Concerts
Recent CSYM concerts
25 April 2010 CSYM Concert April 2010 - West Road
Congratulations to all Cambridge Suzuki Young Musicians for their superb performances on Sunday 25th April 2010 at West Road Concert Hall! 36 Suzuki piano students ages 4-18 of Betty & Stephen performed a concert of music by 20 different composers, ranging from arrangements of traditional folk tunes to Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Ginastera, and Kurtag, among many others. The long-term music achievements of five students were recognised through the CSYM Suzuki Piano Graduation Awards. The CSYM Practice Club Awards were awarded to the following five students for Every Day Practice (30-90-and 1 Year+ awards). The stage skirt was beautifully-arranged with an anonymous donation of red and white geranium plants which were presented to the parents at the end of the concert. Thanks again to the generosity of CSYM friends and family, the retiring collection raised another £126 benefitting CSYM's Duo Piano Commission Fund On2-4U.
28 February 2010 Leys Concert - Leys School Recital Hall
Congratulations to 14 of our CSYM students who presented a varied and extremely well prepared recital of music representing 20 different composers on Sunday 28 February at the Leys School Recital Hall. The audience was highly-supportive, focused and deeply-appreciative, and many young heads were turned in excitement when they heard Sam Wood perform Musette from Book 1 as his encore piece following a tremendous performance of challenging works by Mendelssohn/Liszt, Villa-Lobos, Albeniz/Godowsky and Mompou. Thanks to the attendance of other CSYM families and friends, the group was able to raise an additional £310 in profit for the ON2-4U Piano Duo Commission Fund. Since we have comfirmed the commission by Tarik O'Regan, there is still another £450 more money to be raised, which we will first try to obtain through one-off sponsorships.
5 December 2009 CSYM Concert December 2009 - West Road
TO ALL CSYM STUDENTS For their fine performances in "Canciones y Danzas" SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER 2009 WEST ROAD CONCERT HALL The concert was a huge success in many ways, and both students and parents deserve to celebrate and be very proud of their concentrated efforts on the day, and over the past term. From Jane Kershaw: I just wanted to re-iterate how much we enjoyed the blend of traditional and exotic in yesterday's concert - it was a delight to listen to. As ever, I am completely awestruck at how you both manage to draw out such wonderful talent from our children....Interestingly as soon as Rose came home, still in her concert dress, she went straight to the piano and continued the performance, playing through all her review pieces, all her new pieces and all the Burgmuller pieces she had ever done. It was as though she just didn't want to stop.
5 July 2009 CSYM Concert July 2009 - West Road
(Full program)
The CSYM Multi-Piano Fest Concert took place on Sunday 5 July at
West Road Concert Hall. Suzuki piano students of age 4-18 performed
duos, unison works and multi-piano works from a wide range of composers
and styles. All the students worked hard for many months in preparation,
participating in a special day of rehearsals in the grand piano showroom of
the Cambridge Pianoforte Centre, Kings Hedges Road. (Due to that visit,
Lauryn & Erin Barnes are now pleased to be practicing at home on a brand new grand!)
