Spring Newsletter 2024
Spring Newsletter 2024
Dear Parents & Students December 17, 2023
Welcome Back to returning & new students!! I hope everyone is still enjoying the glow from your wonderful performances. I was so impressed with the overall growth among the students this semester.
Our Spring Semester will be filled with musical adventures, including some wonderful concert opportunities for both listeners and performers.
We will have a wonderful opportunity to expand our musical knowledge by attending a live performance together on Sunday, March 3rd at the Levering Mill Tribute House at 2:00pm concert featuring the Florian Trio and myself at the piano. This concert will feature the unusual combination of violin, cello, guitar, piano and an incredibly special viola called the Pellegrini viola. There are only 75 of these instruments in the world. They are most unusual to look at and the sound is memorable!! I know you will NOT want to miss this special concert.
Our “Repertoire List” program last semester was a HUGE success and we will continue creating new lists for each student this spring. The goal is for each student to be challenged to see how many pieces they can keep in their fingers to be able to play at the “drop of a hat” (so to speak). I will be keeping an electronic list and as each student masters a piece, this new piece will go into their “Rep List” and they will keep reviewing these pieces a few times each week so that when they need to call on some music to play, they will have a veritable feast of music from which to choose.
The culmination of this “Rep List” festival this fall was a truly moving performance at small group senior home in Gladwyne. The residents were so appreciative and enjoyed our performance so much, that they have invited us to return this spring on Sunday, March 10 at 2:00 pm.
We will have special ensemble festival in April on Sunday, April 7th called “Just Duet” – where students will have a chance to play ensemble repertoire in piano duos, trios, and even quartets!!! Interested students will be assigned level appropriate music to learn. The culmination will be our Ensemble Festival where they will be able to play with their musical partners. This class will meet from 10-11am. If you are not able to attend, please let me know ASAP as each ensemble will be depending on having a full complement of partners. Also, I spend a lot of time matching up groups and levels so if your child is unable to come, it would be helpful if I knew that before I dive deeply into the repertoire assignments.
Our Spring Recital will take place on Sunday, June 9th at 4:00pm. Please note the time, as it is different from previous recitals. This will be preceded by a dress rehearsal on Sunday, June 2nd at 10am. Please mark your calendars for these important dates and times. I look forward to seeing friends and family at our recital! I know you will be all eager to see how much these talented musicians have grown.
Please be sure to return your signed tuition contracts along with the Covid Release Form and a Media Release Form. These forms can also be found under the “Newsletter & Forms” tab on my website: www.gilyahodos.com. You can conveniently download, sign and reupload the form directly to the website or you may email them to me. Either way, I will need both forms and the tuition contract signed and returned by the 1st lesson.
I am committing to in-person lessons throughout the semester, barring unforeseen circumstances. I would ask that you please be very mindful of sending your children to my home if you or they have come into contact with someone who is Covid positive. I am caring for my elderly father and need to be mindful of his health needs. I can switch to a zoom lesson with only a few minutes notice, so please err on the side of caution.
The Covid release form will be included with each student’s tuition contract and must be signed & returned by the first lesson. We will continue with the same safety protocols as we did last spring:
1. Students must wash hands PRIOR to arriving for their lessons.
2. Students will be given hand sanitizer when they arrive. This is NOT a substitute for hand washing!
3. Piano keys will be sanitized in between each lesson.
4. Anyone entering the studio MUST WEAR A MASK.
5. Please use the restroom BEFORE arriving at the studio as I cannot allow anyone to leave the studio area.
I know we will have exciting, music-filled learning experience this semester! I have lots of different learning modalities that will help us explore our musical world and I am eager to dive into our musical explorations together!!
All the best,
Gilya