December Gigs and After Parties

We have once again partnered with Renew Senior Communities (formerly Peregrine) to make some delicious end-of-term winter music for their residents. They will graciously host us on three evenings and a Saturday morning, and we will provide some quality entertainment.

You are welcome to invite guest artists to join you in your performances if you like. Play something else and want to perform on that as well? Super cool. Do it. The purpose of these holiday performances is community, connection, and enjoyment, so yes to your idea.

If you would like a dress rehearsal, there is a Saturday morning performance class scheduled for December 7. Sign up on the Scheduling page.

For the Renew gigs, you can choose the time slot that fits your schedule best that week — I know it will be an unusual week in many ways for many of you. So take a gander at your schedule and then sign up on the Scheduling page for the day you’d like.

This performance replaces your lesson that week (no lessons Dec 9-14; just performances).

  • Call time — be there between 5 and 10 minutes before showtime.

  • Dress — just look well groomed, but fancy is always welcome (note: it may be hot inside).

  • Piece — choose a piece you like, holiday-related or nah. Ensembles welcome.

After the show, please come to my home, which is just a stone’s throw away from Renew, for some treats and commiserating. Family, friends, and guest artists are welcome to all of it. Can’t wait.

Important Upcoming Dates (2019-2020)

This info is also on the Dates page (or will be), but a consolidated bullet list makes me feel happy. As of September 2019, here are a few important dates and tidbits to mark on your calendars and in your hearts:

  • If you have scheduling needs for fall break, get on it. I’ll be offering lessons on the regular schedule as fall break schedules vary from school to school.

  • Halloween replacement lessons are available on Saturday morning, November 2, for the Thursday folks who would rather get their ghoul on.

  • No lessons on Thanksgiving Thursday or Black Friday (do people still call it that?) — that’s November 28 and 29.

  • Students may have a performance opportunity or two over the holidays. More info will be available as we approach November.

  • December will have two weeks of lessons and then a cozy winter break for naps and snacks and whatever cheers your holidays.

  • Lessons resume January 6, 2020.

  • The lesson schedule stays normal over spring break, but if you have needs, make your adjustments when we are within 30 days of the lesson date you need to adjust.

  • The formal spring recital is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, 2020. We’ll most likely split it into four sessions, and you will be able to choose the one that will suit you best. The preceding weekends will be filled with recital prep (pre-req performance classes), so reserve some time on at least one of those three weekends.

  • We will all take a break for a couple of weeks after the recital and over Memorial Day and high school graduations. Lessons will resume June 1.

  • Summer session 2020 will have eight available weeks.

NEW! How to Reschedule

How to reschedule your upcoming lesson:

  1. Within the appointment I sent you, click the “Change/Cancel Appointment” button

  2. Click the date of the appointment you need to adjust

  3. Choose a new time slot, put your name on it, et voilà! We’re all set!

There are a few things to note:

  1. You can reschedule to any listed available spot

  2. You can’t reschedule an appointment with too little notice (<18 hours), so contact me directly for emergencies

  3. Illness is an emergency, but planned events are not emergencies

  4. While tuition guarantees your dedicated spot, I cannot guarantee that you can reschedule

As always, rescheduled lessons take place at my home studio (or online). If you need to reschedule, make sure to do it at least 18 hours before the original time slot. If the original time slot has passed, so has your opportunity to reschedule. Of course, I’d rather see you than not, so plan ahead! You can reschedule for any reason — you just have to do it beforehand.

If you get sick and must miss your lesson, let me know ASAP, and we’ll make a plan. See Key Info for more info.

Streamlining the rescheduling process helps me reserve my bandwidth for teaching, which is good for everybody, so thanks for your participation.

Registration Closed

Thank you, everyone, for your availability and preferences! I have drafted a schedule for fall and am polishing it today. I’ll publish as soon as a get a few questions answered from a few of you. As expected, the schedule for fall is full, so the wait list is open.

More to come on an individual basis — watch your email and texts. I’ll be all up in your business today and tomorrow. Fall lessons start Monday, August 5.

Fall 2019 Availability Due July 30

It is finally time to fill out the A&P form for fall. Heck yes.

Please consider your schedules through the end of the semester and fill out the form by Tuesday, July 30. Make sure you also consider your musician’s family members’ schedules, fall sports, the fall musical, academic competitions, or whatever other pursuits might mess with a regular lesson slot. You can fill out the form separately for each musician or once for several siblings — whatever will be the clearest way to convey your actual availability.

Even if you have told me in an email or face to face, please fill out the form. The info you enter goes directly into a spreadsheet that I can sort. And filter. And nerd out on (which I will definitely do).

The fall schedule runs from August 5 through December 14, including fall break and Halloween* but excluding the holidays listed on the Key Info page.

If you took a minimum of six lessons over the summer, you’ve got a spot for fall. Even if you didn’t, you still might have a spot for fall, so fill out the form to signal your intentions. I’d love to have you if I can possibly mesh our schedules. And I will do my best.