We were particularly pleased to be joined by Caroline Gowers and her students from
the London Suzuki Group. Caroline, Stephen and I all thought the concert was a brilliant
success. Caroline reported that her parents & students thoroughly enjoyed the concert
and were especially inspired by the varied programme and high performance standard. Thanks
to Ericka Jacobs and parent donations, CSYM was able to raise a total of £97 towards the
On2-4U Piano Duo Commission Project. We also appreciated receiving
the following emails from parents:
Congratulations on yet another outstanding Suzuki Summer Concert. The performances were
fantastic and inspiring. You must be proud of your and your students' work. Making it a
combined Power and Gower concert was another great idea. I think all children cherished the
experience of performing in a team and on multiple grands! Thank you for organising, preparing
and realising this beautiful concert. (from Annegret Dahlmann)
Many thanks for the fabulous concert! So many moving moments and so much inspiration - especially
from lovely Chloe, whose glamour was not lost on Izzy, who is now talking about going to
music school like her! Izzy really loved playing with the other children in her group. I really
loved the Fitkin. (from Martha Beardsworth)
Weekly group lessons are an integral part of Dr Suzuki's instrumental approach, but it is a rare opportunity
for Suzuki piano students to play in unison on multi-pianos on a regular basis (another reason why weekly
Review with the teacher is an important aspect of Suzuki Piano lessons). This exciting Multi-Piano Concert
project provided students with the challenge of ensemble work on one or more pianos. Students
of all ages not only learn from one another's lessons, but also have more fun practicing and
performing together. Parents observed how working in groups increases the motivation to practice
well to improve one's individual part. Annegret Dahlmann shared this about preparing at home for
the concert:
I read your leaflet about the On2-4u project, and particularly liked the bit where you write that
children often get inspired by children just slightly older than themselves... When you told Hamza about
4 piano Aunt Rhody, you explained that Hamza, Izzy and Imogen will play the right hand and Alexander Mitchell
the left hand...You know that Hamza is very keen to play with the left hand, so when he had managed to get all
the notes together for Cuckoo left hand, even that difficult last couple of bars, he jumped off the piano
stool and gave me a big hug. Then he said: "Now I can do the left hand in Cuckoo, and some time I will be able
to do the left hand in all the pieces, won't I?...And then, maybe when I'm 7, when we have another concert with
4 pianos, maybe I can play the left hand, like Alexander!"... You are absolutely right about the value of group
practice and group concerts...
30 November 2008 CSYM Concert November 2008 - West Road
(Full program)
Congratulations again to ALL students for their wonderful performances at our West Road Concert, Sunday 30 November. The heightened concentration during rehearsals, the exciting experience of performing on very GRAND pianos in a wonderful hall, the dedicated attention of all audience members, all combined to create an outstanding demonstration of great ability on the part of all our students. Judging from this high-quality student concert, CSYM families should all be extremely proud of the valuable work they do each day at home during practice and studying musicianship together on Saturdays. It was particularly interesting to hear the comments from parents and children following concerts. When asked about their favourite performances, many of the younger children named pieces they are currently studying or soon will be studying themselves. In fact, one five-year-old announced that his favourite performance was his own! However, I was particularly pleased to hear from 11-12 year-olds that their favourites were not necessarily the "dazzling" repertoire performances, but ensemble pieces that were particularly well-rehearsed and performed. Working toward the goal of concert performances benefits musical growth before, during and even after the concert. Lessons the week following the concert were especially focused in the studio. Louise Mitchell, mum of Alexander reported the day following the concert & "We have just had a lovely practice session this morning with Alexander's energy very high. I recorded his piece at the concert and the audience applauding which he listened to before practice this morning too much to his joy!" Great idea for motivating practice!
29 June 2008 Dr Suzuki Anniversary Concert - West Road
(Full program)
Congratuations to all CSYM students who participated and a warm thank-you to all CSYM families who helped sponsor & supported the Dr Suzuki Anniversary Concert, either through their generous volunteer efforts behind the scenes, or through their attendance and help on the day of this very memorable & inspiring festival of Suzuki Piano. It was a special pleasure to be joined by other Suzuki Piano teachers from the UK, Germany and the USA, dedicated to helping children achieve their best through Suzuki education, in a programme ranging through 500 years of music from Frescobaldi to Fitkin.
Our new friends from abroad all hope to return to Cambridge one day; the German contingent was especially pleased to be able to camp out on Judith Heslam's lawn (first time camping for some of them!) Also, the charity fund-raiser proved a big success, raising over £400 in profits to go to Save the Children. And we hope you've all come away inspired by a "Dream Piece" you plan to listen to and learn one day in the future. Special Thanks to the following:
PR/Printing/Save the Children liason: Karyn Barnes Communications/Photocopying/Hospitality: Jane Kershaw & Judith Somers-Heslam Finance & Tickets: Rae Streets, sales on the door Louise Mitchell, Shekoofeh Shini, Audrey Caldwell Stewards: Jon Shallcross, Sarah Upjohn, Jenny Chin, Alison James
20 April 2008 Charity concert - West Road
Highlight: the 'Carnival of the Animals'
9 December 2007 Birthday concert - West Road Concert Hall
This year's pre-Christmas concert commemorated the 125th Birthday Anniversary of Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) and featured piano music by Hungarian composers including Kodály, Bartók and Kurtág. Younger students performed pieces from the Suzuki Piano repertoire, and CSYM's own Arion Chamber Choir presented several Hungarian children's songs arranged by Kodály and Bárdos.
