Dorla Aparicio and I had corresponded several times prior to the SMU Institute. I had adored her beautiful website for some time and it was a particular delight to meet her this last week. I asked her to share a few of the things that she learned and is excited about from the SMU Institute for Piano Teachers (this will alternate with NCKP every other year, so plan to attend the NCKP 2013 conference next year for similar great content). Check out the beautiful homepage and photography on Dorla’s website and teaching blog!
The SMU IPT was an amazing four days of learning. What I enjoyed most was the organization and the variety. Each master class reminded us of the great music of yesterday and how much we wished our students wanted it more. But at the same time we experienced the 21st century music and technology in a way we could apply it next week in our studios!
Wendy Steven’s presentation on Business Practices was superb (see No More Teaching Lessons by the Week and Why You Should Institute Yearly Price Increases for starters ! I went home and crunched all the numbers and to my surprise my rates were just right for my area! So now I will work on correcting “false narratives” and fixing a few “vexing problems”!
It was a delight to hear Karen Austin speak about the Mckinney Young Artist Competition and experience the performance of Spencer Myer. I came home excited to create a festival for our little county in order to nurture the love of music of many of our students. What an inspiration!
Kristin Yost and CMM Pop recital was fantastic! The piano students were excellent and the caliber of musicians that accompanied them was really quite impressive. Kristin truly has created a Centre for Musical Minds!
See Wendy’s tips from the same Institute and stay tuned for others that you can quickly incorporate into your lessons!
I’ve learned so much from you, Wendy!
Hope all is going well…
Dorla