Musicians at the Towers -minus one

Well, here we are- The first little orchestra of the MATT program! From left:
Aghadir,viola; Eileen, violin; Farwa, violin; Kalpi,violin; Aj,violin; Anna-Marie,cello; and Matthew,cello, with teacher Andrea Currie. (missing is violist, Michael) As you see, there are a few parents backing us up. For our youngest players, this parent back-up during the week, helping with home practice, is so important. Once - weekly lessons , supplemented with some careful home review, can add lots of confidence and fun as we learn and grow.

Our efforts are now beginning to focus on our first ever concert coming up May 31st. Above with six of the group,Admin Ass't., Marion Adams(right back) and Teaching Ass't., Mary Chapple (back centre). Practice up everyone!

Thankyou's ARE IMPORTANT!

This week is thankyou week for us at the Music at the Towers Project. Even as we have been  moving along with our early steps forward, we have found that we  needed to reach out to our Shoppers' World neighbours for assistance with some of our basic needs.
As a fledgling group, we hope they share the vision with us, and see the value in giving this musical opportunity to our children, as a means to enrich their lives, build friendships, develop strong thinking skills, while filling after school time with this very positive activity.
And sure enough there have been several friends and neighbours who have answered our call! So here is a big THANKYOU to these good people. We are inviting them to our May 31st concert to see us making music together!
Below is the list of our kind supporters:
Elmm Spa (now at Ching. & Sandalwood)
Staples Shoppers World
ShoppersWorld Mall
Dolomiti Shoes
Peter Chambers
Liv Forber
Barbara Hart
Susan and John Williamson
Jefferson Insurance Agency

Our First Guest Performer: Peter Chambers,cellist

There's nothing like seeing a live performance to help visualize what YOU can do! Thankyou to Peter Chambers, who took time off work and came to the Towers March 28, to play for our class. Judging by the looks on students' faces, they were spellbound by his playing - nothing like seeing a musician perform right in front of your eyes!

Peter, who also stuck around to coach our cellists for a few minutes, started to learn to play the cello at the age of 4, and still loves to play as a young man in his early thirties. He spoke to the students about the benefits he has had growing up in music, from meeting friends to travelling around the world. That doesn't mean he made a career of music- he has a degree in English and has worked in different jobs totally unrelated to music. BUT he still practises an hour a day, and plays cello in a variety of settings on the side.

Music is a life time pursuit, which can only make you smarter, more sensitive, and enrich every aspect of life.That's why we are working with parents to help kids practise daily and focus better. It pays off  not just in music class but in school and social life as well-actually,everywhere we go!

The Twinkles are coming, and so's our Concert!

Every beginning string player gets started on "Twinkle", which some may know was written by a great musical hero,W.A. Mozart. He probably wrote it at the age of 6 or 7. This week we continue learning the song, and the scale of D, which will be our basis for lots of learning.
Practice charts will be reviewed to see that everyone knows how to fill them in and use them to help make progress on your instrument. Don't forget to bring them to class each week.
Our first concert, which will take place Tuesday May 31st at 3:45 pm, will center around Twinkle, so practice carefully, for perfection and ease!
More on the concert to come in weeks ahead.

PS:Check out  the story of W A Mozart, who lived in the 1700's but remains one of the greatest musical giants still today.
The Academy Award winning movie, and stage play "Amadeus" showed  a very interesting and, painfully accurate picture, of this amazing musical genius. Read a biography to learn more.