The SugarPlum's 2009 Piano Recital

This year, SugarPlum has been learning piano via the Suzuki Method, whose principles are not very different from those of the Montessori school she attends: an immersion in playing the instrument naturally at a pace set by the student. My daughter has blossomed with this method with more emphasis on playing melodies rather than with learning to play by reading notes.

My little virtuoso was given her recital piece over eight weeks ago and she mastered it in alittle over three weeks, for the past month she's been playing it while concentrating on various nuances (speed, volume, etc.). Yesterday was the piano recital for all the kids who take piano class at her school. I decided to conduct a "dress" rehearsal prior to leaving for the show.

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plez sez: SugarPlum does not have stage fright and actually thrives in front of a live audience. she played her piece even better at the actual recital!

she's going to be checking plezWorld on a daily basis for updates, so please leave comments!

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SugarPlum's Piano Recital

The SugarPlum has practiced this piece ("Springtime") hundreds of times over the past month and committed it to memory. Sunday afternoon was the piano recital for her class. We decided to do a "dress" rehersal prior to leaving for the show.

plez sez: she played it even better at the actual recital!

Arts & Entertainment in plezWorld

Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
William Congreve, 1670-1729

This weekend, plezWorld had the opportunity to celebrate good music and true artistic performance, compliments of my daughter! May 19, 2007 was a big day because my five-year old daughter (the SugarPlum) had 3 performances on Saturday afternoon. At noon, she performed with her ballet class in the Atlanta Ballet Centre presentation of "Snow White". For the past 9 months, every Saturday morning finds the two of us at the ballet centre for her weekly ballet lessons. The fruits of her labor was evident in her performance on yesterday. In "Snow White", her class performed a short routine as Ballerina Butterflies with the Atlanta Ballet professionals! After the show, we gave the SugarPlum her bouquet of pink roses, took some pictures with the rest of her class, and then we were off to lunch.

The SugarPlum playing "Can-Can"
(recorded on my Palm Treo 680)

At 4:00pm, her school program began: she has been taking piano lessons for the last 2 months and she has been singing in the school chorus all year. The SugarPlum kicked off the piano recitals with her version of Jacques Offenbach's "Can-Can." She did an excellent job on the piano considering the fact that she's been taking lessons for 2 months and she's been practicing her piece for only 4 weeks! There were a total of 14 students who performed pieces for the piano recital.

After the piano recitals, she joined the school chorus for a medley of songs, including their school's "theme song": "Friends on Our Left, and Friends on Our Right" by Sally K. Albrecht. What a full day of an appreciation of music; I'm sure the SugarPlum will enjoy the love of music that we've given her at a young age.

My little girl is a true performer, who had no stage fright in any of her appearances. I'm so proud of the SugarPlum, I don't know what to do!