Happy late Memorial Day to everyone, stay healthy and safe.
It seems that first, North Carolina is starting to open up businesses again but secondly, our coronavirus cases seem to be rising. The future is unclear and I am not sure how many summer camps will be operating or whether some schools will start classes partially or with full enrollment. I stay hopeful that we will all continue to help and encourage each other.
I usually teach in the summer when I am here and except for 2 of the weeks I will be here and I will put the dates below again. At the moment I am not altering the lesson schedule until I see how many want to continue summer lessons for some or all of the available weeks I am teaching. I encourage those who want to keep learning to let me know. Even if you want a part-time schedule I can accommodate that; the 9 weeks plus of the summer break in traditional terms is very long. Evidence shows students do tend to go backwards during this time. Without the motivation of regular lessons practice tends to fall away; “I can do it next week…”
Some people have let me know already about summer lessons, either whether they want to take a break, continue or pick up some weeks of lessons. I will email people individually but I hope I have not missed anyone. I have been slack about making notes lately! Feel free to tell me again and I am now making a list!
About fees: During the summer you can pay in groups of lessons or for individual lessons, and the fee is the same $32.50 each half hour. However, I am sad to report that 3 mailed checks were lost in the past 2-3 weeks. I do not know what happened but I know 2 families mailed checks and they did not arrive. I am in a quandary because I love the postal service and I pay all my bills by post – so far. If you can use Zelle or Venmo that would be great, or the old drop check in my letterbox for locals, but if you’re posting checks make sure of the correct address and put your return address:
Lorna Collingridge
2119 Sprunt Ave
Durham NC 27705
The summer dates will appear on your June emails in red to distinguish them from Spring and subsequently Fall.
Almost all May fees have been paid so if you are one of the late ones, can you please pay me this week before May comes to an end.
On Friday 5/15 I adjudicated the Piano Festival for the Durham School of the Arts (DSA). We usually have this event at the school but this time it had to be on Zoom. It was fun visiting the students at their homes, and I became acquainted with Zoom. Which brings me to concerts. I cannot have a Soiree at Croasdaile this year of course, so I am thinking of Zoom, but so far just thinking. My daughter in London is keen to host it/them for me but I have to consider logistics first. I have many students so could not have just one event. Stay tuned!
I am so happy to report that two of my ex-students have graduated with their bachelor’s degrees. Ashley Cummings, my very first American private piano student graduated from NC State ‘Summa Cum Laude” with award winning results in Cell and Microbiology and a minor in philosophy. Chelsea Daniel graduated from the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas in Austin but has yet to complete her final piano recital this summer so will know more details after that but she is such a brilliant pianist. There are more students who graduated but I do not have the right details to list them here.
Send a positive thought to Lydia who will complete her level 2 piano exam with the Royal Conservatory on June 2, a member of the first cohort of students who have to do their practical exams remotely on Zoom. She is very brave!
Please go often to my website and check on new student performances – I hope to have some more intriguing ones up by the end of the week.
I am also happy to report that I finally installed wifi booster in my studio plus I am now teaching on my laptop so i hope the signal between us all will be stronger – no more glitches!
And finally for piano students especially adult ones, you might enjoy this:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/20/magazine/quarantine-covid-learning-piano.html
Summer Dates: Summer lessons will be from June 8 through August 21 with the exception of the week from June 29 – July 3 (beach trip, my birthday, 4th of July, relaxing!) There will be a two week break from August 24 to September 7 and lessons will resume on Tuesday September 8.
