Sometimes the instrument chooses you!

Meet Chloe, a PEAC harpist. She has been playing for about three and a half years. She says that she didn’t choose the harp – it chose her!

Her favorite thing to practice is solos. She says “it can be hard because not every piece is as easy as the one before and as we move forward we learn harder and more advanced music.” Some of her most fun things to play are glissandos (think angels and harps!) and playing pieces together with her friends.

Chloe’s superpower is kindness, and this is evident in the way she carries herself in her lessons and classes!

Chloe really misses seeing her friends, family, and teachers from pre-pandemic times, however, she does all sorts of things to keep herself busy. Some of these include drawing, watching anime, singing, dancing or playing a few of her favorite games: Gacha life, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Minecraft.

Chloe would love for her fellow PEAC musicians to know that she watches lots of Marvel movies so she would consider herself a HUGE Marvel fan!

Get to know Tihute!

Tihute is a violist in fourth grade and she has been playing her instrument for four years. She got interested in the viola because she wanted to play an instrument that she didn’t know much about and that was very different from the other instruments. She is now hooked, because she loves her instrument!

Tihute’s favorite thing to practice is scales, because she says they help her get better and better each day. (You are right, Tihute!) However, she does say that the hardest thing for her about practicing is knowing what to do when she doesn’t have a teacher around to help guide her and tell her what’s right or wrong.

Tihute gets lots of joy from playing music with other people. She likes to see the smiles on their faces. She particularly enjoys playing with her classmates and her teachers.

When asked what her superpower is, Tihute said that playing her instrument is her superpower – because she practices and practices every single day!

This pandemic life has Tihute missing time with her friends and family and she’s longing to play concerts in person again. (Me too, Tihute!)

In her free time, Tihute loves to go swimming and play games, go outside, and do gymnastics. She wants the other students to know about her special talent pictured below – she can hold her pinky finger in her fist! No one else in her family can do this.

Thank you, Tihute, for sharing with us this week!

Meet PEAC clarinetist Marcell!

I recently had the chance to ask Marcell a few questions about his experience in POP as a new PEAC student. Here are his responses.

1. How long have you been playing your instrument? For one year
2. What drew you to your instrument? I like the way it sounds.
3. What’s your favorite thing to practice? I really like Ode to Joy 
4. What’s hard about practicing for you? When I have to hold a note for a certain amount of time.
5. What sort of musical things bring you lots of joy? or what musical activities do you find really fun? Being able to play music I’ve heard before.
6. What is the most interesting concert you have ever attended? (could be virtual or in-person) What made it so interesting? I’ve never been to a concert but really like listening to calm music.
7. What’s the biggest thing you miss from pre-pandemic life? Being able to see people play real instruments face to face.
8. What do you do in your free time (outside of school, POP, and practicing)? I play video games, VR and draw.

Thanks, Marcell for letting us get to know you a little more. I look forward to introducing you to live music concerts and those real face to face encounters!

Meet PEAC bassist Noah!

Noah has been playing the bass for four years. He was originally drawn to the instrument because of its sound and size – the bigness of the bass was not a deterrent for Noah! Noah says that the hardest thing about practicing is making the time to do it, “but you have to,” he says. Wise words from one so young!

When asked what kinds of musical things bring him joy, he answered that playing with others is really fun. Noah also likes to listen to different kids of music and try to identify when the bass is being played. His favorite POP teachers this year are Miss Carlota and Miss Carolina (shout-out to the alto/bass clefs over there!)

Noah is living his best pandemic life, but he admits that the biggest thing he misses is giving handshakes and high-fives, not having to wear a mask, and being in a building with others. We hear you, Noah! I’m envisioning LOTS of POP high-fives when we are finally back in person – don’t worry – it WILL come!

Thank you, Noah – we look forward to that post-pandemic high-five from you!

Dear PEAC Students and Families,

Welcome to our Blog! This is an important place for you to come for information. I’ll try to keep it as up-to-date as possible, and hopefully it will help us all stay on track.

Important reminders for this week:

I need your concert reports and first term report cards NOW! If you have not sent these to me, please do so as soon as possible. I have been very lenient up to this point, however, this is something you have all agreed to do, so please get them in!

This session is running smoothly, and I’m proud of the work everyone is doing. Remember that time is going to fly, and before you know it, we will be knee-deep in making videos for our various concerts. Here’s a list of due dates for videos for the rest of the year. I’m putting these here now, so that you can see what’s coming up and start to plan ahead in your learning and your practice.

March 5 – Astral Videos (Division 3 only)

April 12 – PEAC Recital #2 due

April 19 – Chamber Video #2 due

April 26 – Dream Keeper Video due for Jubilee Concert

May 10 (approx) – Divisional Videos due for Jubilee Concert

May 14 – PEAC/Chamber Recital 2

Please remember it’s very important for your student to have a quiet place to practice and have their lessons and classes. Providing this for them will help them to make acceptable progress. They are working so hard and so much concentration is involved in learning an instrument – this is one of the best things you can do for them! If you need tips or have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Happy Practicing!

Dr. Anna.

Welcome to our new PEAC family blog! We’ll be linking here in our weekly newsletters. Just as before, you’ll find updates about performances, schedules, and any other important information. We hope that this is another way we are making our communication more effective as we strive towards greater heights of musical excellence. As always, thanks for all you do!

All the best,
Mike Pechter
Program Manager