Category Archives: Studio policies

Books I’m going to ask you to buy

When you have finished your Twinkles:
I Can Read Music (ages 3-6 get volume 1, 7+ get volume 2, adults don’t need this book)

When you are in Book 2:
Double Stops for Cello
Position Pieces for Cello, Book 1
Improve Your Sight Reading, grades 1-3

When you are in Book 3:
Canons and Rounds (for cello ensemble)
Improve Your Sight Reading, grades 4-5

When you are in Book 4:
Ensembles for Cello
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Scaling the Tenor Clef Dragon (up to age 8) or Learning the Tenor Clef (older students and adults)
Position Pieces for Cello, Book 2
Thumb Position for Cello

Saturday, Sept. 10 – Suzuki students

Would you please plan to attend a very short parent meeting with me from 11-11:15 this Saturday? Also, please don’t forget that there is a Suzuki Academy mandatory meeting the same day starting at 12pm. Returning parents will be done at 2pm. The parents of Maxine, Meera, Joseph, and Daniel Lee should plan to stay until 3pm, because the last part of the meeting is new parent education.

Suzuki Students: Beginning of school information

There will be a mandatory Suzuki Academy orientation meeting on Saturday, September 10 from 11-2. Some Suzuki Cello Group classes will also begin on Sept. 10th. Please consult your Group Class Schedule when it arrives. Orientation meetings are as follows:
11:00am – Cello student and parent meeting with me
12:00pm – Practice Challenge party for qualifying students and Parent Orientation for all SA parents. Returning parents will be done by 2pm. New Parents will be done by 3pm.

Tentative group class plans for this Sept. 10 are for Dvorak group (Rachel, Isaac, Alex, Julian, Daniel, Stephen, Grace, Sandra) to meet at 10am, which is not your regular group time. Haydn group (Cole, Monica, Meera and Joseph) will meet at their regular time, which is 11:15am.

New students: Please be sure to read Nurtured By Love by Shinichi Suzuki before the beginning of school. It is the basis of my teaching philosophy and critical that you understand the simple but very, very important concepts in this book. It is an easy and inspiring read. You may order it here or here.

Performance Dress: Cello Choir and Suzuki Graduation

I don’t know what the Violins are going to do about their Suzuki Uniforms for Graduation, but I would like the cellos to wear white tops and black bottoms.  I know that most of you have outgrown your old uniform tops, and we don’t have any new ones to sell.

Cello Choir will also wear white tops and black bottoms for the June 5th concert.  For June 13th, you may wear whatever you choose as long as it looks nice –  no sneakers,          t shirts or shorts.

Achievement Week

You should have received a letter from Cheri Astolfi explaining the changes in Achievement Week for this year.  I don’t think it will be much of a change for my students, because I have always required participation in Achievement Week.  Here are the most important points:

All Achievement Week juries are at the Wilmington Branch.  There are NO private lessons that week.  You will receive the opportunity to perform and written comments from the panel instead of your private lesson that week.  I will not be scheduling any make-up lessons for students who do not participate in Achievement Week.

Your jury will be scheduled as close as possible to your regular lesson time.  It will last approximately 10 minutes.  Please arrive at least 15 minutes early in case we are running ahead.

If you are participating in Suzuki Graduation, your Achievement Week jury will be your Graduation audition.  You won’t need to play anything besides your graduation pieces except possibly a scale and sight reading.  I will discuss this with you individually at your lessons.

You will be playing for a panel of string teachers, including myself.

All music is to be memorized, including scales.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Colin Carr Master Class February 21

I am delighted to announce that Colin Carr will be giving a master class at the school on Saturday, February 21 from 9-11 am.  This is a huge honor and privilege for us, and I expect that you will all attend. Please put it in your calendar now.

I will obviously not be teaching lessons during that time.  I’ll start with Isaac’s lesson at 11:15 and we will have group as scheduled.

I haven’t yet decided who will be playing for this wonderful musician, but I will certainly give preference to students who are showing a lot of effort and commitment to their cello studies.  I will keep you updated.