March news
Sunday, March 3, 2019 by Hannah Violette | Uncategorized
Happy March, Harmonics students and families - spring cannot come any quicker!
I love the poetry of the ancient Persian, Hafiz. It transcends religion and culture, touching each of us at the deepest point of our emotions and experiences. Just as even the hint of a song I love fills me with joy, so does the thought of crocuses peeking their heads through the thrice-frozen ground (because we've had three rounds of winter this year!), the trill of those birds that live in the marshes along the north end of the Leo Adler riverwalk, and the feel of the spring sun on my face. It is almost spring!
SYLLABUS SCHEDULE
It is also almost Syllabus time, as well. If you haven't checked the calendar already, here is a schedule for Friday, March 8:
9:00 - Kegan Bott
9:25 - Gabe Bott
9:50 - Sydney Penning
10:20 - Cadence Penning
11:05 - Johnny Zhang
11:25 - Russell Anderson
Exams will be held at the BHS choir room. Please enter through the east door, directly into the music wing. Pass through the double doors into the carpeted hallway where there will be a waiting area set up. When it is your turn, you will enter through the double doors near the waiting area; following your exam, you will exit through the far door near the outside exit. It should work very smoothly.
HONORS RECITAL
All students participating in Syllabus are entitled to play a piece of their choice in the Syllabus Honors Recital, to be held in La Grande on Sunday, March 10, at 3:00 pm. This performance is worth points toward their OMTA trophy. Please notify me immediately if you would like your student to perform.
STUDIO CALENDAR
Please be advised of the following changes to the studio calendar for the month of March:
Due to a choir festival being held on Wednesday, March 6, those lessons will be held on Thursday, March 7. Although I haven't changed it yet, this may happen again on Wednesday, March 20; please be aware that those lessons may also be held on March 21 instead.
There will be no lessons scheduled during Spring Break.
Thank you so much for allowing me the privilege of teaching music! It is a joy to watch the wink of a song bring so many students joy!
Celebrating the LOVE OF MUSIC! February news...
Tuesday, January 29, 2019 by Hannah Violette | Uncategorized
I found this quote in the Baker High School band room today and immediately had to turn it into art. It's so very true, isn't it? As we come into February we think about celebrating love - for our sweethearts, our children, our friends, and I certainly hope the music we make!
Please make sure you check the February calendar carefully. With Syllabus looming, I don't want any students missing a lesson, but my own schedule is a bit wonky. There is a high school incoming-freshmen event, the Oregon Music Educators' Association conference, and a new concert in the high school band/choir concert series, all of which have wreaked just a bit of havoc on the studio schedule. Some lessons have been moved to Thursdays as a result. Contact me directly if you have any questions.
Your February invoice includes the Syllabus fee, so it is a little bit higher. I have to pay for the registration by February 4th, so please pay this particular invoice as promptly as you possibly can. You're all so dependable, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work with such a great group of families and students!
Since love is the theme of this particular month, I've attached a video of one of my favorite vocal ensembles (Salt Lake Vocal Artists) singing "If Music Be the Food of Love" by David Dickau. Please take a few minutes to enjoy it!
And with that, if music be the food of love...play on!
Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 26, 2018 by Hannah Violette | Uncategorized
Well, that holiday season went fast! First, we were on Christmas break, and now it's time to start thinking about getting started with the new year! Have you made your resolutions, thought about your intentions, or determined your goals for 2019? By next Christmas, I will have finished my Master of Music in Music Education, a goal I've been chipping away at for a very long time! The road has been long, but the finish line is in sight and the prize is so worth it!
Lessons will start right off the bat on January 2nd. Please note, students who are usually scheduled on Tuesday will have their first lesson on Thursday, January 3rd. After that, it's business as usual.
Syllabus fees will be added to your February invoice. Please note that if for any reason your student does not participate in Syllabus (Friday, March 15), the fee is non-refundable. This fee covers a full-length evaluation by a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music plus a significant amount of time for coaching and instruction outside of a normal lesson. Additionally, each student will receive written notes and a beautiful certificate, suitable for framing. Completion of the Syllabus program, for which Oregon is nationally recognized, will put your student in good stead to continue their studies at the collegiate level and is evidence of growing discipline and musical accomplishment.
Whatever 2019 holds for you, I wish you the very best! There will be joy and there will be
I found a surprisingly appropriate poem, written in 1921 by William Carlos Williams:
January
Again I reply to the triple winds
running chromatic fifths of derision
outside my window:
Play louder.
You will not succeed. I am
bound more to my sentences
the more you batter at me
to follow you.
And the wind,
as before, fingers perfectly
Happy New Year!
