Group Classes Begin NEXT WEEK!

Summer Creativity and Autumn Goals

It is finally October!  Everyone is solidly in the swing of things and it is time to start making some musical goals.  Some ideas:  Suzuki Book Graduations, Music Development Program Assessments, Chicago Festivals (Sonatina Festival perhaps?).  Let's discuss this in lessons!

Here are a couple of videos of creativity in recent lessons:

Katie and Mary, performing one of Bach's Minuet on two ukuleles, August, 2014.

Fish-Eye-Evan, playing a very solid Happy Farmer, August 2014.

Technology allows me to play both parts of a bit of Rachmaninoff for Two Pianos.

Sherwood Scholarship Competition Finalist

Congratulations to Declan F., a finalist in the elementary division of the Sherwood Scholarship Competition! Awards to be given at the Honors Recital Thursday, May 22nd at 7pm in the Sherwood Recital Hall!

Studio Recital, February 2014

Everyone played so beautifully and it is nice to know that while the winter was harsh, everyone made such great progress and getting together for our winter recital was well worth the trek out of doors and the fancy shoes!  Congratulations to all performers!

For performances by Whitney, Valentina, Pauline, Kabir and Declan F., click below:




For performances by Chloe, Diego, Aidan and Mary, click below:



For performances by Leyla, Katie, Declan H., Colin, Evan and the Copycat Duet, click below:




For performances by Anjali, Graham, Jimena, Fiona and the Dragon Dance Trio, click below:



For Debussy's Pagodes, click below:

Summer Recital Video 2012

Congratulations everyone on a beautiful job the other night!  Below are the performance videos for you to share with your grandparents, friends, parents' friends, dentist, etc!  Enjoy!

If you are Jerecho, Amber, Ioannis, Katie, Chloe, Fiona or Graham, you'll want to see this clip:



If you are Cole, Natalie, Kabir, Whitney, Tiffany, Evan, Declan H., or Mary, you'll want to look at this one:



If you are Adrian, Eddie, Maurice, Erica, Pauline or August, you'll find yourself here:




If you are Declan F., Maeve, Anne Marie, part of the Minuet Extravaganza or Criss, please check this out:



If you enjoyed the duet performed by Graham and Mary or the piece performed by Ms. Aubrey, you can find them here:




(I'm sorry about the lighting on this video!  Next time I'll get it right again!)

Evan - took a lesson like a Suzuki Book 2 kid today!

Wow - what a week for congratulations!  Evan also graduated from Suzuki Book 1, playing with impressive sensitivity and spirit for his age.  Make sure to congratulate him when you see him at the November recital!

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Declan - Done with Folk, and on to Baroque!

Congratulations go out this evening to Declan, who gave a clean, confident, and musical performance of Suzuki Book 1 at Sherwood Community Music School.  I'm proud of all the work you've put into becoming an accomplished pianist for your age!

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Mary's Book 2 Graduation Recital

Congratulations to Mary Wilkie for completing Suzuki Book 2 and giving such a poised and musical recital today.  I'm so proud of you!

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Free Concert for Kids!

Tomorrow! January 14th Friday @ 5:30pm - admission: FREE

*****A Special Concert for Young Musicians ****
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 and up and was prepared for introducing children to the world of Classical music through "Child-friendly" performances of dance music and famous classical works, featuring Sherwood Faculty members.

Violin: Christie-Keiko Abe
Cello: Martine Benmann
Piano: Ivana Bukvich

Saturdays at Sherwood - November

Hello all!  With the weather getting colder, it is time to bring your weekend entertainment indoors!  This Saturday at Sherwood, there will be a jazz concert as part of the standard Saturdays at Sherwood (formerly Sundays at Sherwood) faculty concerts.  Below is the program - if you're at Sherwood already on Saturdays, why not stop by for a concert and snacks?

