It was not a very long trip interms of distance from Surabaya, but the roads to Probolinggo were not very forgiving coz they were really narrow at certain places. The situation was further aggravated by it being Saturday night that we had to travel. There many vehicles on the road with families going on road trips to Surabaya. But we finally arrived in Probolinggo and this is quite a quaint town with a very laid-back pace. Today is Sunday and we are going to have our Music Fiesta and MPA in a "bioskop" which is actually a movie theatre.
We started our event with the MPA students performance first. After the performances, we conducted an activity which is a first considering we were using the Rhythm Gamecards for the first time with these children in Indonesia. We chose to use the note-value cards to do a bit of composition with the children.
After they finished their compositions, there was the phototaking session and as you can see from these pics, every child received a follow up book for their continued piano lessons.
Next item on the programme was the performances from the Music Fiesta participants of which we had two groups of children to perform. The following pic shows Wilson with the first group
FUN-tastic might be the right word to describe the Music Celebration event that was held on November 16th, 2008 in Probolinggo. I never thought that this event would bring so much fun! There were many positive quotes from the students and their parents.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mrs. Yuniati offered me this program last September, I had some doubt because we never had an event with such a concept like this before. Previously, our students in Probolinggo didn’t have enough courage and motivation to perform. If Cendana Music held an event, only a few students would participate. So, we encourage them by awarding trophies to the students who participated in the event, whether it was a concert or competition. If we held a concert, there will be a standard trophy for everyone. If we held a competition, there will be different trophies for the winners and those who did not. This situation happened for years. It did encourage more students to join and collect trophies just for their pride. That’s why, I was afraid that the concept of Music Celebration without any trophy would not succeed.
However, Ms. Yuniati and Michael Kay who came to Probolinggo on Sept 21st, 2008 kept encouraging me. They convinced me that it is time we educate the students and parents to appreciate music in a different way. Students should have a chance to perform, not only for a trophy, but to demonstrate their skills and have fun. Playing music should be without any pressure, like those in a competition or examination. To perform music is to appreciate what students have learned and to put more effort to develop their performance level.
As a teacher, I definitely agree with this concept. In spite of my worries, we (my husband and I) were committed to do our best for this project. So, we started to prepare everything by booking the venue, selecting the repertoire for our students and made the promotional brochures. The most difficult job was convincing the parents to join their children in this event. Everything was set except participation was low! We should have had a cut off date to close the registration but it was difficult to get the parents to decide whether they wanted to join in or not. So, we kept persuading them to join us in the event. My other worry was to have the certificates and book gifts ready because without a confirm list of participants, it was impossible to prepare them. Anyway, I thanked God when I finally got quite a lot of students to participate in the event. A total of 45 students: 21 students for MPA and 24 students for the Music Fiesta signed up.
On the day of the event, everything went well. There were three sessions for Music Fiesta and MPA held during the day. In the evening, after one and a half hours break, we held an Evening Recital. All the students of the Music Fiesta segment really enjoyed the session. There was no tension, they were not nervous and felt comfortable, as they did not have to compete with each other. Some of them even got a second chance to perform when they did not perform well during the first time. The comments from Wilson really encouraged them to perform better if they made ‘mistakes’. They also can learn from listening and observing others perform.
After a certain student’s performance, suddenly Wilson asked the audience: “What do you think about this student? What’s still wrong?” And the students in the front row said, “It’s the sitting position!” “Why” Wilson asked. “It’s too near to the piano!” said the students altogether. Well, they have learned something. Now, they can see what is correct to do. Hopefully, they can learn from this experience to perform well!
“I’m glad there was such an event like this. My daughter Elizabeth is a shy girl. She used to have a lack of confidence to perform on the stage. But that day, she was very relaxed, because that was not a competition nor examination. It made her play her best performance. Even Wilson gave a positive comment on her. I’m really proud of her,” said Mrs. Maria – Elizabeth’s mother.
ReplyDelete“This event is FUN. We can have comments directly after we play and we’re given a chance to play again in better way. We should have another event like this again,” said Stella – one of the participants.
ReplyDelete“This event is better than any event I ever knew. From this event, we – as parents – learn what is right and what is wrong. We can learn how to perform in a better way. So, I can remind my children if they practice in a wrong way,” said Mrs. Yuyun – Ivan & Giovinna’s mother.
ReplyDelete“I never thought that the sitting position could affect a performance. Now, I can remind my daughters at home to have a proper sitting posture.” said Mrs. Leony – Devina & Maria’s mother.
