Thursday, June 18, 2015

Zita's Cool Piano Concert: Sunday, August 23, 2015. 7:00 p.m. Save the Date!



Hot Outside?  Kids Bored?  Escape the heat and relax!  Bring the family to:
ZITA'S COOL PIANO CONCERT!
 Sunday, August 23rd, 2015 7:00 p.m.

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 There will be some Mozart, Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Satie and Clara Schumann.  Also a special premier of original piano music! All played by Zita on the piano. 
And of course, refreshments will be served. We will be serving strawberry shortcake and lemonade. Yum! :)


Suggested Donation: $10/person or $25/family.  
No one turned away for lack of funds. 


Community Music Center
3550 SE Francis Street
Portland, OR 97202


For more information, please email Zita at pianoteacherpdx@yahoo.com

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

On Performance

Teacher Zita and Emily, a proud performer. (Emily performed the Theme from Star Wars and the them from the Largo by Dvorak)
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.
--YODA, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace*

I am reflecting on the wonderful performances of my students at the end of the year recital I held at the Community Music Center on Sunday.
I sit with my students on stage until they are ready to go it alone. Even as they get more advanced, they often need me to turn pages. It is a lovely, but surreal experience. I sit and bask in their music. And often, little snippets of our conversations from our lessons come to me. Because after all, I am sitting at their side, just as if we are in a piano lesson!
 
I was so proud of each and every one of my students. And as I congratulated them, I heard some remarks about "mistakes" and "mess ups".  

Were there wrong notes played? Yes! Of course! We are, after all, imperfect humans. Not robots.

Would I enjoy a concert of robots playing each note perfectly. NO!

Because with each performance, we offer ourself up to the audience. We make ourself vulnerable. We are not only sharing the music we learned from the page, that was written by a composer, often hundreds of years before us. We also share a little bit of ourselves.  

I have heard "Fur Elise" by Beethoven played hundreds of times. Maybe thousands. And it is never played exactly the same.


What I experienced at my recital was humanity.  Beautiful people who had spent time working hard on mastering a piece of music. And then sharing this through the vessel of their human flesh to a very appreciative audience.

Please do not regret mistakes. Instead, celebrate the beautiful music between the mistakes.  

You deserve applause just for putting yourself onstage.

And I, as your teacher, applaud you from deep in my heart.


Love to you all and a happy summer!

Teacher Zita :)


*Read more at http://www.top10-best.com/y/top_10_best_yoda_quotes.html#YPrMJQTkvHbe6Vh6.99

Friday, June 12, 2015

Summer Piano Lessons



Hello Piano People!

Summer has arrived!  I saw so many kids out today on my morning walk.  Birds are singing. And today is not too hot! :)

But it is supposed to be a hotter than usual summer. For those of you who are not fond of the heat (like me), maybe even you get the summer blues, fear not!

I still have room in Blues Piano Camp at the Community Music Center.  Numbers are rather low, so I've decided to lower the age requirement. Nine year-old to twelve year-old pianists with at least a year of lessons are welome. We learn the blues scale, the twelve bar blues, the history of blues and we jam! It's a lot of fun!


If you do not meet the age requirement, or the dates of the camp are not convenient, I can teach blues in our private lessons.

I still have some spots open in my schedule.


Happy Summer!

Teacher Zita :)

Monday, June 8, 2015

End of Year Piano Recital



The Frances Street Singers and Teacher Zita



Wow! This has been a busy year!  I realize I haven't updated this blog recently. I do have a new blog called soulrunnings.blogspot.com. I talk about my training for a 5K coming up in the fall. But I also talk about music, so check it out! :)


Yesterday was the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the Community Music Center. We held performances at Reed College.  A wonderful event! Several of my students performed and it was all lovely! A special shout out to Alvin Chan, Lukas Ward, Kyle Jones, Max Thompson and Karissa Thomas! Also, the Francis Street Singers, the adult choir led by the wonderful Tracey Edson and accompanied by yours truly 11 Gypsy Dances by Brahms, and How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place from the Brahms Requiem, among other selections. It was pure magic!

I have moved back to Portland.  I am doing more performing! And now I have time for a few more students!

Speaking of which, it is nearly time for my end of year Piano Recital!

Very excited! Love recitals!


Date: June 14, 2015
Time: 4:30 and 6:00 p.m.
Place: Community Music Center

Please call, email or talk to me if you need more information.

Otherwise, enjoy the Portland heat wave and keep making music!


Teacher Zita