People from all walks of life love good music AND they put their money where their mouth is.  This past week I have whirled about the city collecting donations for the Sneak-a-Peek Gala.  We will be having a silent and live auction Saturday, Nov. 7 at Arrowhead Country Club.  Folks who purchased the $60 Sneak-a-Peek tickets for the Homes for the Holidays Tour will have an opportunity to join the fun as they bid for these practical (and not-so-practical) items.  Of course, they also get to have the delicious Vermont Cabot Cheeses that have been donated AND the marvelous wines donated by Smith’s Liquor Gallery AND the five different hor d’oeurves prepared by the chef at Arrowhead. 

Need I mention that the women who comprise the Symphony League have tirelessly worked for a year to bring this all together?  When you tour the lovely homes beautifully decorated by professionals it is obvious how much work has occurred.   What you cannot see are all the meetings, the planning, the worrying that goes into it.  Work by committee is not for the timid!  But like the ol’ cowboy said, “You can see this ain’t their first rodeo!”  

Thanks to the Rapid City Journal for the great write up they gave us in last Thursday’s paper (Oct 29, 2009) Home & Garden section.  You can check that out if this is all news to you. Let me show you some of the lovelies that have been donated.  Folks who bid and purchase these items are actually contributing dollars to the Black Hills Symphony and music education in our community…that’s the serious part.  Now here’s the fun.

Sylvia Cox created the necklace in the photo above.  It is entirely handmade of fine silver - that means is 99.9% pure and will not tarnish. 

Photographer Ryan Becker, in the spirit of the 75th anniversary of the Symphony Orchestra, is offering a certificate for $75 off any portrait session or wedding booking.  (TOLD you there was something practical.)

The Black Hills Dance Theatre sent us six tickets for “The Nutcracker” ballet being performed later this month, so I put that together with some other donations for NUTCRACKER SPECIALS.

Nutcracker tickets, ornament and Flowers by LeRoy gift card

Flowers by LeRoy gave us a sweet nutcracker ornament and inside that little black box is a $50 gift card.  We’ll be auctioning that off with two tickets to “The Nutcracker Ballet”. 

The other special is four tickets to the ballet and a certificate for music from Batchelder’s Plummer Piano.

Another practical auction item is the Artist’s work kit from Copy Country  with cutters, slicers, measurers, markers and more.  If you are a scrapbooker you are going to want this one.

 Jolly Lane came up with some surprising goodies for their donation basket.  Sue picked out Sweet Potato Butter and Black-eyed Pea Salsa from their line of canned goods.  Then she tossed in some popcorn, gloves, fertilizer and some tools.  BUT, like the Crazy Horse basket, the really good thing is in the little envelope - a gift certificate to spend in the greenhouse!  You can always use a little more cash when you are surrounding by living, blooming beauties!  

  I hope to see you at the Sneak a Peek Auction - good food, fine drink, excellent company and all for a good cause.  Thanks for stopping by. mlt

Garden goodies and gift certificate from Jolly Lane Greenhouse.

SOLID AS A ROCK.  ROCK ON.  ROCKIN’ THE ROOM.  All those great expressions fit the donations I write about today as I continue my quest to gather items for the Symphony League auction.  We have the mighty rocks that reach to the sky and the rocks that turn to gems from the pressure inside the earth.

Books, CDs, a lunch pail, t-shirt, calendar, REAL ROCKS and a very special envelope are in the basket donated by Crazy Horse Memorial.

The photo shows the basket donated by the folks at Crazy Horse Memorial.  When I asked Ruth Ziolkowski for a  “little something” like lunch and admission for a couple, she said, “Oh, Korczak just loved the symphony so much.  Let me have Anne (one of her daughters) put something really special together for you”.

You can easily discern the books, cds and shirt.  But a lunchpail?  Who knew there was a lunchpail with Korczak on the front? …and check out the ROCKS ; these are bookends created from the granite blasted off the mountain.  One of Ruth’s 23 grandchildren, Heidi, lovingly polishes the fragments and creates unique pairs.

