April Update: Parkland Showcase, Duets, and how wildfires affected piano

 OK, so here I am, dropping the ball again on blogging, and also mentally going, "Oh, yeah... what did we do in the studio again?'

   Well, let's start with Parkland Showcase concert! 



   Out of my students who entered, this girl in the pictures went to Showcase and received a scholarship! That was exciting for me. As far as my judgement goes, this year's Showcase had a really good display of our area's talent. (I don't say Parkland's talent, because I don't live in Parkland County, ironically, and neither does the young scholarship winner above or her sisters who also competed. 😆) The addition of Speech Arts into PMF's syllabus added interest. Also there were some very good pianists, vocalists, and even a violinist. I enjoyed Showcase a lot this year! 

   Recital season is coming up, and this year I have quite a few students practicing duets for the recital. 

   I hope that's a good thing. I really do.

   Right now, it's a stretching experience for nearly all of them! They are all getting lots of practice in counting out loud. Hopefully they figure out how to count and play together before the recital in three weeks. Yep, that's right, folks. The countdown is on. The recital is on its way! 

   And it's no secret to anybody that a week ago, the news blurb was, "Alberta is on fire." To date, there have been 436 wildfires in Alberta this year, 75 of which are active. (Click here for updated information.) The one that affected our area the most was the Evansburg area fire, which to-date is still out of control despite the (much-needed!) rain God has been sending us! (From what I understand, the general area between Evansburg and Edson has two separate fires raging.) Being 40 minutes east of Evansburg, we were unaffected (except for the smoke). But not all my students could say the same. For the students who had to cope with evacuation, when they were able to come for lessons, we kept things light and fun with theory games, improv, and sight reading. I believe that music can provide comfort and a sense of normalcy in times of trauma and distress. My hope and prayer is that I was in some small way able to provide a little comfort to my students. For those reading this who have been affected, displaced, or suffered loss of property as a result of the fires, my prayers are with you. And I know that some of my students may face their own personal crises that will not garner international attention, but whether it's displacement from a fire or the loss of a pet, I want to be there for my students, just as my teacher courageously was for me a very long time ago. 

   For those of you who may be reading this from outside of Canada, I'm going to do something I normally don't do. I'll share with you this video by CTV about the wildfire situation. I haven't watched the whole video, but I'm sure it will give you a clear picture of what's going on here. 



Location: Onoway, AB T0E 1V0, Canada

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