Happy New Year!

  Happy New Year! Year 2014 promises to be busy for everyone in our studio, just take a look at the calendar in the previous post. December Group class was canceled due to massive power outage in our area; ice storm did noticeable damage to power lines on our street. Three days in a cold house without electricity tested my optimism and endurance of freezing temperatures, it also made my holiday preparation a bit more chaotic.

 Nevertheless, we were able to enjoy Mini-Studio Recital at the “Woodlands”. It was so lovely to see everyone festively dressed for the holidays.

Latest studio news:

NVMTA Judged Recital:

Lucy- Honors

SMC Student Recital:

Raelyn- Honors

Charlotte- Honors

 I hope winter break was long enough to warm up and have some family time. Next, everyone is sharpening pencils and flipping through music dictionary pages as we are getting ready for the annual VMTA Theory Exam.

Important Dates,2014

April 26-SMC Student Recital, JK

April 26 &27- NVMTA Piano Duet Competition

May 10, Saturday- NVMTA Achievements Awards

May 11- Hartman Awards, CU

May 15-Woodlands, SMC Honors

May 18- NVMTA Sonata, GMU

May 22- Woodlands, SMC Honors

June 7- District Auditions

Fall Notes, 2013

             Mini-Recital at the Kirtley residence

First quarter has a check mark on school calendar, we can make a quick update about busy autumn season so far.

Two Studio Mini-Recitals were hosted by the Papenfuss and Kirtley families, thank you so much for opening your house to us! Students had a chance not only to play for each other, but also catch up while enjoying tasty refreshments.

Raelyn before Asian American Competition

Raelyn and Maggie received recognition at Asian American Competition. Both students received Honors and high marks from judges. Raelyn impressed one of the judges and received the maximum points of 30! Congratulations to both students!

FLMF held its first Student Recital at the Reston Community Center. It was wonderful to see that so many students selected this opportunity to get the feel for new programs.

Raelyn, Katherine and Helen after performance at Reston

VMTA Fall Festival took place yesterday, and I must say that everyone did super great!

Superior- Sophia, Nicole, Raelyn, Katherine, Helen and Lucy.

Yvette and Nicole at VMTA Fall Festival

Please check our official website: http://www.silvaspianostudio.com
for upcoming recital and competition dates. 

Summer Kaleidoscope

Welcome back! Time to shift gears after vacations, fun family trips and action-packed summer camps.  Event calendar promises to provide us with many performance opportunities this year. This week, one can use extra time for adjustments, getting used to early alarm clock surprises and perfecting after school activity calendar for upcoming school year.

From Eli's travel to Dubrovnik

In the mean time, a quick glance through summer photos and summary of colorful travel impressions plus performance updates.

In June, Nicole participated in Northern District Auditions. Level 1A had 25 participants this year, Nicole won 3^rd place!

Nicole with her brother and big sister at Kennedy Center, Washington DC

Maggie and Gabby performed at the Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, NY. Both students were finalists of the AFAF Spring Concerts. This will be a trip to remember for Maggie and Gaby as well as their supportive families.

Gaby at Carnegie Hall

Charlotte and Lucy spend early weekday mornings and Saturdays at CSL swim meets. Many hours of dedicated swimming brought well deserved awards; both swimmers made All Stars top ten list for the Colonial Swim League.

Charlotte at All Stars

 Travel destinations this summer included far away places: Taiwan, Japan, China, Italy, Croatia, Spain and Turkey.

 Angus in Taipei

  If you are planning ahead, you may want to look at the upcoming events for fall:

Sunday, 9/29- NVMTA General Recitals, WCA

Sunday 10/13- NVMTA Judged Recitals, WCA

Sunday, 10/13-FLMF Recital, Reston Community Center

Saturday, 10/26- Asian American Piano Competition

Saturday, 11/2- VMTA Fall Festival

Sunday, 11/17- NVMTA Judged Recitals

Saturday, 11/23-SMC Student Recital, JK

 I cannot wait to hear all about your summer, and don't forget to check the battery for the metronome!

Student Achievements, 2012-2013

           Gaby and Maggie after performance at Carnegie Hall, NY

Old Dominion University Harold Protsman Classical Competition

Nicole Papenfuss (2nd grader) - 2nd place  

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, NY


Charlotte, Gaby and Maggie

NVMTA Piano Ensemble Competition

Level I (age 8 and under): 
  Nicole and Sophia - 1st place

Level II (age 9 - 10): 
  Lucy and Cindy - 1st place

Level IIIA (age 11): 
  Angus and Eli - 1st place

Level IIIB (age 12-13): 
  Maggie and Charlotte - 1st place



Northern District Auditions
Level 1A
Nicole-3rd place

SMC Honors

Helen
Katherine
Angus
Lucy
Eli
Maggie
Sophia
Nicole
Charlotte

WMTA Viola Hartman Piano Performance Awards

Sophia - 3rd place

Nicole - 3rd place

Gaby - 3rd place



NVMTA Piano Concerto Festival/Competition

Grades 4-5:
Lucy - 1st place

Eli-3rd place
Grades 6-7:
Charlotte - 1st place

Angus - 2nd place  

NVMTA Bach Baroque Festival
Superior- Helen, Lucy, Gaby, Eli
Superior Plus-Eli, Nicole
15 point award- Katherine, Lucy, Eli


