in the form of a Mini-Masterclass. At a certain level, this is a very important part of music education, and can help students learn how to tackle challenges in their own playing and clearly articulate solutions.
In other exciting news, I will be continuing the Fiddle Class (with a new lower price) this month and this time we will learn an American Bluegrass tune. Our first class was a great success - we learned the Irish tune “Terry Cuz Teehan” and even learned out to ‘flick’ the string to decorate the music.
Here are all the logistical details for the three events:
1. Fiddle Class - Thursday, 29 April 2021 at 5:30 pm
A one-hour group class via Skype open to all ages and all levels. You could even invite a violin-playing friend that doesn’t take lessons from me! This month we will learn an American Bluegrass tune and talk about some traditional bluegrass techniques. After the class, sheet music is provided to all participants and the class is recorded so you can watch it again!
Booking Link: https://app.squarespacescheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21006067&appointmentType=21887761
Price: £8
2. Grade 3 & Up Mini-Masterclass - Saturday, 8 May 2021 at 11:00 am
A one-hour class designed especially for my intermediate (Grade 3/Suzuki Book 2) students. During the class, each student will play a prepared piece, afterwards the other students each get time to give the performer encouraging and constructive advice! Then of course, I will chime in with a few comments. Not only a lesson in how to play violin, but how to articulate ideas and process helpful feedback - an important skill in many disciplines! (Only 4 spots available so sign up quick!)
Booking Link: https://app.squarespacescheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=21006067&appointmentType=20874663
Price: £9
3. Annual Spring Studio Concert Saturday, 22 May 2021 at 3:00 pm
This will be a virtual event on Skype and you can invite you friends and family to attend the concert - from anywhere in the world! Each student that chooses to participate will pick a song to prepare at least 2 weeks before the concert. In their individual lessons, we continue as normal giving that one piece a little extra attention to make it “performance ready!”. I will record the virtual event and provide all the parents with a copy. Although we can’t all gather in person to play music, we can still meet virtually can work on our performing skills and take the opportunity to show off all the practice they have put in.
There is no booking link for the event but you must let me know if you/your children would like to participate and the piece they choose to play no later than Monday, 10 May 2021. This is so that I can help them prepare well and organise a program. A link to the Skype meeting will be provided closer to the date.
Price: Free!
In case you haven’t seen it yet, I have a public Facebook page that you can check out here:
https://www.facebook.com/nurturedcreativity - Share this with all of your friends and family!
If you would like to share and communicate with each other and if you have a Facebook account you can find (and join) the private group for the Nurtured Creativity Violin Studio. In this space, we can begin to create a virtual violin community!
Only for my students and their parents, it is in this private group that I will post photos and videos, and information that is for you only. As members of the group, you can also post questions and comments for me but also share photos and videos, of yourselves (or your kids) or anything relevant to learning music.
Lastly - I am so excited to announce that Nurtured Creativity now has an Instagram account as well. I started this so that I can share fun practice tips with my students and also share with them my own practice! Teachers have to practice too It also helps me free up a little space on my devices with all the little videos I make. And sometimes, a tip I share in a video for one student might also benefit another! I share the videos to the private Facebook group too though, so if you don’t have instagram - you can still have access to the content I create. (If you don’t have Facebook, and you would prefer a private YouTube link let me know and I can send you one!)
As always, let me know if you have any questions. In the meantime, happy practicing!