Congratulations, Manus!

Manus McGinnis with his group class pals Ben, Rachel, Carson.

Manus McGinnis celebrated his graduation from Suzuki Piano Book One with a graduation recital last evening in CYM Wexford. Family and friends were in attendence. Bravo, Manus!

CYM Celli featured on the Saturday Light Brigade

Annie, Kazu, Bob, Colin, Elliott, Coleman, and Celia are ready to go on the air!

Center for Young Musicians' Cello Department under the instruction of Rowena Gutana enjoyed a fun performance on Saturday, July 7th at the SLB studios inside the Children's Museum of Pittburgh. We’re happy to have these young players in our studios, performing live on SLB. Check out the podcast of their performance here!

Karsten Lagerquist Graduates Suzuki Cello Book Six

Karsten performs at CYM's Solo Recital in April

Congratulations go out to Karsten Lagerquist as he graduates from Suzuki Cello Book Six! His recital will be held this Thursday, July 19^th at 4:45 in CYM Wexford- family and friends are invited to attend. Great work, Karsten!

Free Summer Music in Pittsburgh- Don't Miss Out!

Free Summer Music – Don’t miss out!

Pittsburgh Symphony performance at South Park Amphitheater in 2010.  Photo credit here.

Summer is a great time to check out free, live, outdoor music performances throughout the Pittsburgh area. Classical, rock, folk, jazz, rock-cello – you name it, it’s out there. Here is a very brief list to help get you started in tracking down a show. Take a blanket and a snack, and enjoy!

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, 8 p.m. on July 7 at the South Park Amphitheater, and July 8 at Hartwood Acres.  For more shows at South Park, click here. Hartwood Acres hosts free Sunday night shows throughout the summer; click here for a complete list.

Pittsburgh Philharmonic, 7 p.m., July 26 at Cranberry  Community Park. The link gives directions and complete concert list.

The Bach, Beethoven and Brunch Classical Music Series, Sunday mornings at Mellon Park in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood. Here is the concert list and other information.

CYM Violinists take to the airwaves on SLB Radio

Ms. Tanya Satteson, Kate Heinricher, Alexa Bronkaj, Ava Heinricher, Josephine Reiter, Haley Raphael, and Meredith Hudock all represent the CYM Violin department on Saturday Light Brigade Radio, broadcast from the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. 

 CYM violinists under the direction of Ms. Tanya Satteson did a marvelous job performing for the Saturday Morning family broadcast of SLB Radio the last Saturday in June. Great job, everyone! 

Here is the link to their performance: http://neighborhoodvoices.org/yes-center-for-young-musicians-violinists

Chamber Music Community Concert at Legacy Theatre- July 13th at 7:00pm

Take a “Play-cation” with CYM!

Take a “Play-cation” with CYM!

Summer seems like a good time for a break, doesn’t it? Take a break from the routine, but not your instrument, with a CYM Summer Practice Tip! It’s a “play-cation” for you and your child. No car trip (or luggage) required.

Tip #1, Review Bag, from CYM Teacher Tanya Satteson. This exercise can be adapted for any instrument.

1.       Write each of your child’s review pieces on an index card and put them in a plastic baggie labeled "The pieces I know".

2.       On another set of cards, list various goals and place them in a "Focus Points" or "Goals" baggie. Postural, or tone goals usually work best (like correct left hand posture, correct bowhold, squared fingers, relaxed right shoulder, good body alignment, bow in lane 3, straight bow, steady tempo, correct bowing etc.)  Think of goals that you have worked on throughout the school year with your teacher.

3.       Set the timer to 10 or 15 minutes (or an appropriate review length for your child) and pick one piece card, and one goal card. Work on the piece and goal until some degree of mastery has been gained (an example might be playing the entire piece once while trying to achieve the goal, and then just the first line 5 times correctly while maintaining the goal perfectly).

If you only cover one piece before the timer goes off, that's fine. Just keep choosing pieces/goals and working on those goals until you're out of time. I like this game because it makes the assignment more emotionally neutral -- the assignment is chosen randomly. Also, it focuses review work and gives you just one practice point to work on for each piece.

Of course, be very careful to allow your child to focus completely on the goal he/she is working on, and restrain yourself from picking out other issues outside of the current focus point. Focusing on one goal at a time is more productive, and is infinitely less stressful for both you and your child during your practice sessions!

Thank you, Ms. Tanya!

Congratulations Summer Suzuki Graduates- Oleg, Julia, Ava, Ben and Manus

Manus McGinnis' Recital celebrating his graduation from Suzuki Piano Book 1 will be held on Tuesday evening, July 24th, at 5:00 pm at CYM Wexford. Family and friends are invited to attend! Way to go, Manus!
 

Manus McGinnis performs at CYM's Solo Recital

 Ben Capozzi looks forward to graduating from Suzuki Piano Book 1. His Graduation Recital will be held on Tuesday evening, July 17th at 4:55pm at CYM Wexford in the downstairs Group Room. Family and friends are welcome to attend. Great job, Ben!

Congratulations to Oleg Hartman as he graduates from Suzuki Piano Book 1! Oleg's graduation recital was held this Tuesday, July 3rd at 4:00pm in CYM Wexford. Family, friends, and classmates were in attendance. Great work, Oleg!

Oleg Hartman at CYM's Spring Solo Recital

  Congratulations to Julia Solomon as she graduates from Suzuki Cello Book 6! She will celebrate with a Graduation Recital held on Thursday, July 12th at 4:45pm, located in CYM Wexford's group room downstairs. Bravo, Julia!

Julia Solomon at CYM's Spring Solo Recital

Ava Heinricher celebrated her graduation from Suzuki Book 1 with her Graduation Recital last Wednesday evening, June 27th. Her performance of Book 1 was accompanied by Miss Karolina Lagerquist. Congratulations to you, Ava!

Ava Heinricher performs her Book 1 recital for family and classmates

Betsy Watters graduates Suzuki Piano Book 1

Betsy performs at her graduation recital last Thursday evening.

Congratulations to Betsy Watters as she graduates from Suzuki Piano Book 2! Betsy celebrated her graduation with a recital which was held on Thursday, June 28 at 6:30 at CYM Sewickley. Friends and family attended. Way to go, Betsy!