On Monday evening the Vinciguerra Suzuki Violin Studio held its second annual Christmas Concert in the auditorium at Saint Mary School. I think it was a great success. My students have grown so much in their playing ability over the last year. Last year's beginners have moved on to early Book 1 pieces, and the early Book 1 students are nearing the end of Book 1. I also have a new batch of Pre-Twinklers, including my own sweet daughter. It is truly rewarding to see such progress! They are all such wonderful and dear people to me!
We had three different parts going for Oh Come, Little Children: Most students played the melody as written in the Suzuki repertoire; Students who had not yet reached that piece in the repertoire practiced the correct bowing and played a simple harmony on the open E string; and a couple of the more advanced students did a phenomenal job of playing a harmony part as written in the Suzuki Duets book. Well done!
Silver Bells is a beautiful tune we added this year. It employed some tricky maneuvering of the fourth finger in the key of D Major but the students did quite well with it- and they stayed right in time with my bowing, which is a feat of some magnitude because those long, sustained notes are so tempting to rush through. Ms. Mary Warren decorated those little moments with beautiful echoes on the piano. Bravo!
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| Vinciguerra Suzuki Violin Studio 2015 Christmas Concert |
We had three different parts going for Oh Come, Little Children: Most students played the melody as written in the Suzuki repertoire; Students who had not yet reached that piece in the repertoire practiced the correct bowing and played a simple harmony on the open E string; and a couple of the more advanced students did a phenomenal job of playing a harmony part as written in the Suzuki Duets book. Well done!
Silver Bells is a beautiful tune we added this year. It employed some tricky maneuvering of the fourth finger in the key of D Major but the students did quite well with it- and they stayed right in time with my bowing, which is a feat of some magnitude because those long, sustained notes are so tempting to rush through. Ms. Mary Warren decorated those little moments with beautiful echoes on the piano. Bravo!
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The concert was just the right length; not too short, not too long! It's always lovely when things work out just right. At the end of the concert, each student received his or her "Ho, Ho, Ho" spirit stick for participating. We then enjoyed a nice potluck meal in the school cafeteria.
On a silly note... one of my students, Mr. Bull has a hobby of tailoring historical clothes and period uniforms to wear to battle reenactments. When discussing what to wear for the concert, I remarked, "It's too bad you don't have a Charles Dickens type outfit." And he said, "Actually, I do." After he showed me his snazzy suit and delightful top hat adorned with a sprig of holly, I said, "Sure, if you want to wear it, go for it!" A short while later, Oliver came in for his lesson and I was reminded that he is using crutches for a broken leg- and in that instant I suddenly imagined Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim! We joked together about having the younger student say, "God bless us, everyone!" at the end of the evening, but I maintained my composure and didn't make any references to A Christmas Carol during our concert. But now it's over, and I can giggle! Luckily, Oliver will be getting that cast off very soon!