Zoltán Kodály (pronounced 'Ko-DA-ee') was a prominent Hungarian composer and musician, linguist and ethnomusicologist, who devoted much of his life to reforming the teaching of music in his native Hungary and to making it an integral part of the education of every child. Kodály realized that music is part of everyone's basic heritage, is fundamental for human development, and should be started at as early an age as possible. According to Kodály, a child's voice is the most natural means of musical expression, so music instruction is based in singing and focuses on developing the skill of inner hearing, using nursery rhymes, traditional chants, singing games, folk songs, selected art music and rhythmic movement. Like Dr Suzuki, Kodály believed that music is meant to develop one's entire being: personality, intellect and emotions. Kodály's vision was to develop all aspects of the musician in balance with the others: the eyes, the ears, the hands, and the heart.
26 July 2007 at West Road Concert Hall
The finale concert of the Institute included the premiere performance of an exciting three-movement piece for two pianos and string quartet by Graham Fitkin, commissioned by CSYM.This was made possible by the financial support awarded by the Performing Rights Foundation. The programme also included music by Spanish and Latin American composers.
18 March 2007 at West Road Concert Hall
The Spring concert 2007 - 'Especially Espana' - featured the music of twentieth-century Spanish and Latin American composers, including Albeniz, Turina, Rodrigo and Villa-Lobos, alongside pieces from the Suzuki repertoire. Before the interval, a representative from the RNID (Royal National Institute for the Deaf) spoke about the work of the charity and the awareness-raising campaign Don't Lose the Music: Look After Your Ears Now - Enjoy Music Forever. See their website for further information. Over £120 was raised in voluntary donations for the RNID.
Betty's article looking at the issue of noise, music and hearing care - 'How Loud is Too Loud?' - can be downloaded here.
Saturday 3 February, 12pm at Michaelhouse, Trinity Street
An informal piano concert by CSYM students in the chancel at Michaelhouse to help raise funds towards commissioning a new piano/chamber music work by leading British composer Graham Fitkin.
Sunday 10 December 2006, 3pm at West Road Concert Hall
The Well-Tempered Student: Music in many keys
Sunday 26 March 2006, 3pm West Road Concert Hall
CSYM spring concert in aid of the music therapy programme at Milton Children's Hospice
This year's spring concert focused on contemporary piano music. Pieces from the newly published collection of international compositions entitled 'Spectrum 4' (including works for piano with accompanying soundtrack), as well as works by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag from his series of pieces called 'Games', were performed. Kurtag himself wrote: 'The idea of composing "Games" was suggested by children playing spontaneously, children for whom the piano still means a toy. They experiment with it, caress it, and run their fingers over it. They pile up seemingly disconnected sounds, and if this happens to arouse their musical instinct they look consciously for some of the harmonies found by chance and keep repeating them'. The concert programme was in part a 'hommage' to Kurtag who is 80 this year.
The younger pupils played pieces from the Suzuki repertoire of folksongs and classical pieces. The programme included piano solos, duets, and two-piano performances.
Over £150 was collected in voluntary donations during the interval for the music therapy programme at Milton Children's Hospice.
Music therapy is based on an understanding that the ability to respond to music is an innate human response that is often unimpaired by disability. Music therapists are trained to use music to reach out and help people communicate and interact musically. For more information about music therapy, see the British Society for Music Therapy website. To find out more about the work of East Anglia's Children's Hospices, see their website.
Email: info@suzukipianocambridge.org.uk
24 August 2008 16:11