*I usually open up an adjacent Saturday to replace Halloween lessons so my ghouls and goblins can choose to roam the streets on the 31st. Boo!

Fall 2019

Fall schedule starts August 5 and goes through December 14. Lessons are offered on the regular schedule over fall break, but we will take a break for Thanksgiving. Halloween lessons can be moved to the following Saturday morning if you prefer. Because trick-or-treating is important business.

There will be various performance opportunities during the fall and into December. Lessons end mid-December and will resume after the new year.

More to come. It’ll be super excellent.

Those Summer Niii-hiiiiights (a.k.a. June and July Lessons)

Keep your spot on the fall calendar by securing a minimum number of summer lessons. That minimum number is 6, but you can have 8 if you like — all squished into the 7 lesson weeks of summer, deftly maneuvering around your vacations, camps, birthdays, river days, mountain nights, and visiting relatives.

You will have a regularly scheduled lesson slot, just like fall and spring. But unlike fall and spring, you can fully rearrange your lessons within the June/July time frame. During regular fall and spring sessions, rescheduled lessons should be within a week of the lesson that needs to move, but during summer session, our freer schedules makes fantastic arrangements possible.

Want to have all 8 lessons in June? Do it. All 6 in July? Cool. One weekly lesson just like fall and spring? We’re on. It’s up to you within the framework.

Speaking of the framework, here it is by week:

  • June 3 — regular schedule (week 1)

  • June 10 — regular schedule (week 2)

  • June 17 — regular schedule (week 3)

  • June 24 — regular schedule (week 4)

  • July 1 — No lessons! I’ll be out of state at my niece’s wedding. Mazel tov!

  • July 8 — regular schedule (week 5)

  • July 15 — regular schedule (week 6)

  • July 22 — regular schedule (week 7)

  • July 29 — No lessons! This will be a fall planning week because the fall schedule starts in full swing the following week.

So plan your vacations with confidence! Invite your relatives to visit! Let the shenanigans ensue! All of this without missing out on music lessons — everybody wins.

Recital 2019

This post will be updated regularly as details develop. [last update: May 7]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I can hardly wait for you all to hear each other.

Photography

There will be a professional photographer at each recital session, and the photos will be made available to you by about mid-June on a password-protected page on the website (or similar). With your consent, I’d like to add some of the best shots to the public pages. More to come on this soon!

Refreshments

Parents are invited to bring refreshments to their session of recital. If you’d rather be on setup or cleanup, I need that kind of help as well, so yes! If you and your spouse both plan to be on setup, claim two slots. Able-bodies kids also going to help? Cool. Just don’t claim a slot for your musician who needs to be warming up and settling down. Sign up here!

It really takes all of us to make this thing fly, so thank you!

The Basics

  • The recital will be split into three sessions over two days. Perform in one. Attend as many as you like.

  • Sign up for the number of minutes your performance takes. For example, if your performance takes about 3 minutes, you need 3 recital slots with your name on them.

  • Parents will be asked to either bring refreshments or pitch in on setup/cleanup. Sign up here!

  • Anyone who wants to come is invited to come. Does Grandma need a soft seat up front? Let me know now, and I’ll make it happen.

  • Look your best! Fancy shoes, makeup, ties, jackets, jewelry, or whatever makes you feel confident and as attractive as you can be — wear that. Just make sure you can perform in your outfit.

  • Performers should be inside the venue 20-25 minutes before showtime.

  • Singers will warm up as a group at 15 minutes before showtime in the green room. This will be a 5-minute exercise.

  • Amps, guitars, cables, or any props should be in place at least 10 minutes before showtime. Guitars should be tuned and amps should be adjusted for the room.

  • Guests should be seated by a couple of minutes before showtime because we will start on time, come heck or medium water.

  • Make sure nothing in your control will beep, flash, ring, or otherwise take us out of the moment. Double check this.

  • In general, wait to applaud until the current performer relaxes.

  • Breathe! Breathe some more!

  • Ms. Lauren will perform a different aria at each recital session. Which one will you hear?

Three Shows, Two Days, Two Venues

Make sure you know which venue you’ll be playing in.

  • 7:00 pm, Friday, May 17 — Addison building (7405 S Addison Ct, Aurora, CO 80016)

  • 10:00 am, Saturday, May 18 — Addison building (7405 S Addison Ct, Aurora, CO 80016)

  • 7:00 pm, Saturday, May 18 — Dorado building (21750 E Dorado Ave, Aurora, CO 80015)

Improvisation

Everyone who is ready and interested is welcome to take a turn at improvising during the recital. This is optional. I will play lots of choruses of a 12-bar blues (or a ii-V-I if that’s what we practiced together) on the piano, and musicians will rotate through, taking 12 or 24 measures. Singers and non-amped guitarists will need to line up at mics while pianists can line up by the piano. Hear something awesome that somebody else just did? Riff on that, cats. Riff on that.

