The STEP News

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December 2006
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November 2009
"STEP Wise": December 2010

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"STEP Wise": February 2011
"STEP Wise": April 2011
"STEP Wise": May 2011
"STEP Wise": June 2011
"STEP Wise": August 2011
"STEP Wise": Year 2011/12 Begins
"STEP Wise": September 2011
"STEP Wise": October 2011 (Fall Graduation Edition)
"STEP Wise": November 2011

Solo Concert #2

Our second Solo Concert is Sunday January 29th, at 1:30 pm, at St. Mark's Church on Logy Bay Road. Come out and hear our students play their beautiful pieces on which they've worked so hard.

Performers, please arrive at 1:00 to get tuned up and ready. Rehearsals are Saturday morning at St. Mark's at the following times. Please be on time for your rehearsal. If you can't make it at that time, please inform your teacher.

Congratulations to all solo performers!

Young Virtuosi Concert, January 15th

Our senior performing group, the Young Virtuosi, will be presenting their year's work so far in a concert on Sunday evening, January 15th, at 8 pm, at the Anglican Cathedral. Come and hear our students make beautiful music including Vivaldi's Spring Violin Concerto, Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor, and Theme from Schindler's List by John Williams. Featured is our guest artist Nathan Cook, cellist with the Hot Earth Ensemble.

Christmas Concert and Play-In

Our first concert of the year for ALL students, including pre-twinklers, parent learners, fiddlers, and Early Childhood babies and toddlers!

Date:
Saturday, December 10th
Place:
George St. United Church Google Map
Schedule:
STEP Fiddlers Wassail rehearsal: 9 AM
Tuning for everyone else: 9:30
Play-in: 10:00-11:30
Potluck reception to follow: 11:30-1:00. Please bring snacks or drinks to share.

What to wear? No uniform, just something presentable. Festive accessories encouraged! STEP Fiddlers, please wear your T-shirt if you have one.

Program:

Part I: Special Presentations

Welcome from MC and introduction of STEP Orchestra

  1. STEP Orchestra - led by Heather Kao
  2. ECE 1 - led by Evelyn Osborne
  3. ECE 1, 2, and Pre-Twinkle Beginners - led by Evelyn Osborne
  4. ECE 2 and Pre-Twinkle Beginners - led by Evelyn Osborne
  5. Pre-Twinkle Class - led by Heather Kao
  6. Parent Class - led by Evelyn Osborne
  7. Fiddle 2 - led by Dominic Greene
  8. Fiddle 3 - led by Julia Bowdring
  9. Young Virtuosi - led by Jennifer Johnson

Part II: Play-In

All students, Twinkle and beyond, on stage!

  1. Cello classes - led by Christina Smith
  2. Concertos Class - led by Jennifer Johnson
  3. Bourrées Class - led by Ellen Kogut
  4. Gavottes Class - led by Ellen Kogut
  5. Minuets Class - led by Heather Kao
  6. Etudes Class - led by Heather Kao
  7. Folk Songs Class - led by Lauren Smee

GRAND FINALE (EVERYONE)

Hope to see you all there!

STEP Fiddlers To Perform in Folk Arts Society Wassail

Fiddlers and fiddle fans take note! The Folk Arts Society Christmas Wassail is a lovely holiday concert and sing-along featuring many stars of the folk community including our own STEP Fiddlers. Come and hear a variety of beautiful performances and support the Folk Arts Society.

WHEN: Sunday, December 11th, 2:00 PM
WHERE: George Street United Church
TICKETS: $10 in advance and $12 on the door. Advance tickets are now available at O'Brien's Music Store and the FAS office.

STEP Fiddlers: rehearsal at George St. United Church at 9:00 on Dec. 10th. Please come to the church by 1:00 PM on Sunday to get organized and warm up before the concert starts.

Graduation Concert

Congratulations to all our graduates moving on to new books! Come out to the concert Sunday at 1:30, at MMaP in the Arts and Culture Centre, and celebrate their achievements with them. (If you are graduating, your rehearsal is Saturday morning: check the Newsletter for your timeslot. Please arrive at 1:00 Sunday to tune up.)

Playathon a Success!

A big thank you to all the STEP students who played so beautifully at the airport on Sunday, to the parents and friends who came out to watch, and to everyone who pledged their support. Big thanks as well to the teachers who volunteered their Sunday afternoon to organize the event and lead the pieces. Passengers, passers-by and airport staff all stopped to watch and many of them had very nice things to say about the talent and enthusiasm that was filling the terminal with music. Suffice it to say, we'll be invited back!

