SEPTEMBER 2016
TEDDY DO 


Congratulations to Teddy Do, our September “Student of the Month”! Teddy is 9 years old and in 4th grade this year. He has been taking piano lessons for about 2 years along with his twin brother, Timothy, his sister, Trisha and his dad, Long Do. If you come to our studio on Tuesdays, chances are good that you will see the Do family here!  Teddy says that one of the things he likes best about taking piano lessons is discovering new music! Teddy is one of my sweetest students and also a very bright and receptive student. I always enjoy teaching him!


Last year, Teddy participated for the first time in the National GUILD, where he performed 5 pieces by memory and received excellent assessment marks. He also participated in the TVMTA Festival Auditions, earning himself a GOLD medal, the Christmas Recital, and the Summer Awards Recital!


Teddy’s favorite subjects in school are reading and math. He says that he loves all of the books that he reads! In addition to reading and math, Teddy does extracurricular sports in swimming and basketball. He also enjoys biking!  Teddy’s favorite place to go is Legoland and his favorite movie is Harry Potter. His favorite food to eat is spaghetti!

As a teacher, I am always pleased to see Teddy. He always comes to piano in a great mood and ready to learn. I’m so proud of all his accomplishments so far and very excited to see what new music Teddy will discover this year and how much he will progress.  He’s off to a great start!


OCTOBER 2016

REBECCA SONG


Congratulations to Rebecca Song, our October “Student of the Month”! Rebecca is 7 years old and in 2nd grade this year. She has been taking piano lessons for almost 2 years now, and just recently, her little sister Kaydence has also started lessons. Rebecca says that she enjoys learning to play nice music so other people can enjoy listening to it. I love hearing this because we love listening to her, too!

Last year, Rebecca participated for the first time in our Studio Holiday Recital and our Summer Recital. She also participated in the TVMTA Festival Auditions and received her first Gold Medal for her performance!  This year, Rebecca has an even bigger year planned. In addition to the studio recitals, she will be participating in the CAPMT Piano & Ensemble Auditions next month, where she will perform 2 pieces by memory and 1 duet with a partner. She is also adding the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program to her activities, and will be preparing throughout the year for those assessments! 

Rebecca’s favorite subjects in school are math, reading, and art. She also likes to swim, jump rope with her friends, play hide and seek with her family, and bakes. In addition to all this, Rebecca also attends Korean school!  Currently, they don’t have any pets, however, Rebecca says she would love to have a dog!

Rebecca’s favorite foods are pepperoni pizza, California rolls, strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, pancakes, bacon, shrimp, and pocky sticks. Yum!!  Her favorite movie is “Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy”, her favorite books are the “Rainbow Magic Book Series”, and her favorite place to visit is Disneyland!

As a teacher, I love our lesson time together! Rebecca has the sweetest disposition. She always comes prepared, carefully follows instruction, and is progressing so well! She is going to have a great year!


NOVEMBER 2016
JAY CHEN


Congratulations to Jay Chen, our October “Student of the Month”! Jay is 15 years old and in the 10th grade. He has been a piano student for about 6 years now and is one of our studio’s advanced student!  Jay studies piano along with his brother Hans, who is also a fine student! 

Last year, Jay earned 1st place in the CAPMT Honors Audition for CA District 4. This moved him up to the state level, where he successfully competed against the top students throughout the state in the CAPMT State Final Competition held at UC Berkeley. In addition to this, Jay has successfully completed the CAPMT Piano & Ensemble Auditions at Level 10 with his brother as his duet partner!  Jay has also participated in GUILD and performed in several recitals.

Jay says he enjoys learning and listening to his pieces after he has made them the very best that he can!  As his teacher, I love the way he is always willing to take on the challenge to master a new and difficult piece!

Jay is also very dedicated to his academics and maintains straight A’s! His favorite subject in school is biology and he is very active with Science Olympiad activities.  In addition to all this, Jay also competes on the school debate team and  is part of the soccer team. I don’t know how he finds the time! 

Jay enjoys listening to music, watching sports & movies, traveling, and spending time with his friends! His favorite movie is  “The Interview” and his favorite book is “The Phoenix Requiem”. He also enjoys eating at In-N-Out and Chic-Fil-A,  and his favorite place to go is the beach!

Jay is not only an excellent piano student, but he also shows strong dedication to all of his endeavors. This is such a wonderful trait that I truly admire and I know it will take him far in any direction that he chooses!  As his teacher, I am glad for the opportunity to work with him and to help him continue to grow musically!​


JANUARY 2017
MADELEINE TRAN


Congratulations to Madeleine Tran, our January “Student of the Month”!  Madeleine is 5 years old and in kindergarten. She began taking piano lessons about a year ago. Madeleine says she enjoys gentle music the most. She also likes learning difficult notes and playing on “Piano Maestro”.  In fact, Madeleine has consistently been the weekly top  “Piano Maestro” player in our studio! As her teacher, I am so proud of the way she is coming along. She is certainly doing well at learning those “difficult” notes! 

