STEP WiseLate September 2011

Welcome to all our new families and teachers!

If you've been around STEP for a bit, make sure you wear your widest smiles to welcome all our new Suzuki families. If you see a face you don't recognize, say hello! Help them out if they are unsure where to go or what to do and give them all the support you can - group class mornings can be a busy place.

If you're new and unsure of anything, don't hesitate to email us, or just pop up to Josh's desk next to the Choral Room on Saturday morning and ask away.

Welcome also to our new faculty members Ellen, Carole and Chantelle. You can get to know them better on our website.

Registration & Book Sales: Tidying Up Loose Ends

Thanks everyone for a very orderly registration this year! By now, you should have received an email with a receipt attached, along with a schedule for your family's classes. If you haven't gotten this, or if there are any errors, please let us know with a quick email to step@suzukinl.ca

If you haven't given us forms yet, it's not too late! Download these 2 forms: the Fall 2011 Family Registration Form and the Fall 2011 Program Selection Form from the STEP website by clicking the links here. You can submit by clicking the link in the PDF, or by printing them and bringing them on Saturday.

If you didn't have a chance to buy your musicianship workbook last week, come on by my desk next to the Choral Room this Saturday to grab one!

- Josh Smee, Administrator

Are you listening enough?

Listening to the Suzuki music is the most important thing that you can do to enrich your child's environment. More is better! Progress will be smoother, your child will be more successful and more motivated! Remember, Suzuki based his method on how children acquire language - how many hours a day does your child hear people speak?

With little kids it's easy to make sure they hear their music - just put it on when they go to bed and set the CD alarm clock to wake them up with it. Put on in the car, at mealtimes and on their iPod if they have one. With teens it can be trickier; the Suzuki music might have to be inserted like vitamins in between favourite pop or rock stars. Make sure it's on rotation on their iPod. Having it on at low volume while homework happens also works for some. Bargain for airtime in the car and put it on at mealtimes - you'll benefit from it too!

- Christina Smith, Artistic Director

Parents who Play ... or want to learn

We're happy to have had lots of inquiries into classes for parents to learn violin or cello themselves, so we're opening beginners' violin and experienced violin classes ("experienced" means "can play Twinkle") and beginners' cello group classes for all interested parents. The classes will be taught be Evelyn Osborne and Christina Smith. Please come to Room 1001 at 12:15 this Saturday, October 1st, with your instrument, to sign up, get more information, and play together for a bit. The classes will likely be at this time and place on Group Class days, but with sufficient interest we'll run a weekday-evening class too.

Come give it a try - why should the kids have all the fun?

Parent Seminar / Beginners Class: Room Changes

Due to a scheduling conflict, our Parent Training seminars for new parents in the Beginners Program are moving! Their new location will be the Geography Boardroom (Room SN 2000) in the Science Building. The Science Building is just around the corner from the Music School - simply head out the West doors (by Cook Hall), and it's the big building on the right side of the courtyard. The boardroom is on the main level that you will come to when you go through the doors. The time is the same: 10:45-11:45.

(Note: All other classes will revert to the location on the Group Class Schedule.)

Parent Seminar

All parents are welcome to the October 1st Parent Seminar in the Geography Boardroom (Room SN 2000) in the Science Building at 10:45. This week's topics will be Step By Step Mastery and Repetition. We'll also learn about arm weight, where to place the bow on the string, and rhythms 3, 4 and 5. Stay tuned for more topics in the upcoming weeks.

100 Day Challenge

Don't forget to keep track of your days on the chart you got at Registration! (Download a 100-day chart if you need an extra.) Anyone who brings in a completed chart to the first group class after Christmas gets special recognition!

Playathon: Sunday October 16th!

In just over two weeks (on the day after our third group class), STEP will be running its first fundraiser of the year: the Playathon! Here's how it works: students will play through every piece they know in a row (with breaks between books!), and collect per-piece pledges. It'll look a lot like a big play-in, with everyone starting out together, and the more experienced students staying up to play through their repertoires. We'll be stopping at the end of Book 4, so the whole event should be around 2 hours long.

Once the Playathon is over, your teacher will sign your pledge form to let your donors know how many pieces you finished. If they pledged, say, $10/piece, and you finished 5 pieces, then that's a $50 donation!

