The flute studio is a place full of adventures, large and small. Adventures of the mind and spirit. Journeys of the heart and soul.
Three of my students purchased new flutes in the past month. Our local music store, Music and Arts, worked with me to bring all of the available intermediate flutes to the store in Westerville. (Thank you, Aiden!) I had fun trying all the new flutes and so did my students.
The music store was running a promotion: buy a flute and receive a piccolo for free. The studio grew by three flutes AND three piccolos!
For a detailed guide on choosing the right flute, check out my blog posts “New Flute Buying Guide,” “Five Tests For Shopping,” and “Intermediate Flute Buying Guide.”
The annual recital was the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This year, I was thrilled that there were zero scheduling conflicts for the date I chose. I thought that for the first time in many years, we would have 100% participation.
However, sickness and injury caused two students to drop out at the last minute. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful recital with lovely music.
I have written about recital prep in the blog posts “Recital Preparation,” “Resilience and Recitals,” and “Recital Update.”
December and May are the months of concerts. School and community groups tend to hold concerts before Christmas break and again before the end of the school year. In addition to recital music this month, students were busy preparing for band, orchestra, and choir concerts.
As the new year approaches, this is a good time for all of my students to assess the progress they have made in 2019 and make resolutions for 2020.
It’s time to choose new solos and have fun with music books we received for Christmas.
I now have a magnificent 9’ Steinway grand piano in the studio.
Because of its size, I had to move things around a bit. The chairs are now in a different place. I notice that the sunlight is different in this part of the room. It’s actually a bit brighter for the music on the stand.
My chair is now on the other side of my students. Because of this, I can see the entire flute more clearly. I’m using this change as an opportunity to check in with everyone’s hand and finger positions.
The grand piano is for sale. We affectionately call it “the beast” because of its huge size and sound. My son Prescott LOVES playing it. Like all of the pianos, it has been lovingly restored by my dear husband, Bryan. You can see all of his current restoration projects by visiting the Hartzler Pianos website.
My son Prescott has been studying piano for 10 years. He is looking for new gigs: accompanying, weddings, parties, funerals, church music, chamber music, etc. To learn more about Prescott and his musical adventures, please visit his website at www.PrescottHartzler.com
Remember that it’s the journey, not the destination. Most of my favorite vacation moments have come from adventures while traveling, not the arrival.
I’ll see you in the studio soon. Happy practicing!
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