I have been waiting and waiting for the opportunity to finally host a Performance Masterclass for my piano students – and the time has finally come! When I began teaching piano in this studio almost 3 years ago, almost all of my students were beginners and had yet to play at a recital or know what a recital even was! Now having played at multiple recitals and this year entering into the Windsor-Essex Kiwanis Music Festival, we have now experienced students who have been working hard on memorizing their Kiwanis pieces and bringing them up to performance standard. As it turns out, this is the perfect opportunity to hold a Masterclass!
What a Masterclass is:
* Students gather together to perform for one another and receive feedback from their peers and teacher regarding their performance. Pieces are to be memorized, and the class is to be taken seriously and professionally.
When I was attending Wilfrid Laurier University as a Piano Major, we had a 2 hour Masterclass every week! We did not necessarily play in each Masterclass but we got to witness new music, different styles of performances, and general guidelines and tips when it came to piano performance. Especially when preparing for our End-Of-Year Juries and piano exams, this was a great opportunity to perform everything we had been working on for weeks – months even. I secretly made a vow during my University years that when I was in charge of my own studio, there would be Masterclasses for my own students.
And this morning, we finally did it!
Students today were split into two masterclasses: 10AM and 12PM.
Masterclass II began at 12PM for Elementary Pianists who were performing 3 or more pieces at the Festival from Grades 2 and up.
Masterclass I began at 10AM and included my Junior Pianists. These are pianists in Grade 1 Conservatory or Pre-Grade 1 Level. Students in this class were playing either one piece or two depending on what they are playing for the Kiwanis Festival. Every single one of those students had never attended or performed in Kiwanis – they had no idea it existed before I told them! So after reviewing general guidelines for how Kiwanis is run, we began performing (Programs were provided to keep structure), and one by one each student performed for memory their Kiwanis piece. Before performing they lent out their score to other students to allow them a chance to follow in the score during the performance. These students could pick up on anything missed (a forgotten fermata, perhaps a bigger crescendo, etc.) while the others were encouraged to watch and observe with any comments of their own. Not only is this great for the performer to hear feedback from someone other than their teacher, but as a commentator/observer, you tend to pick up on some good habits and/or observe and avoid the bad ones. At recitals we don’t get this kind of intimate performance where we etch out the small details that create a difference between playing piano versus performing. So this is the purpose of the Masterclass. That, and getting to perform our pieces for memory of course.
So that was our theme – show me that you can perform, not just play.
And each student’s confidence and musicality grew more that day 🙂
