Preparing For Our Spring Piano Recital

Somewhere around Easter, the idea that the May piano recital is near prompts much action among my piano students.  At the beginning of the year, we are all aware that the recital date is "out there" somewhere, but it still does not have that sense of urgency that galvanizes us to action.  Until, of course, Easter.

The weekly piano lesson format changes, and the student's full attention is now on their recital piece or pieces of music.  Everything changes.  They live and breathe the music, they research the background of the composer, and they find ways to perform for their friends as a kind of  "dress rehearsal" for the real event.  It's an exciting time of the year for a piano teacher.

So much of music follows a cycle, either a personal cycle or a school cycle, or a yearly cycle.  There are ebbs and flows, and this is how it should be.  Very few pianists (except that 2% of students who go on to be professional musicians) can keep up a rigorous schedule of practice and performance.  We all need to work hard on our chosen music, but we also need times where we take a break, think about other subjects, and refresh ourselves so we can come back to our music with a new perspective.

We all made it through the recital, and now summer is just days away.  School will be out next week, and vacations will begin.  Most of my younger students will take July and August off, and my studio is closed the month of August so I can rest and refresh myself.  I feel these cycles in my own life deeply, and encourage you to find your own cycles and observe them.