Last year, Madeleine was in her first recital when she participated in the 2016 Summer Recital, and more recently, she performed Green Frog Hop and Jingle Bells by memory at our Holiday Recital last month. She is proving herself to be quite a good performer!

 This year, Madeleine will be ready to begin entering additional activities. She will be participating in the TVMTA Festival Auditions in February for the first time and she will begin preparations to enter into the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program. Madeleine is a quick learner, and I’m very excited to see how this year progresses for her.

Madeleine’s favorite subject in school is math. She also likes to paint, read books, and put puzzles together. Her favorite books are Super Hero and Mermaids, and her favorite movies are Rapunzel and Sofia. Madeleine’s favorite food is spaghetti.  Her favorite places to visit are Disneyland and Sea World, and she likes staying at the San Diego Hotel! Madeleine also enjoys playing kickball and on her WEE.

As her teacher, I always enjoy lessons with Madeleine. She is always prepared and often surprises me by even moving ahead and preparing extra pieces for her lessons! She is wonderfully happy and I love to hear her laughing during her lessons!  Madeleine’s happy attitude and joy for learning makes me alway look forward to our time together!


MARCH 2017
TRISHA DO


Congratulations to Trisha Do, our March “Student of the Month”!  Trisha is 7 years old and in 2nd grade. She began taking piano lessons here about 2 1/2 years ago along with her two twin brothers, Teddy and Timothy Do.  Trisha says she just likes to play and hear piano music!  Trisha’s goal the last few months has been to improve her hand position while playing, and I’m happy to say that she has made dramatic improvements in this area. Trisha also has consistently worked on  “Piano Maestro” to improve her sight-reading skills! 

Last year, Trisha participated for the first time in the TVMTA Festival Auditions and earned a Gold Medal. She also performed in both the Holiday and Summer Recitals. This year, along with performing in the studio recitals, Trisha will add the GUILD Assessments in June to her list of activities. For GUILD she will be required to perform 5 pieces by memory and also fulfill technical requirements for each piece. She has already earned herself another Gold Medal in the Festival Auditions (held last month). 

Trisha’s says that she enjoys reading and writing, and that her favorite book is Harry Potter.  She also likes to go swimming and biking!  Trisha’s favorite food is mashed potatoes!

For now, Trisha is excited and looking forward to her 8th birthday which will be on March 11th (just a few more days)!

As her teacher, I enjoy seeing Trisha each week. She has a fun side to her that makes her fun to be around. When she makes goals for herself, she is determined and does quite well!  I’m so happy that Trisha and her family are a part of our studio, and I’m looking forward to seeing her continue to improve this year!


Congratulations to Kaydence Song, our May “Student of the Month”!  Kaydence is 5 years old and in Kindergarten this year. She has been taking piano lessons for about 9 months. Her older sister, Rebecca is also a student and the two have played several duets together!  Kaydence says that she enjoys learning to play piano because it “sounds pretty”!  I think that’s a great reason to learn piano! 

MAY 2017
KAYDENCE SONG


Congratulations to Kaydence Song, our May “Student of the Month”!  Kaydence is 5 years old and in Kindergarten this year. She has been taking piano lessons for about 9 months. Her older sister, Rebecca is also a student and the two have played several duets together!  Kaydence says that she enjoys learning to play piano because it “sounds pretty”!  I think that’s a great reason to learn piano!Last year, Kaydence participated for the first time in our Studio Holiday Recital and proved herself to be a great performer!  She is off to a great start. Kaydence has learned many of her notes and note values and the music she is playing gets better and better!

 Last year, Kaydence participated for the first time in our Studio Holiday Recital and proved herself to be a great performer!  She is off to a great start. Kaydence has learned many of her notes and note values and the music she is playing gets better and better!

Kaydence’s favorite subjects in school are math, and reading. She also has a lot of fun interests. Kaydence loves to bake and draw with her mommy, dance, go to the beach and the zoo, play soccer, and go to Korean school!  She also has a tomato plant named “Shimini”.

Kaydence’s favorite foods are ice cream, sweet potatos, seaweed, and dried mango. Her favorite movie is “The Magic School Bus” and “Paw Patrol”, and her favorite place to visit is Disneyland.  Her favorite book is “Nanette’s Baguette”.  Kaydence also says that she loves animals and hopes to get a dog soon!

As a teacher, I love teaching Kaydence! She is ALWAYS happy and in a great mood! She tries hard and is doing well. I can’t wait to see how she progresses as time goes on! I’m so happy to be her teacher!

Trisha Do

March 2017

Teddy Do

September 2016

2016-2017 Students of the Month

Kaydence Song

May 2017

Madeleine Tran

January 2017

Jay Chen

November 2016

Rebecca Song

​October 2016