2020

As 2020 comes to a close I want to share some of the highlights of the year in the studio. In January six of my students took part in the Festival of Piano Trios. We are so fortunate to have Mary Manning, violinist, and Margaret Thorndill, cellist, rehearse and perform with the students. It is a unique opportunity to play with professional musicians, one that will hopefully give my students a life-long love of playing music together with others. The following students performed at Agnus Dei Lutheran Church in February: Abby Gilman, Micah Holdych, David Joy, Raegan Laird, Murphy Massey-O’Hanlon and Tressa Paulson. Twenty students from other studios also played. I am so proud of the maturity and confidence of these students!

Then in March . . . Beginning on March 18, three days after the State shut down due to Covid 19, I began teaching on my phone. I have a hard enough time sending a text message on my phone, so this was not a pleasant thing for me. But thanks to all my patient and kind students and their families (and my tech savvy children and their spouses), we have persevered. We’ve all learned so much about communicating and I’m so inspired by my student’s determination! I hope the piano has given them relief from the worries and stress of our days. I know it gives me great joy to see each of my students every week and to think about nothing else but music and piano playing!

In June I hosted two Zoom recitals, one for my 13 students at Parkland Lutheran school and one for my school-age Gig Harbor students. It was great fun to see everyone together and hear them play on their home pianos.

Most of my 30+ students took the summer off, but were ready to start up again in September. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to continue at Parkland as I didn’t feel comfortable meeting with them when they began in-person learning in October. I hope to be able to teach there again beginning in September 2021.

The final event of 2020 was the first ever Virtual Music Olympics hosted by the Gig Harbor Music Teachers Association. Participating from my studio were Micah Holdych, Raegan Laird, Zander Laird, Murphy Massey-O’Hanlon, Tressa Paulson and Jakob VanKomen. Pictured are our trophy winners. Raegan–2nd Place Intermediate B, Murphy–3rd place Intermediate A, and Tressa–1st place Lower Advanced. Congratulations to all the participants and special thanks to family members who helped with all the technology necessary to pull it off.