April is almost here, & that means the Spring Recital is quickly approaching! I am so proud of all of my students and how much they have learned in such a short period of time. This is also why I am excited for the upcoming recital on Monday, April 24th at 6-7PM in Holland at the MidTown Center.
I would like to invite and remind all students that the last Group Class before the recital will be Friday, April 21st from 5-5:30PM. The fee is $5. All ages and levels are welcome. This group class will be different from the preceding, because we will be going over recital etiquette. It will be a great run-through before performance day. Please put this in your calendars and email me with any questions.
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Today I was able to hear the very talented Nicola Benedetti and the Venice Baroque Orchestra. The performance was spectacular! What a great day. Enjoy some pictures of the experience and of the University of Notre Dame's Campus where the performance was held. I have started the process of recording a few supplemental video lessons for my students to help aid their weekly practice. I think these videos will be useful in reinforcing concepts I teach during each private lesson. It can be hard to remember everything we touch on, so these can be little reminders during your practice times. If you have requests for video lessons please contact me. Below is a sample of a few lessons I recently recorded to give you an idea of what they look like.
Last evening my students performed in a fantastic recital! As we approach the close of 2016, it was a great way to wrap up the season. Everyone has learned SO much these past few months and it was a joy to watch them showcase all of their knowledge. Performing for the first time for a large audience is a nerve wracking thing to do, and for many of my students, this was their first or second recital. So, I am very proud of their courage and dedication! The more they perform, the more comfortable they will feel.
Thank you also to all of the families and parents who support these children and provide them an opportunity to learn a musical instrument. So thank you for your support, your time, and your dedication. It all brings me so much happiness each week to pour into these kids' lives. Matthew Heyboer (cello) and I had a great time collaborating on this joint violin/cello recital. We performed Passacaglia by Handel-Halvorssen to close out the recital. It was a lot of fun to pull together this difficult piece together from our repertoire. It has taken us years of practice to be able to perform that piece of music, and we hope it was a source of motivation and encouragement to our students to show them what they can accomplish with hard work. Again, I am so proud of you all! Thank you and I am excited to continue working with you as the New Year approaches. Larissa My friend Matthew Heyboer and I will be performing the next two Sundays from 2-3PM at Woodland Mall in Barnes and Noble.
It is going to be a fun and festive time. We hope you stop by during your Christmas and Holiday Shopping to grab a coffee and listen to some great music. Larissa This Fall I began offering my first violin group classes & what a fun experience they have turned out to be. I am excited to see how they will grow this coming semester as we step into 2017. Group classes are a great way for kids, parents/guardians, and students of all ages to get together in an encouraging environment and use what they have been learning in their private studies in a team setting. Parents can bounce ideas off of other parents, and students can look to others in the class for advice or as a source of motivation. With so many different ages and skill levels in the room, everyone learns something new at each class, even me! This coming Winter/Spring I am hoping to see more and more of my students participating in these enriching activities. If not in an orchestra or other music group, these classes allow students to learn the skills of teamwork, listening, and following that are vital parts of being a musician. Art (def): something that is created with imagination and skill and that is beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.
As a musician and as a person, I like to think of myself as an artist. We are all artists in a way. We create things, we use imagination, we love and crave for beauty. Art can be used to express emotion, to express needs, to showcase skill. It is so many things. It is a part of what it is to be human. I believe it has intrinsic value (we just NEED it, it's important) and extrinsic value (we USE it, we make it important). It helps us to see beauty, or sometimes it helps us to question important issues. I get very excited when ArPrize rolls around here in Grand Rapids. This year it is ArPrize 8, 'a radically open international art competition decided by public vote and expert jury that takes place each fall in Grand Rapids -- and it's all free and open to the public." The city comes alive with locals, visitors, and people of all ages and backgrounds. For a month, we all get to experience the imagination and skill of those that have used their time to create something. The art ranges from 2D, 3D, installations, and time-based entries. All art forms are represented, including music. Yesterday, I was able to go to Frederik Meijer Gardens and take in some of the entries. Be sure to check out some of the venues if you live here. Also, to students and parents: The Grand Rapids Symphony will be performing at the UICA next week with free concerts! More info at this link: http://www.grsymphony.org/Default.aspx?p=128357&evtid=544375:9/29/2016 I know there are other music events as well, so be sure to check them out! Larissa As a violinist, I get to play at quite a few weddings. It is a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Not many people can say they have been to weddings of people they don't know. It is an honor to be asked to celebrate a couple and their commitment to one another. This weekend, a friend and I performed for a wedding in Holland, Michigan. We also had the chance to do a small recording session of some of our wedding repertoire. I have linked the video below. Enjoy! If you would like to see more of my chamber music adventures, check out The Charmante String Quartet website.
Larissa I have some exciting news! This Fall I will be offering violin lessons in Holland. I am so grateful to the Holland Symphony Orchestra for allowing me some rental space in their downtown offices. Please share this with anyone you know that is interested in violin lessons for any age and any level. I hope to be teaching a lot of the Suzuki method for young children and offer group classes as well. Go to the contact page to reserve a lesson time.
This week I had the privilege of attending PhoenixPhest Grande in Yipsilanti, MI at Eastern Michigan University's campus. This festival and institute included Suzuki instruction for students and teacher trainees along with some fabulous solo and chamber recitals. As a teacher trainee, I learned so much more about different teaching techniques and was able to connect with other violin instructors from across the nation. I am excited to incorporate new techniques into my teaching! The faculty was fantastic and the kids seemed to have a great time. I would recommend this festival to any students seeking more chamber group experience and violin instruction. To learn more about this and other institutes check out the below websites: https://phoenixensemble.com/phoenixphest-grande/ https://suzukiassociation.org/events/institutes/ I hope you all are enjoying your summer! Feel free to check out some of the pictures I took during the week.
All the best, Larissa
"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation...We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." -Aristolte Continuing in my Suzuki Association of the Americas Teacher Training, I attended a course this weekend called SPA or Suzuki Principles in Action. As a teacher this course was a great reminder of the constant learning we all experience as people. Michelangelo, the famous Italian painter, was said to have stated at age 87, "I am still learning". I think this is so true for me and all of us. There is so much to know and no one will ever know everything.
Never stop learning, analyzing, or questioning. If you fail or aren't getting where you would hope to be, just try a different approach. Thomas Edison was asked by a reporter how he felt about failing so many times in his journey to create a light bulb. In response he said "I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." I hope to inspire all of my students to be critical thinkers with the ability to analyze what I am teaching them. Thinking about the structure of my lessons and teaching style during the course made me excited to grow as a teacher. Larissa My masterclass experience with the Tesla Quartet from 8.6.15 was great! Our quartet performed the first movement of the Dvorak String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, "American". We had some great feedback on bringing out different lines and having a conversation through our different musical parts. At the beginning of the piece there are melodic lines and stylistic elements in each separate instrumental part that are passed around. We worked more on bringing out these lines as a team and listening to each others' interpretations of these lines. Did you know that Dvorak had an obsession with steam locomotives: trains? It was said that he would spend hours at a railway station in Prague observing the sights and sounds there. Within the "American" Quartet some of his inspiration is evident through the recollection of the sound of these trains, Native American Music, and American Spirituals. Before the masterclass we rehearsed in the Martha Miller Rotunda at the Hope College Campus as the new music building was in the final stages of construction. Have a great start to the school year! Larissa
“Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. |
AuthorLarissa Brooks Follow my studio blog for tips, tricks, & performance updates.
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