Long Beach School of Music
Gets Invited to the Music Teachers' Association of California
State Convention
Four students and an instructor from Long Beach School of Music were invited to perform at the 2006 Music Teachers's Association of California State Convention held at the Los Angeles Millenium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Festival Honors Piano Recital performers at the 2006 Music Teachers' Association of California State Convention. Drew Giacobe and Mike Welly were among the four students from Long Beach School of Music / South Bay School of Music who were selected to perform in honors recitals at the convention.
Adult piano student Drew Giacobe (back row, third from the left) first began participating in National Piano Guild and Certificate of Merit exams in order to give himself "goals" in his musical studies. Drew was one of three students from Long Beach School of Music who earned a 100% perfect score on his music theory exams this year (being an engineer for Boeing must help).
Piano teacher and student pose at the end of the Festival Honors Recital at the MTAC State Convention. Lisa Michiko Kato serves as director of programs for the Long Beach School of Music. Piano student Mike Welly won an Honorable Mention at the Long Beach Junior Bach Festival earlier this year as well as being invited to perform at the MTAC State Convention.
Mike Welly enjoys music by rock bands like Rush, AC/DC and Deep Purple in addition to the Baroque, Classical and Romantic music of J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart, and J.F. Burgmuller. Mike's rock and pop piano repertoire includes "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC and "Mission Impossible" by Lalo Schifrin!
Congratulations, Mike!
...hanging out with jazz pianist, author and composer Willie Myette. Mr. Myette, a graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, introduces beginning jazz pianists to improvisation and chord chart reading through his Jazz Kids Series.
Mr. Myette's excellent Jazz Kids method books have been very popular with piano students (of all ages!) and piano teachers at Long Beach School of Music. The books give students a more hands-on, fun introduction to the sound and feel of jazz piano, jazz theory and improvisation. www.jazzkids.com
Two Long Beach students who started on the Myette jazz piano books have since auditioned into jazz bands for the 2006-2007 school season: Mike Welly for his freshman year at Wilson High School in Long Beach, CA and Justin Geffrey, age 10, for his sixth grade year at McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos, CA. Good job, Mike and Justin!
...chatting with music educator Gayle Kowalchyk from the authoring team of the Music For Little Mozarts series (Christine Barden, Gayle Kowalchyk, E.L. Lancaster), the popular piano method for very young children, published by Alfred Publishing Company.
Author Christine Barden (not pictured) is an internationally recognized authority on early childhood music. Author E.L. Lancaster serves as Vice President and Keyboard Editor-in-Chief of Alfred Publishing. He and his wife, Gayle Kowalchyk, have authored more than 150 publications designed for students of all ages.
The goal of the Music For Little Mozarts series is to pique the interest of piano students ages 4 to 7, and provide a well-rounded approach to learning music. Parents are encouraged to integrate story-reading and piano practice time at home!