Program for November 20th, 2010

"Nardis" by Miles Davis
"Quiet Morning" by Seth Canavan-Hitsky
"I Thought About You" by Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Mercer (lyrics)
"Well, You Needn't" by Thelonious Monk
"Day Dream" by Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, John La Touche (lyrics)
"Blue Monk" by Thelonious Monk
"Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" by Leonard Cohen
"Innocent When You Dream" by Tom Waits
"How Deep Is The Ocean?" by Irving Berlin
"Dindi" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Aloysio de Oliveria (Portuguese lyrics), Ray Gilbert (English lyrics)
"Song For My Father" by Horace Silver
"Come Sunday" by Duke Ellington
"Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin
"If it's Magic" by Stevie Wonder


Seth Aaron Canavan-Hitsky is an Early Childhood faculty member of Sherwood, The Community Music School at Columbia College.  A life-long musician, Seth was born and raised in Metropolitan Detroit.  He studied voice with Cantor Louis Klein, Eric Bruner, and Melody Racine, and piano with Maryan F. Abramsohn and Sumito "Ariyo" Ariyoshi.  Seth has performed and recorded in Detroit, Chicago, and New York City with Maschina, The Daniel Givens Age Ensemble (also featuring Josh Abrams, Glenda Baker, Nicole Mitchell, and Jeff Parker) and the 58 Group (directed by Ginger Farley and Cameron Pfiffner).  In addition to his duo with Hashim Uqdah, Seth currently performs with and composes for Más Trueno, a world music band that played live on the air on WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight program in 2009.  Seth was recently admitted to VanderCook College of Music's Master of Music Education and Teacher Certification Program.

Hashim Na'im Uqdah is a musician, turntablist, and music producer from Chicago.  Hashim began playing drums at age 2.  Studying at the feet of his father, drummer Carl Ameen Uqdah, Hashim learned trap set, congas, djembe, and talking drum.  At age 13 Hashim taught himself how to DJ. He now records in studio turntable sessions and free-lances as a music producer for various groups as well as performing with Alpha and Princes of Futa (drums and percussion), Seth Canvan-Hitsky duo (drums), and Mood Music Collective (turntables, production).

Studio Recital, June 28, 2010 - VIDEO

Well, I think this recent recital was the most fun yet! Everyone was prepared, everyone played beautifully, and there were more cookies than anyone knew what to do with! Below are the YouTube videos from the event.

For Fiamma, Megan, Autumn, Fiona, Anne Marie, Erica, and Sean:

For Declan F., Natalie, Pauline, Declan H., Amber, Eddie, Jimena and Sarah:

For Mary, August, Criss and Evan:

For Katie, Sophia, and the Katie/Jimena/Erica/Mary Ensemble:

For some of Milhaud's impressions of Brazil:

I can't wait to see what everyone can do at the next recital! Congratulations!

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A Quick Pic from the Studio Recital

Suzuki Summer Institute

One of the best educational tools the Suzuki community provides is the summer institute. This is an opportunity for your child to have fun in a musical environment that celebrates family, shared learning and music!

I love it when my students attend institutes because the circumstances provide an environment where much can be gotten out of the student to advance his musical education, commitment and enjoyment.

I have always gone to the Chicago Suzuki Institute in Deerfield, but there are several others around the country. Many families choose to make the week into a vacation to explore a new area. The institutes all provide housing, food and activities.

For a list of all institutes, click here. So far this year, I have students attending the Blue Lake Institute, the Chicago Institute, the Stevens Point Institute and the Colorado Institute.

If you wish to talk to other parents who have participated in an institute, let me know! I strongly encourage it this summer!

Sherwood Recital, November 2008

In case any of you were waiting, here are links to the recital in November.

For Sophia, Michael, Anna, Natalie, Whitney, Diego, Gabriella, Erica, and Max, click here.

For Declan, Jimena, Hong, Will, Fiona, Jeremy, and Olivia, click here.

For Sylvia, Mason, Fiamma, and Mary, click here.

For Elliot and Ms. Aubrey, click here.

Enjoy! I’m sorry it took so long! Enjoy! If you would like, I can e-mail your child’s performance to you as well. Let me know!

PianoFest 2009

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and that all my students had an opportunity or two to show off a bit and entertain their family at the piano over break.

On Sunday, March 22nd, Sherwood Conservatory will be hosting an event for pianists that is a great opportunity for performance and for receiving positive and very helpful feedback from a panel of experienced judges.

Students perform a short program before a panel of two judges, and receive written evaluations of their performances, without the stress ad pressure of a competition.

To enroll your child to participate, please discuss with ME over the next two weeks repertoire selection and have a check for $25, written to Sherwood to me by January 17th.

I look forward to everyone having something exciting to work towards during these winter months!

While You Were Busy Practicing.....

I was in Greenland!!! Pictured above are a glacier, an arctic fox, some icebergs, and a mountain I climbed!

Glad to be back - see you all in lessons!