Once you blow, stay up at the front so we can all high-five afterward and take a bow together. It’ll be cool.

On Recital Day

Upon arrival at the venue, performers should go directly to the green room (follow arrows) to sign in. This is very helpful to me, so don’t forget to mark yourself present. Tune and warm up either in the green room or in one of the many side rooms, and then place your equipment in the performance space. Singers will have a 5-minute group warmup in the green room at precisely 15 minutes to showtime (this can include you if you are singing while playing your main instrument) — so this is a good time to warm up somewhere else if you are not singing.

Food should be taken to the serving area (follow signs).

Remember that everyone in the building is rooting for you and will listen with loving and eager ears. You are good at this, and this is as fun as you are prepared. So relax. Breathe. Make music.

Recital Slots

In order to keep the three sections of the recital roughly even in duration, my brilliant plan is to have students sign up for time slots as though they are minutes. For example, if I’m planning to play one piece that is almost four minutes long, I’d need to sign up for four time slots. If I’m playing two pieces that are two minutes long and three minutes long, I’d need to sign up for five time slots.

Quick note — you can sign up for the recital only after you have signed up for a section of performance class.

Performance Class as Prerequisite

Recital performances must be preceded by a performance at one of the many performance classes provided for your scheduling/performing convenience. If your performance at performance class is less than glorious, you may sign up for a second shot at a subsequent performance class. So sign up for as early a slot as you can be ready for and get ready to rock.

At performance class, you and a few other students will perform your memorized pieces for each other. There will be bowing and applause. Parents and siblings are welcome to attend. When you are not performing, your job is to stay engaged and root for the current performer. I will give general tips to everybody at the end.

Goal: to feel nervous and still successfully make music. What will you feel like when you’re nervous? Only an actual performance can help you answer that question. You might get sweaty, giddy, irritable, sleepy, shaky, snacky, numb, hot, cold, or some other pleasant or unpleasant feeling. You might feel all of those things in rapid succession, none of them at all, or some of them in combination. And that’s okay. It’s normal, in fact.

This is your shot to still play or sing artfully in spite of whatever is happening in your guts, soul, or just that one sweaty armpit. Performance practice will help (and is a skill that is wildly applicable to the rest of your life), so when it comes time for the real recital, you will already know you can do it.

In the meantime, memorize your pieces! Go practice! Make music!

Peregrine Nights

We have been invited to perform at Peregrine Senior Living, a memory care and assisted living facility close to my home studio. Your performance will replace your lesson for the week.

Because schedules at this time of year are completely wacky, you have four options to choose from. Each evening’s events will begin at 6 pm (please arrive no later than 5:50 pm). At 7 pm, after the show, you are all cordially invited to my home for some delicious refreshments, back-patting, and maybe even a sing-along if we feel like it.

Get your creative juices flowing! What would be awesome and fun?

You may certainly collaborate with other musicians — even if they are not my students. You may perform more than once if the second piece is a collaboration of some kind. You do not need to memorize your piece(s) for Peregrine. You do not need to choose a Christmas/Hanukkah/winter/holiday/NYE piece but can do anything that is fun and interesting. Of course, you are welcome to do a themed piece if you choose. I will perform each night as well.

Choose your pieces and your night and sign up on the Scheduling page. Let’s put on a show! And then let’s party!

Availability & Preferences (A&P)

It is time to sign up for all your fall activities, including music lessons. The availability and preferences form (2018 A&P) is now available for your scheduling pleasure. If I've got everyone's scheduling info by Sunday night, July 29, I can publish a schedule a few days afterward.

Please consider fall activities that may not start right away when listing your availability. Of course, there will be contingency lessons available for some wacky week, but do your best to list times that will work on the regular.

I hope to reserve Monday and Friday afternoons for lessons in my home studio, but we'll do whatever will work best. Perhaps a weekday morning lesson would be good for your family schedule. Maybe a late evening is best for you. Feel free to tell me what you need and want schedule-wise, and I'll do my best to rock it out.

Let's make music.

Mini Gigs

Big, formal, annual recitals can make a new (or established) student shake with nerves right out of both boot and sock. Anxious shaking is hardly an easy condition in which to present music, no matter how well prepared it is. So, what's a musician to do?

What to do is to practice performing. Thus, the mini gig!

You'll need something to perform, a venue, and an audience. The piece does not need to be difficult, fancy, or memorized, but it does need to be performance-ready. Venues may vary, but many will be at my studio. The audience will be small groups of students (that's you) and likely a few parents and siblings.  

Students can sign up for the next mini gig when they have something they're ready to share. Parents are welcome. Collaborations are encouraged. Got something silly, sacred, or special? Prep it and bring it.

Perform early and often. Push yourselves while there's a guaranteed soft landing, and we'll all be delighted with the leaps and bounds of progress. Let's play.

(Edited 8/14/2020 for clarity)