April 2022
MusicLink Legacy PartnersMusicLink thanks Louise P. Zanar Fund for many years of support. The MusicLink Foundation has been fortunate to have ongoing support from our Legacy Partners who provide annual donations from $5000 to $10,000 to insure a financial base for the organization. We have enjoyed eight years of support from the Louise P. Zanar Fund, first recognized as a Legacy Partner in our February 2019 issue of the eLink. Before closing their fund this year, the MusicLink Foundation received a final donation of $5,000. We thank them for their many years of support. More information about how to become a Legacy Partner can be found at www.fundmusiclink.com.
MusicLink Online LessonsWhen the pandemic forced teachers to learn how to teach students online, MusicLink teachers embraced the challenge and as a result we were able to link teachers with students living across the country. This learning curve actually provided more opportunities for MusicLink to reach students who did not have a teacher near them. Several teachers share different experiences teaching MusicLink students online.
I must admit, when I first agreed to teach piano lessons over Zoom, I doubted my ability to hold productive lessons through a screen. After all, having taught beginner students before, I understood the steep learning curve in the first couple of months, where the student learns new notes, rhythms, dynamics, good posture, and a host of basic skills. To teach these fundamentals over Zoom, all while inspiring a love of music and reinforcing good practice habits, seemed like an insurmountable task. Teaching an energetic eight-year-old on Zoom did prove nearly impossible at first - I struggled to keep Jeremiah focused and could not orient his fingers on the keyboard or point to notes and symbols on his sheet music. Yet, after devising some strategies to improve our lessons, Jeremiah started improving every week. By using my phone as a second camera on Zoom, I was able to show my keyboard and demonstrate proper starting position and hand placement. By adding fun activities like Kahoot, I could keep Jeremiah engaged and teach important concepts. Within a couple of months, Jeremiah progressed to reading sheet music and playing with both hands together Through nine months of Zoom lessons, I have found the experience to be incredibly rewarding. Watching Jeremiah perform for his grandmother, I felt gratified that my teaching could impact the life of someone living hundreds of miles away. While remote lessons can only approximate the merits of in-person lessons, I have learned that they can certainly be productive with enough persistence and creativity. A Dream Family ContinuesOver ten years ago I taught a "dream family" of students who practiced regularly and came to lessons prepared. The family had circumstances that hindered lessons, so I reached out to MusicLink to continue lessons. However, in 2019 they moved several hundred miles away. I always say they taught me how to teach in the pandemic. We connected on FaceTime. At first, I propped my phone at the edge of my keyboard. There were more than a few times the phone would fall over during the lesson. Eventually I bought a $20 tripod that held the phone steady. The students used an iPad. In the rural parts of our state, their internet connection was not great, and we learned that as we neared recital time, it was good to share video recordings of the performances. We could fine tune dynamics much better that way. In March of 2020 when my entire studio went virtual, I was so grateful for the experience I had with this family. I knew how I needed to prepare for online lessons, with the music scores available, and the routine I had worked out for sending emails with lesson assignments each week. Because of this family, I had worked out the logistics of online lessons and was able to pivot my entire studio in the span of one week. Whenever this family comes back to visit grandparents who live in my area, we arrange an in-person lesson. They also came for an outdoor, backyard recital in the summer of 2020. The students continue to progress. I am so grateful to them. A Baby Grand Donation for MusicLinkMerle Greene and Anmy Paulino Collado Merle Greene of New York City generously donated a baby grand piano to the MusicLink Foundation. The piano, a beautiful George Steck baby grand, which had been the donor’s childhood instrument, is now in the home of longtime MusicLink student, Anmy Paulino Collado, age 15. Anmy, a student of NYC Coordinator Julie Wegener, emailed MusicLink personally at age 8, to request piano lessons, and has been a valued and accomplished student ever since. Prior to the donation, Anmy and her mom, Andolina Collado, met Merle Greene and Anmy was given an opportunity to play the piano. A warm bond has formed between donor and recipient. On the day of the move, the two spoke by phone, and Anmy played the piano for Merle to hear. Thrilled and grateful, Anmy texted: "The piano sounds and feels amazing!!" The MusicLink Foundation expresses its deepest gratitude to Merle Greene for her generosity. Special thanks also to Debi Yanover, a local piano teacher who connected Merle Greene to the MusicLink Foundation and the Christoff Endowment fund for paying for the piano delivery.
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| Minnesota MusicLink |
Berkley Boardman |
Anna Dahlin |
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Alexis Evers |
Boede Halvorson |
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Alaina Hearne |
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Island, Sage, and Story Houghton |
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Lillie Imm |
Avery Lerch |
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Jishnu Raman |
Michelle Rose |
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Rory Thompson |
Ivy Williams |
Izzy Brand |
Evelyn Scully Bindman |
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Alexis Cox |
Lauren Harris |
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Sage Kuphal |
Rachel Luchsinger |
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Ryan Mitchell |
Milena Moraru |
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Brynlee Opland |
Maya Remer |
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Noah Remer |
Marah Roloff |
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Isaac Soerens |
Leila Stitzel |
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Charlotte Stone |
Vishnu and Vikram Sulibhavi |
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Amelia Urtel |
Piano Cycle, St. Paul, MN
PAC Presentation Arts Center, St, Louis, MO
FL: Hannah Flook; GA: Corina Brito; IL: Gregory Comonal; IN: Carol Phipps; MN: Anna Jeanne Flesner (returning), Brian Van Stavern, Michael Wolter; OR: Suzanne Hryniw, Stephan Nance; UT: Alissa Dorman; VA: Paul Jung; WA: Jessica A. Kelly, Barbara Oakley.