Just a reminder to please bring your pledge forms (with the donations attached) to Josh at the next group class. Receipts will be issued over the following week.

All about the Playathon!

What is a Playathon?

It is a fundraising event. You collect pledges on your pledge form. Write the number of pieces you can play at the top. Then ask family, friends, neighbours, anybody you know to sponsor you. They sponsor you per piece - so if you can play five pieces and they sponsor you for $1.00 per piece, they will pay $5.00. Anyone who sponsors you for more than $50.00 will get a charitable tax receipt.

Where and when is it?

St. John's Airport, October 16, from 1:30 - 4:00. Please arrive 15 minutes before your playing time to get tuned and organized!

Does each twinkle count as one piece?

YES! We will play all five variations and theme.

What will the money be used for?

The Atlantic Canada Suzuki Institute. Part of the money will go into each family's individual fund-raising account to be put towards each family's ACSI fees. The rest will go to support ACSI and help keep fees from rising. If you don't go to ACSI, 100% of the funds you have raised will go towards the Institute.

Will I have to play ALL the pieces I know, without stopping?

We have organized the schedule with spare time built in so that we can take breaks for rest, hydration and nutrition. Nobody will be required to play for longer than the equivalent of a 1.5 hour orchestra rehearsal. Performers in Book Four and up may opt out of playing Book One pieces if they choose. Check the schedule below to see when you will play.

What do I wear?

Athletic gear - sweats, sneakers, running gear, Adidas jacket, gym clothes! Whatever you have that you would wear to a marathon. We will supply a pin-on number.

Do I have to be there the whole time?

The more pieces you play, the longer you will be there. Schedule below. Book Four/Five students will be there the longest, but can opt to have a rest break while everyone else plays Book One. The schedule tells approximate times. We might sometimes be a little early or a little late but we aim to have everything run within 15 minutes of the tentative schedule.

How do I prepare for a Playathon?

Start reviewing all your pieces now! Here's a good plan for getting those reviews in shape! Review You Do

Schedule!

A Special Concert!

This summer, Eileen Kearns, the founding Artistic Director of STEP, is returning to St. John's for a visit. Mrs. Kearns is the teacher (or grand-teacher!) of many string professionals in St. John's, including some on our faculty.

STEP is planning a special concert and reception in her honour. It will take place on Friday July 15 at St. James' Church, Elizabeth Avenue, at 6:30 p.m. We'd like to see the whole STEP family out to welcome Eileen back. The Young Virtuosi, STEP's top-level concerto group, and the STEP Fiddlers will perform, and there will be a play-in so even Twinklers can be involved! Write it in your calendar and plan to attend!

Playing for Eileen Kearns

We'd love to see as many people as possible on stage for the play-in part for the Eileen Kearns concert. Parents especially welcome! There will be many Twinkles so everyone can play. Come early (6pm) to tune up in the basement of St. James. Wear something summery and nice-looking, and please bring treats for the reception. Please RSVP to STEP if you can play.

Solo Concerts: Sunday, June 12th, 1PM to 4PM

There will be TWO concerts this Sunday because we have so many soloists! Both are at St. James' United Church, 330 Elizabeth Avenue (just west of MUN, seeGoogle map). The first is at 1:30 (come to tune up at 1:00), and the second at 3:00 (come to tune up at 2:30). The concerts are free of charge and all are welcome to one or both: invite your friends and family to come experience beautiful music from all ages of STEP students!

As always, parents of performing students are asked to bring a snack along to share after the concert. We also need one parent to coordinate the food (by bringing some juice, checking in with performer's families, and helping set up and tidy) and one parent to print programs to pass out at the concerts. Please email step@suzukinl.ca if you can do either of these jobs.

Rehearsal Schedule

Rehearsals will be at St. James' on Saturday morning June 11th, at the times listed below. Please come early and get ready to play at your given time: there are so many students to rehearse, we don't want to get behind. If you cannot make it during the time your teacher is there, please make alternate arrangements with him/her. If your child is not in the proper list below, please contact your teacher immediately and we'll add you in!

Here is the list of who's performing in which concert, and the approximate order. Order within each half subject to change!