ReplyDelete“Hey, if we often have an event like this, we can learn to be a judge for piano competitions, haha… Look, I can guess what Wilson will say about this kid. I think it’s the hand position and finger strength…” said Mrs. Ratna – Rizka’s mother to other students’ parents who sit around her.
ReplyDeleteMusic Performance and Appreciation (MPA) is participated mostly by very young students. Most of them are still at Kindergarten level and they just started piano lessons for two months. Can you imagine how cute they are in the piano? J I am really thankful for their parents who really supported their kids to join this event. Many cheers, many tears, many laughs, many smiles when dealing with 4-year-old students. However, they performed well. They went on stage with confidence and played their best. Sometimes, we laughed when they try to ‘climb’ on to the big piano bench. They smiled and grinned if they made mistakes. It was a very nice experience and FUN for them!
ReplyDeleteThe music activity was conducted to create simple music using simple notes. Unfortunately, the participants were too young. Also, they had difficulty in following Michael’s instructions because of language problems. I tried to translate the words from English to Indonesia, but most of the kids could not follow the activity. So, we had to guide them individually. Although the whole process was not going the way it should, at the end of the game Michael managed to get 4 bars of music from 4 students. He then combined them to make a simple song. Through this activity, parents realized that making music was fun and not too difficult if we know how to do it.
“I never thought Jevelyn can perform on the piano today. She just learned piano for 2 months. I still couldn’t believe to see and hear her perform today!” said Mrs. Jenny – Jevelyn’s mother.
ReplyDelete“This event encouraged me to accompany my son to practice the piano everyday. I’m proud to see him perform with confidence today,” said Mr. Sigit – Timothy’s father.
ReplyDelete“Her first experience at perform piano publicly went well. May Jennifer become more diligent in practicing the piano everyday, and may she find more courage to perform at other music events. Honestly, I was afraid she will cry and would not want to perform on stage. In the end, she performed well…” said Mrs. Vonny – Jennifer’s mother.
ReplyDeleteThe Evening Recital was marvelous! There was a lot of appreciation and applause from the audience. Everything went so naturally. The audience enjoyed the performances. Even though the Mayor of Probolinggo could not attend, he was represented by Probolinggo’s Governmental Secretary, Mr. Jhony Hariyanto. He gave a very nice speech at the opening. The students’ performance were also well received.
ReplyDelete“It was a very highly skilled performance from Wilson, Yudy, and Michael. I wish my children can be like that someday…” said Mr. Arief – Firsa & Dzaki’s father.
ReplyDelete“I can’t believe it! How can they collaborate nicely from just a brief discussion before playing. Ehm… that’s what is called improvisation, right?” said Mrs. Yenli – Felicia’s mother.
ReplyDelete“Good! I really enjoyed the performance. We should have concerts like this more often!” said Yanuar, an audience
ReplyDelete“Great! The guest star and the students played very nice. I’m also proud my son can perform on the drums tonight. If there is another event like this, I will support!” said Mrs. Ninik, Hanif’s mother.
ReplyDelete“Participating in such a grand concert like this is an honor for me. Thanks for giving me a chance to perform tonight,” said Rizky, a solo keyboardist.
ReplyDeleteGood response from parents made the students want to learn more. Fortunately, Rhythm MP provided more opportunities during the Masterclass with Wilson the day after. There were nine students who signed up for the masterclass. Most of them felt satisfied and thankful with the comments and suggestions.
ReplyDelete“Mr. Wilson have helped me to find Qury’s problem. She often raises her shoulder when playing the piano. Also her right hand can’t be relaxed. I always remind her not to do that, but unconsciously she was always back to those bad habits. Now I know that those habits were caused simply by the wrong sitting position. After Mr. Wilson adjusted the bench, naturally she plays better,” said Dr. Adi, who always chaperons Qury.
ReplyDelete“I learned a lot today. Now I know how the correct position is for playing piano. Now I can observe my children at home and remind them if they make mistakes like sitting in the wrong position,” said Mrs. May, Seline & Laurensia’s mother.
ReplyDelete“Wilson is right about singing the tune of a song while playing it. My daughters never did that. That’s why I sometimes find that they have difficulty finding ‘the soul’ of a song. From now on, I will remind them to sing,” said Mrs. Leony, Devina & Maria’s mother
ReplyDelete“Great! Cool! Wilson opened my mind to new things I have never known. This if fun!” said Yanuar, jazz piano student.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great program. As the small city and Cendana Musik Probolinggo as one which follow this program of another big city, we felt so grateful :) and proud.
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