June/July 2017 Newsletter

Orpheus Academy of Music June-July 2017 Newsletter A Letter from the Directors: Dear Students, Talk about a Magical, Musical, Summer! It seems hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear something amazing - either at Summer Camp Concerts, Home Concerts, Musical Journey Public Concerts, Summer Recitals, Faculty Concerts or as part of  various festivals that our students have been performing at around the state and country! This is the wonderful creativity of summer - a time when we can explore the many diverse aspects of music making that we don’t have time for during the hustle and bustle of the school year. Last month, Making Music Together (formerly “Chamber Music”) and Improvisation and Composition had some amazing performances in which students worked intensely for a week to bring their artistic collaborations to fruition. The results were stunning - but the process was even more important: The skills of listening, creating, keeping a steady beat, matching your sound to another musician (to mention just a few) carry over immediately into our solo playing. After those camps, we had World Music and Broadway, which helped expand our musical Universes and bring drama into our playing. We have had many students travel out of town and out of state to participate in world-class Music Festivals and Camps from Baylor, to Texas State to Fullerton, CA! All this and more is what makes summer my favorite time of year to be a teacher at Orpheus! Thank you for making music with us!   2017 Summer Events! Performance Parties Saturday, July 22 Piano/Voice Party: 2 & 3 PM Violin/Viola Party: 3 PM Guitar Party: 3 PM  Older Students Party: 4 PM Adult Impromptu Sunday, July 23 4:00 PM  Student Recital Sunday August 13 2 PM, 3:30 PM, & 5PM To be held at Highland Park Baptist Church. Fall Semester and Musicianship Classes Return: Monday August 21st!  Summer Camps Still Open: Choir Camp 7/24-28 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM Intro to Guitar 8/7-11 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Students of the month June and July 2017! “My name is Frances Huffaker, an I have been playing the piano for nearly 6 years. My teacher, Skye, has been helping me prepare for my Musical Journey public concert so I can pass Level 4. I like that the pieces I am playing are very unique and different. Piano gives me a chance to express myself in a different way. I am excited to show off all my hard work at the concert!” -Frances Huffaker, Piano Student. “Frances is an extremely dedicated student. Even though her family was in the middle of moving, she woke up early in the morning and practiced on a keyboard on the floor so she was ready for the friendship concert and her public concert in May.  She is always prepared has met her goals for practice each week.” -Skye, Piano Instructor “I like to play the piano because I like to learn new songs and I like to make up my own songs too. I think music sounds really nice! Ms. Pangji is a really nice teacher and helps me to learn a lot.” -Everett Teffer, Piano Student “Everett is a lovely student with great enthusiasm and curiosity to music. I am very impressed with his well preparation in each lesson, and am proud of the accomplishments he has made in music making through this hard work. He will have his first Music Journey test soon...good luck and have fun, Everett!” -Pangji, Piano Instructor Musical Journey Milestones Check out our awesome students’ recent Musical Journey Milestones! Dog of the Month: Rio! My dog, Rio is wonderful! Rio is a 7 month old Lab Ridgeback mix. He has beautiful hazel eyes and caramel fur.  He was adopted recently from right here in Austin. He is amazingly calm and well-tempered for a dog his age. He enjoys long walks, greeting strangers, being chased, and cuddling! You can find him sleeping on the couch all day and chewing up my favorite shoes. We love little Rio! Jayne (Administrative Staff) New Orpheus Staff: Jayne Wick!   Hi there! My name is Jayne Wick. I grew up in Michigan, and I have lived in Austin for about 7 years! I love to play guitar, sing, write, paint, and sew! I’m excited to work in a creative environment surrounded by music every day. In my spare time I like to hike, slack-line and try new forms of art! An interesting fact about me is that I preform stand-up comedy around Austin. I'm happy to be a part of the Orpheus family, and I would like to thank everyone for being so welcoming! Refer a friend & you could win free tuition! Refer a friend to Orpheus and when they sign up for lessons & mention your name, both families will be entered to win! All participants receive 1 FREE lesson! Drawing held Tuesday, August 15! Summer Camp Pics! Ms. Liz and her choristers get their groove going in Choir Camp A bit of silliness between rehearsals in World Music Orpheus Around the Country Mei Yin playing with the student guitar orchestra (center) “This summer I had the pleasure of attending the Guitar Foundation of America festival and competition in Fullerton, California. Though I didn’t place in the competition, that was only a minor part of the experience. During the festival, I also got to participate in a guitar orchestra with fellow competitors and other guitarists from around the world. On top of all of that, I attended technique workshops practi- cally everyday with some of the most renowned guitarists: Matteo Mela, Lorenzo Michel, and William Kanengiser. At the end of each day, there were amazing concerts too. All in all, going to the Guitar Foundation of America festival was a incredible and memorable experience.” -Mei Yin Steadman, Orpheus Guitar Student Xingyi and Veronika practicing in their dorm room at Texas State “I had a tremendous summer of learning new techniques, play- ing in an orchestra and meeting tons of great professors that had traveled all over the world for competitions, and learning different types of music. At first I thought there was going to be only one other violist but there wasn’t! I’m still glad I attended this camp, in a orchestra it sounds wonderful to hear all the string instru- ments come together and perform. -Xingyi Zhu, Orpheus Viola Student Michael (far left) playing percussion at the Baylor University Band Camp “What made my experience special was that the entire week was focused on music. The instructors were nice, patient, understand- ing and gentle and took the time to allow us to learn the music and encouraged us to explore our limits.” -Michael Vetter, Orpheus Guitar Student We are working out the details for a 15th Anniversary Concert/ Celebration that will be unlike any other. Will you be there? Look for details August 1!