THE REALLY SPECIAL ITEM is the little white envelope you see peeking out from the center. In that envelope is a  gift certificate for four people : admission to the site, lunch at Laughing Water Restaurant,  a trip to THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN during the day ..PLUS a re-admit pass  for the night “Legends in Light” laser show.   If you are planning to entertain someone special this year, this would be a terrific basket to bid on at the auction.

RUTH ROCKS is the expression I am using today!  Let me use this opportunity to help you pronounce that last name.  The Polish language is a little tough with all those consonants, but let me make it easy.  Say JEWEL (like the gem), CUFF (like a bracelet), SKI (like going down a mountain). All together now Jewel-cuff-ski.  OK!  ( Thank you Ruth - I’ll be up to play the Steinway grand soon.)

MORE JEWELS - as in diamonds - will be part of the Symphony League Auction on Sneak-a-Peek night.  That’s because THE CLOCK SHOP really got into the spirit of things.  When Chris Johnson found out that it was the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra’s 75th Anniversary - the Diamond Jubilee - he smiled at me and said, “Oh, I can really do something special for you.”

HOW’S ABOUT A GENUINE, WHITE ROUND DIAMOND? It’s just a little over a quarter carat.  Chris asked me to trot across the street and have it appraised at Landstrom’s.  Marty gave it his approval and said it is worth about $400.   Now that is a ROCK.   It is very difficult to take a decent photograph of this lovely, so I am going to show you the beautiful clocks that live in THE CLOCK SHOP.  When I first came to Rapid City I chanced to be in the shop on a winter day just before 5 p.m. – one of the most memorable moments of my life.  When all of those beautiful grandfathers and grandmothers and GRAND aunts and uncles began to chime I was mesmerized.

THE SENTINELS OF TIME

Marie working on art project

The last week of August is typically “downtime” for we piano teachers. I  usually keep busy with gardening and some home repairs and paintings.  This year I am organizing an Art Exhibit.

Yes, I said Art Exhibit.  There will be a dozen artists joining me at the Bay Leaf Cafe in Spearfish, SD.  I’ll be hanging the artwork on Monday, August 31, so by lunchtime you should be able to view it. 

For refreshments, special deals and live music come on up on Friday, Sept. 4, from 4-6 p.m.  The live music will be our own piano tuner Curt Bauer.  Many folks get a tiny taste of his remarkable talent when he tunes their home piano.  Now you can hear him play for a couple of hours.  Not to mention - see some great art and eat delicious food.

WHAT: CONNECTED - a celebration of art

WHERE: Bay Leaf Cafe, 126 West Hudson, Spearfish, SD

WHEN:  The whole month of September.

Special event:  Artists’ Reception, Friday, Sept. 4, 4-6 p.m.

Ariel Pocock, a 16-year-old prodigy, will perform in Rapid City on Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Black Hills Piano Gallery.    She won the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation Outstanding Vocalist Award - they haven’t given that one out in 10 years. 

Ariel recently performed at the Essentially Ellington Festival and Competition where she won the outstanding pianist award as well.

Ariel and her trio will start playing at 7 p.m.  The jazz standards they promise should be a cool breeze during our hot August nights.

For more information go to www.blackhillspianogallery.com.

Ticket are $10 for adults.  $8 for students and music teachers.

Hair raising idea

 

 

 

My student Christina arrived for her piano lesson as the character Pippa Longstocking.  The hairdo seems to express May mayhem.

This week I received several calls from frantic parents cancelling piano lessons because of dance rehearsals.  “Not to worry,” I laughed. ” I always assume that children will miss lessons just before dance recitals.”

Juggling the schedule of regular lessons, sports events and school activities is tough enough.  When you add the pressure of PERFORMANCE, the camel’s back is broken!  That’s why I have a long-held policy of  lais-sez-faire when May hits.

In a few weeks we’ll add the graduations, confirmations, showers and open houses.  I just ask that you keep practicing on a regular basis.  A good suggestion is to practice the piano on any day that you eat.