An important note: this year, we are debuting Family Fundraising Accounts. We'll keep track of how much fundraising your family does so that you can credit it against your ACSI registration. A portion of your Playathon pledges will be going into your family account, while the rest will be going into the group fundraising pool (for materials, events, instruments, and travel).

The STEP Board is hard at work sorting out a public place and exact time for the Playathon - we want to make sure the community hears all this beautiful music.

You can download a pledge form (PDF) from the website, or swing by Josh's desk this Saturday to pick one up!

Annual General Meeting and Call for Board Members

STEP is a non-profit organization that depends on, and answers to, its members. That means you! Our Annual General Meeting will be held this November - it's tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday the 13th of November, just after our first solo concert.

Attendance at the AGM is very important! You'll have a chance to ask questions and hear updates from the board and staff on the state of the organization and our plans for the future. Most importantly, you can vote to elect our next Board of Directors - and we encourage you to run yourself!

STEP depends on volunteer work, both from our parents at large and our Board. By running for the board, you can have a say on the direction of the program and be a voice for the STEP Community. The Board meets once a month. This year will be a busy one as we revamp our governance - come and be a part of it!

If you're interested in running for the Board, or know someone who is, feel free to let us know and ask any questions. We will have nomination forms and documentation ready soon!

Graduation

Sunday October 30 is our Graduation ceremony. Anyone who has finished a book of repertoire during the year is eligible to take part. To graduate, you must record a selection of pieces and submit them. A list of pieces for each book is available on the Reference for Members page of the website: Graduation Requirements (PDF format). You can put your recordings on a CD and drop it off to Josh at Group Class; you can upload them to somewhere on the web and send us a link; or you can send us the files by email, up to 25 megabytes per message. The absolute last-minute deadline for recordings (no exceptions!) is Oct. 22.

Junior Orchestra Reminder

The Suzuki Junior Orchestra is a fun and exciting activity for developing your child's musical skills including reading and ensemble-playing. We play a wide variety of repertoire to keep the student and listener engaged, from classical to pop to world music.

Junior Orchestra, under the direction of Heather Kao, is open to all students in book 2 and 3. Upon teacher recommendation, we may accept late book 1 students with beginner sight-reading abilities. Rehearsals are every Tuesday from 4-5pm at the Anglican Cathedral. The orchestra is also accepting students who are not in the Suzuki program, so if you have any friends at the appropriate level, please have them contact us.

- Heather Kao, Director, Junior Orchestra

Kudos Corner

Chloe Sevigny played all her reviews in her first lesson and got a sticker for almost every one! Way to go Chloe!!   

Sydney Chislett is soaring through Book 1 on his cello! He learnt French Folk Song, Lightly Row and Song of the Wind over the summer!!

- Christina Smith

Nicolas Planchat is doing really diligent review in preparation for his Twinkle Graduation. Hard work but it's making a big difference in his playing. Keep up the good work Nicolas!

Bertha Rich's bow hold is getting better and better. Way to go Bertha!

Sophie Planchat is very close to being able to play her Twinkles with no stops! Keep up the good work Sophie!

Julia Fitzgerald's bow hold is looking much better! Keep up the good work Julia!

Rachel Davis is off to a great start with her first violin lessons and group classes. Way to go Rachel!

Emma Cass is learning to play her Twinkles with no stops! Keep up the good work Emma!

Jessica Casey is making very good progress and is very close to being able to play all her Twinkles with a great bow hold. Keep up the good work Jessica!

Jack Davis's bow hold and violin set-up are looking very nicely balanced. Way to go Jack!

Nathan Fitzgerald has made very good improvements to his bow hold! Keep up the good work Nathan!

Sam Farquharson is off to a great start this year with his group classes and lessons! Good job Sam!

Amelia Shallow is very close to being able to play a whole Twinkle with a nice bow hold! Keep up the good work Amelia!

Samuel White has started on his 100-Day Challenge! Keep up the good work Samuel!

Sophie Fitzgerald has done excellent work integrating her "iceberg" into her review pieces. Keep up the good work Sophie!

AND...

A big kudos to all of the parents in my studio for renewing your commitment to practicing so keenly this fall. I know it's not always easy, and I know that the more I ask of your children means the more I ask of you, but you're all rising to the occasion and your children are showing really good progress as a result. Keep up the good work!