April News

 Only 6 weeks remain in our spring semester and at this time most students have chosen their pieces for our May recital.  The theme of the May recital will be "Pop Music."  This theme encompasses a broad range of songs, from movie themes, to oldies, Christian Hits, modern day pop songs on the radio, and classical pop songs.  I believe the students will have a fun time learning music they have heard before.  Some students will be analyzing chord symbols in the songs and many students will have a lot to learn from counting the syncopated rhythms.  

Last month, about 20 students from my studio participated in the Sioux Falls Area Piano Festival.  Students who participated received a comment sheet and certificate and several students earned trophies for 3, 5, and 7 years of participation in the festival.  

As the spring semester draws to a close, keep in mind that summer is right around the corner.  I normally begin the summer semester after our spring recital.  Sign up for summer lessons is on a week to week basis and I highly recommend that students enroll in 6 to 8 weeks of summer lessons in order to retain the skills and musicianship they have developed throughout the school year.  

The owners of K & M Music recently announced that they are retiring and have sold their business to Popplers Music of Grand Forks, ND.  This transition occurred on April 1st and the store will reopen on Monday April 4.  K & M Music has served the Sioux Falls music community for 40 years.  

Just over four years ago I opened up my studio at Donegal Centre and time has definitely flown by!  I only had a digital piano when I started but within a couple of weeks I purchased a Kawai upright piano and a couple of years ago I followed my dream and added a Kawai grand piano to the studio.  When I first moved to Donegal, I had 15-20 students and today the studio has now doubled in size!