My dilemma is how to attend all the events.  This Saturday I would like to see the Candyland dance recital (but I missed last week’s Cindella - whoops).  There is also a chamber music presentation for the Symphony League that sounds like so much fun. Then again, I’ll probably be lying in a heap after a day of gardening.

In a few weeks all this will be a memory and we’ll be setting up the summer schedule.  Just keep breathing.

THANK YOU for all the comments and suggestions.  The latest stats show that this blog in Number 19 in the lineup (I guess there are about 40-50 regular bloggers with the staff and volunteers like me).  Anyway, they like us.  Be sure to send your ideas, questions and comments by using the comment box below.  OR, you can contact me at marietesch@rap.midco.net.

Thanks for stopping by. mlt

Piano PALS, our duet piano group, will celebrate it’s first anniversary on February 22, 2009.  Members and guests will be part of the Elton John Red Piano extravaganza going on at the Black Hills Piano Gallery.

Several of my adult students have been polishing their skills at the keyboard so they can entertain that day.  We have a number of people baking goodies. Tony and Connie Thomas, owners of the piano store,  are providing coffee, the space to spread out our banquet AND a few more grand pianos for our playing.   (The punch recipe is still being discussed.)  We’ve got some fun and games planned as well.

Besides celebrating our first anniversary, we want to welcome new members and find out what kind of activities to include.  There is a core group that gets together once a month to practice for a couple of hours. Others prefer to pick up some music and practice privately first.  If you are a piano player - beginner, struggler, wishful or wonderful - please join us.

Prizes? Yes, we will have prizes.  Surprises? Of course.  Please bring a pal and join Piano PALS ……

Sunday, February 22, 2009

1:30 until 3:30 p.m.

Black Hills Piano Gallery (in Tuscany Square)

333 Omaha Street, Rapid City, SD

If you would like a ready-made invitation, I have a PDF ready to go with all the information.  Just drop me a line at this blog, or e-mail at marietesch@rap.midco.net

I’ll send you a copy that will be easy to forward to your pals.

Thanks for stopping by.  mlt

 

Just before Christmas we really pack in the fun with baking, shopping, planning and more music.  That’s what makes it fun.  As a new member of the First United Methodist Choir, I’ve had a whirlwind holiday season. 

 Director Ken Ketel has a very ambitious folder of music - lots of good classic arrangements, plenty of them by John Rutter.  There’s a story on National Public Radio this week about Rutter’s music. As luck would have it, the very song we sang this past Sunday -  ”Shepherd’s Pipe Carol”  - can be heard. Visit this link to hear it sung by the Cambridge Singers.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98469801

Of course, the great advantage that Ketel has lives in the ten, talented fingers of his wife.  Diane Ketel has been at the helm of the church’s organ and piano for a good, long while.  No doubt there are lively discussions in their home as they plan the year’s music.  For Christmas Eve, they really “pull out the stops” (never has a phrase been more appropriate)  and round up enough musicians for an orchestra to accompany the choir.

I love it.  I haven’t sung in a choir since college days - that would be 38 years ago, in an a Capella choir and we rehearsed daily, for months, before performing.  The same was true for my high school choirs, but the real work was earlier than that. 

 My elementary experience was St. Martin’s Lutheran School in Watertown, SD.  Not only did we rehearse singing,  we had special morning practices at the church in the weeks before Christmas.  Principal Howard Maertz drilled us in  a routine of stand (count to three), turn (count to three), recite.  Then turn (count to three), sit and be still (count to a thousand and three).  If you are getting visions of the little guy in the helmet saying, “Vee hahf vays of making you recite,” you’re on the right track.  If there was one child who turned to the left when it should have been to the right…..we all did it again…..the whole school.  You must believe me when I say it wasn’t that bad:  it was fun to take a special bus for rehearsal, fun to be with the whole school in a program, fun to get it “just right”. 

 My fondest memory of Christmas was learning to sing “Silent Night” in German.  That’s how we would finish the program, all the lights were turned off, only candles provided illumination, many of the congregation joined in. It was definitely a “tingly” moment. 