First Concert at 1:30 (tune up at 1:00)

Second Concert at 3:00 (tune up at 2:30)

Congratulations and best wishes to all performers!

Solo Concert: Sunday, May 1st

It's time to gather together again and hear some spectacular performances from our amazing students! The next solo concert is:

This Sunday, May 1st
1:30 - 3:00
St. Mark's Church, 203 Logy Bay Road

Rehearsals will be held between 9 and 12 on the day before (Saturday, April 30th) at St. Mark's. On Sunday, please arrive at 1:00 for tuning and be available until the concert ends.

Families of performers, please bring along some treats to share at the concert!

We still need a volunteer to help with the potluck. This means checking with the parents to see what they're bringing, bringing along a few things to drink, snagging some of STEP's dishes from the office at the Arts and Culture Centre (Josh has a key) and helping tidy up afterwards. Please reply to this email ASAP if you can take this job on!

The rehearsal schedule for Saturday is:

9:00am Christina's students

9:10am Nancy's students

9:40am Lauren's students

9:50am Julia's students

10:00am Jennifer's students

If your child's name isn't on the list and should be, please let us know right away via step@suzukinl.ca!

April Newsletter

Here's all the news from March and April, plus what's coming up soon. "STEP Wise": April 2011

ACSI information now on the web

Planning to come to the Atlantic Canada Suzuki Institute this June? Everything you need to know is on the ACSI page: when and where, what's offered, who's teaching, and the APPLICATION FORMS. The deadline to apply is the group class on May 7th, but we'd love to have them earlier, so have a look and make your plans.

Counting the sleeps until ACSI? Here's a 100-day chart to help you mark the weeks as they fly by.

Musicianship 4 class notes

Looking for homework sheets from Musicianship 4? They're on the Musicianship page. Check back for updates a few days after each class.

Volunteer Needed: Library Coordinator

STEP has a library of books and music in our office in the Arts & Culture Centre that doesn't get a great deal of use. As part of our effort to share those resources better, they will soon be getting comprehensively catalogued so that a list can be posted online. Once it is, we need one parent to volunteer to collect the "orders" for books and music each week before group class. They can then go with Josh to the office on Saturday morning and get the books to pass out to parents while they're passing through for group class. Materials borrowed this way can then be returned at the next group class day. The library volunteer would need to keep track (spreadsheets will be provided!) of what is on loan and to whom. As always, drop a line to step@suzukinl.ca if you can volunteer; we'd like to get this started soon.

February 25: Cancellation

The March 5 concert at the Avalon Mall has been cancelled. Sorry for the inconvenience! We hope to reschedule at a later date.

January 22, 2011: Group Class Schedule Changes

Unfortunately, this week one of our teachers (Karen Hawkin) is sick and unable to teach her normal complement of group classes. Another of our teachers, Danna Hunter, has had to step down from the program due to the weight of her school commitments.

Lauren Smee will be taking on the Pre-Twinkle class she was assisting in, while Heather Kao has signed on to teach Musicianship 1, starting at the next group class on February 5. For this week, Musicianship 1 and 2 will be combined.

For this week only, all students in Musicianship 1 should attend Musicianship 2 at 9:30 (Instead of Musicianship 1's normal 9:45) in room 1032 (The Choral Room).

The Pre-Twinkler classes are also combined in the Choral Room at 9:00 AM, for this week only.

Minuets (late book 1) and Gavottes (book 2/3) are combined at 10:15 in Room 2025 for this week only also.

Here's a summary of this week's group classes that have seen changes in time or teacher. The teachers taking care of them this week are also listed (so that you're not surprised by a new face in the room!):

All the other classes are running in their normal slots with their normal teachers. If you have any questions on Saturday morning, just ask Josh, at the desk between Choral and instrumental rooms, first floor.

Jan 8, 2011: Space still available in Early Childhood Music Education

For babies and toddlers up to age 3, we also host a semi-monthly rhythm-and-movement "Early Childhood Music Education" class, held on the same Saturday mornings as Group Classes, at the MUN School of Music. For more information on the class, please read "You're Never Too Young or Old for Music!", reprinted from Baby and Toddler Magazine. Interested parents, please contact us for details.

Jan 1, 2011: Newsletter for 2010 December

The first newsletter for 2010-11, "STEP Wise", is now available! We've had a busy fall, and it's all in here, plus what's upcoming for the Winter term. Enjoy!