Featured Student!
Congratulations to Izaak for having a great lesson this week! Keep up the great work!
Studio Forza Featured Students of the Week
Congratulations to brothers Elijah and Gabriel for being our featured students of the week! We are so proud of their progress and excited to share their playing with our community. Way to go boys!
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
We can't get enough of this incredible quartet! With the talents of Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, and Stuart Duncan on strings, this music is truly a testament to the incredible things that classically trained musicians can do while having fun!
Check it out and let us know what YOU think!
Turkey Timing
The most awesome of food holidays is nearly upon us, but how does one handle all of that cooking work? Allrecipes.com totally hit the jackpot with this e-mail blast! We are totally inspired by this easy to follow chart about how to be the hostess with the mostest this Thanksgiving!
Out of the Concert Hall...Into the World
This week, we are incredibly excited to share a bit about an amazing organization that has inspired us for a long time: Chamber Music Compania.
"Chamber Music Campania is a cross-disciplinary summer music festival in southern Italy. We invite a select group of fellows (emerging professionals and exceptional students) to participate in a three-week exploration of music-making in the twenty-first century."
Our very own Mike Walker participated in this incredible musical adventure last year. To top it off, Katie Dukes-Walker, Studio Forza co-founder, was recently selected as a new member of the board of directors for the program!
Be sure to check out more about this amazing program here:
Local Talent!
It's no secret that we love Bon Iver. It also shouldn't be a secret that we love local talent. It comes as no surprise then that this incredible video made us super excited and happy.
Well done, Evan.
We are even playing this during our Clef and Canvas class tonight!
Evan Chapman cover of Bon Iver's "Holoscene"
One of Our Own!
MIke Walker, the artistic director of Studio Forza has been hard at work on a new classical horn piece. Composed by Tonia Ko, Glass Echoes is vibrant, visual, and incredibly dynamic.
Don't just take our word for it though. Check it out!
Music is Ageless
New and Improved!
Here at Studio Forza, we are all about helping others unleash the power of their creativity. Where, however, do we draw the inspiration to unleash our own?
The answer...EVERYWHERE! We are constantly looking, learning, and eagerly awaiting the next bit of incredible creativity we witness as a means of funneling that inspiration back to our students.
With that in mind, we intend to use this blog space - aptly named Inspiration Zone - to directly share some of the amazing things that really get us excited about music and art. Be sure to check back regularly, as new posts will pop up all the time.
Congrats on a Wonderful Holiday Recital
Congratulations to all of our fantastic students! Our first annual Studio Forza Holiday Recital was a great success.It is so inspiring to see our students take the stage by storm. It was the best holiday gift anyone could ask for. Make sure to attend our next recital this Spring!
Congratulations Lane!
Congratulations to our student Lane, who just performed his first recital! We are so proud of his improvement and constantly inspired by his love of music. Here is a quote from his parents Piper and Harry Cohen and a short video of Lane playing guitar:
"Music has opened up a whole new world for Lane. We are so amazed at how quickly he has caught on to everything that Mike and Katie have taught him. He can't get enough. He practices at least 3 hours a day on both his guitar and piano. When he is not practicing, he is looking up new music and downloading chord sheets from his computer or researching concerts on his Ipad and studying how other Artists perform their songs. We are so very thankful that Katie was a substitute for Lane last school year! It has been such a huge blessing for him and us!!"
Inspiration and Collaboration
This inspiration zone is designed to promote excitement and self motivated learning to our students as well as fellow community members. This blog-style resource is available to everyone interested in learning more about music and the arts. Many conversations, stories, inspirational links, video clips and tips of the trade will be shared on this page. Feel free to contribute and ask questions as we dive into this artistic adventure together!
Ted Talks and Articles Worth Sharing
Hopefully by now, many of you are familiar with the world of TED Talks. If not, here is the deal! TED Talks are "Ideas Worth Spreading." Ideas are shared by enthusiastic professionals that range from the arts to the medical world. My husband and I often find them incredibly inspirational and love to begin our morning routine by watching a TED that intrigues us. This not only allows us to be aware of the amazing things people are contributing to the world, but gives us constant motivation to make the world a better place through our art. Below are some TED talks that particularly inspire me. I hope you enjoy! Feel free to add more to the list!
Benjamine Zander: Music and Passion
Jeff Nelsen: Fearless Performance
Neil Pasricha: The three A's of Awesome!
Robert Gupta: Music is Medicine, Music is Sanity
Evelyn Glennie: How to truly listen
Candy Chang: Before I die I want to...
Singing: The Key To a Long Life: NPR by Brian Eno
Early Music Lessons Have Longtime Benefits by Perri Klass M.D.
Will Smith Shares his secrets of success