With all that rehearsing in my background, I was not prepared for a couple of practice sessions with all the choirs of UMC and then one run-through with the orchestra on Tuesday night.  BUT the Ketels have FAITH that we can do it.  I’m looking forward to a number of “tingly” moments tonight.

I hope you have a church to attend tonight.  If not, join us at 5 and 7 tonight to hear the orchestra and chorus.  First United Methodist is at the corner of Kansas CIty Street and 7th.  If you can’t make it, I hope you take a moment to sing a song and remember what Christmas is about.

Let me know about your Christmas.  If you have a story about music and your “tingly moment” drop a line in the comment box and I’ll put it in this blog.

Merry Christmas.  mlt

Many parents start their children’s musical career with a Christmas present.  Of course, a piano can be a major investment.  That’s why the music stores in Rapid City have such great rental programs. 

If your child wants to learn how to play the piano, you MUST have a piano so that they can practice every day.  It’s just that simple.  If you are not ready to make that kind of purchase find out about the rental programs at Black Hills Piano Gallery, Batchelder’s Plummer Piano or Haggerty’s Musicworks.   These three businesses have package deals with a piano rental and lessons at their store.

Renting is a good way to get started.  If a year or so goes by and your child tires of the piano or becomes enthused about the bassoon, then you can just return the piano.  On the other hand, if your child blossoms at the keyboard and is ready for an upgrade, you have a bargaining tool.  Many stores will give you a generous “credit” for your accumulated rental payments when you decide to purchase a piano.

If you are ready to make a purchase, please  have the player “test drive” the models you are interested in.  WHAT?  Well, dear reader, let me assure you that pianos have souls.  A good salesperson will explain how the wood is selected, then aged for 10-20 years, then sorted and selected again.  A good grand piano takes about a year to build.  (I kid you not….check out the story on National Public Radio about Steinways this week.)

I was reminded of all this last Thursday when I played a new Yamaha grand for a Christmas Party.  When I commented about what a great touch and sound the piano had, owner Tony Thomas of BH Piano Gallery said, “It’s the same one you played at the BlizzAid at the Rushmore Mall.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?”  I spat back at him. “This is a different piano completely.   I think they cut the wood on the southern slope when the moon was full.”

“Ah, you are right, Marie,” he laughed. “This is the same model as the BlizzAid piano, but it has been played for about six months.”

You may think that is silly, but let me assure you that you must play the pianos that you are considering.  Take some music down to the store and settle in for a good test concert.

18 years ago my husband and I went in to buy a BLACK studio piano from Dan Senftner (then owner of Plummer Piano).  We had four years of rental credit ready to apply.  The marvelous Mary Lou Torrey helped us narrow down our search and patiently waited while I spent several days playing different pianos.

We ended up with a BROWN piano - it’s actually walnut.  I had to completely change my decorating scheme because of this piano.  We also got a grand, not a studio.  That changed our budget for a number of years.  BUT, I have always loved my piano. That’s what you are looking for.  Find the one you love.  When you reach the point of naming it…..you are there.  Buy it!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about buying a piano.

Thanks for stopping by. mlt

On Wednesday,  Dec. 10, Karen Waltman, Cleone Mayclin and I will motor up to Spearfish for a Brown Bag Lunch at the Matthews Opera House.  This is an annual event for the Spearfish Duet Club started by Dr. Janeen Larson.

We met with Dr. Larson this fall for advice on how to enhance the numbers of our duet group - Piano PALS.  She encouraged us to set up some public performances.  In that light, she invited us to come up and play piano for their holiday concert.

Karen and I will be playing a jazzy Christmas medley arranged by Catherine Rollin; we had a chance to polish that during BlizzAid.  Cleone and Karen will perform “Silent Night” in an arrangement by Joel Raney.

If you are in Spearfish on Wednesday at noon, stop in at the Matthews Opera House right downtown on Main Street. It will be inspiring to hear what they have been practicing in the Northern Hills.

We are planning an organizational meeting for Piano PALS in January.  If you are interested in practicing and performing piano duets with other adult players, please let me know.  342-3328.

Thanks for stopping by. mlt