Month: September 2017

Happy Birthday, Clara Schumann!

By Composers, Music History

For Parents:

This is the first of a series of enrichment posts about music history. Each one appears on a famous composer’s birthday and is tied to a “composer trading card” home activity that your child will receive during his or her lesson. I ask that you read the short composer biography that will be posted to the blog and spend a bit of time exploring the composer and his or her music with your child.  You and your child can work to fill in the blanks on the back of the card, and you are welcome to bring it to the next lesson to discuss as well.

Biography:

Clara Schumann was born on September 13, 1819–that’s almost two hundred years ago today, long before mom and dad, or even grandma and grandpa, were born. She was born in a place called Leipzig, in the country of Germany. In those days, it was unusual for women to play music in public or write their own, but Clara did both. She was famous as one of the best pianists in the world.

When she grew up, she married Robert Schumann, who was another famous composer. They met when she was only nine years old. She arranged and played his music as well as her own, and was friends with composers Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms as well.

Here is a short video of two musicians playing a piece that Clara wrote: Romance.  Do you like this piece? How does it make you feel?

Some questions you might also ask:

When/where was I born?

What are the names of other famous women composers alive today?

Vocabulary:

Composer: Someone who writes their own music. When you use the Wunderkeys magnets to make patterns to play, you too are a composer!

Studio Preparations

By Uncategorized

With just days to go before students return, I’m hard at work putting the finishing touches on the studio. The carpet and furniture has been freshly steamed, new shelving in place, games prepared and filed, and new materials in place for activities. All that’s left now are the final details.

Of note, the long-awaited Wunderkeys Primer has been sadly delayed by Hurricane Harvey (who knew that would affect Canadian publishing, but it has), so students who had anticipated starting that primer will instead be started on the My First Piano Adventures series. Fortunately, many of the games for the primer are already available, so Wunderkeys will still act as a theory complement to the main program.

New Wunderkeys lesson assignment books are now available for purchase at a price of $5. They are also included along with the first book for new students when they pay the studio registration fee.  These books are intended to help guide parents in how to reinforce the concepts we cover during lessons.

Website features will start appearing in the next few weeks, beginning with a series on Classical composers to complement trading cards.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

New Semester!

By Studio News

Intermezzo Music is gearing up for another great year of piano, beginning on September 11, 2015. Some exciting changes have been arriving at the studio, the biggest of which is, of course, this website! The blog will share important studio updates, tips for home practice, and complementary activities and games.

A new Wunderkeys primer is expected to arrive in September, along with new piano friends that include Maxine the Skunk and Sheldon P. Squirrel. But for now, Intermezzo will be continuing with the My First Piano Adventures primer series, with complementary games from the Piano Games Club.

New half-year and full-year rates are now available, replacing the older discount structure. 10-week terms are also available. Please contact me for details if you are interested in any of these options. The monthly payment option remains unchanged at $88/month for half-hourly lessons.

Also new to the studio is the Square Reader, which will allow the studio to accept payments by credit card.

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new students. See you all soon!