WMTA Speciality Competition
Charlotte - 1st place

NVMTA Judged Recitals



Gaby - Honors

Maggie - HM

Eli - HM



NVMTA Sonata Festival
First Round Winners - Sophia, Nicole, Charlotte, Gaby


Honors - Nicole, Gaby



                   Nicole with her mom, Ms. Michi,  and brother at GMU

WMTA Hartman Piano Competition and NVMTA Sonata Festival

Final ride on a school bus is coming up in a few days. It is quite noticeable that students cannot wait to hang up their backpacks after long and productive school year. Field Days and Picnics have brought much needed chance for our children to play games and have fun on the playground.

NVMTA Sonata Festival

First Round winners- Sophia, Nicole, Charlotte and Gaby

Honors- Nicole and Gaby

WMTA Hartman Competition

Nicole-3rd place

Sophia-3rd place

Gaby3rd place.

 Gabrielle is not only a dedicated pianist and cellist, she is also a very gifted artist. This year her artwork  has received a recognition on a county level; Gaby's bookmark design has won the first place and will be published and shared at all Fairfax County Schools, way to go, Gaby!

Performances for this year have been accomplished, now it is time to relax and explore new repertoire for next year. 

Honors Concerts at Woodlands

 During the month of May, Springfield Music Club held its Honors Concerts at the Woodlands. After performing, students spent some time talking to residents. SMC awarded beautiful certificates to everyone. Cookies and lemonade were added bonus to this lovely event.

                                              Sophia, Nicole, Katherine and Helen

NVMTA Piano Duet Competition, 2013

It was an extraordinary day for everyone, indeed. Beautiful playing and lovely weather will make this day very memorable for our studio.

 Level I (age 8 and under)

Nicole and Sophia- 1^st place

Level II (age 9-10)

Lucy and Cindy- 1^st place

Level IIIA (age 11)

Angus and Eli- 1^st place

Level IIIB (age 12-13)

Maggie and Charlotte- 1^st place

Nicole said, “Playing duets is fun because You get to make new friends.  Playing in a competition isn't as scary when you have a partner.  When you win it's twice as fun as wining by yourself."

Applause for Nicole

   

     Nicole Papenfuss, second grader, won 2^nd place  and a monetary award at the Old Dominion University Harold Protsman Classical Perdiod Piano Competition. She prepared two movements of classical Sonata for this competitive event. Students had to present two contrasting movements from classical sonata at the preliminary auditions before being selected for the final round. This year, the adjudicator was John O’Conor. Applause for Nicole!

                                                   Nicole with her big sister, Michelle.

NVMTA Concerto Festival/Competition

Our studio had a small (five students) but strong showing at the NVMTA Concerto Festival/Competition this winter.

Grades 4-5

Lucy-1^st place

Eli-3^rd place

Grades 6-7

Charlotte-1^st place

Angus -2^nd place

  Sophia played her first concerto with a lot of energy and confidence. Her Haydn Concerto was musical and cheerful, just the way it should be. Way to go, Sophia!

Charlotte not only participated as a soloist, she also performed the task of an accompanist for Eli. Great team work!

 Please check back for updates regarding duet event and upcoming student recitals. March promises to be a more relaxing and quiet month according to studio calendar of events.

Winter News

February, the busiest month ever is almost over. I can hear parents asking in disbelief, “There is no festival or recital this weekend?”  Thank you for keeping weekend schedules flexible and attending Theory Exam, WMTA Speciality Competition, Baroque Festival and  several recitals during past few weeks.

 VMTA Theory Exam was a success. Students were well prepared. Eileen, busy TJ student, tackled with great skills level IX, I am very proud of her!

Top Theory scores- Sophia (%100) and Lucy 


Theme for WMTA Speciality Competition this year was “American and Canadian Music”. Congratulations to our winner:

Charlotte- 1^st place

Bach Baroque Festival results:

Superior Plus- Nicole, Eli

Superior- Sophia, Lucy, Helen, Gaby

15 point awards- Eli, Lucy and Katherine

January, 2013

January is almost over even though unusually warm weather does not appear to be on the same page as winter in this performance.  Do not get too confident just yet. Despite mischievous sunshine and its promises of an early spring,  I am convinced that we will get a visit from shy Ms.Winter.  

 Students have had a quick start to a new year, several events already successfully attended in January. Here is a quick update about the latest news:

NVMTA Judged Recital

Gabrielle- Honors

Eli- HM

 NVMTA Sight Reading Exam Top scores:

Charlotte- 100%

Sophia-99%

SMC Honors

Helen 

Nicole 

Charlotte 

WMTA Speciality Competition and NVMTA Theory Exam are next events, please check back for more updates.