The Hunters

The annual music recital  by Torrance Music was held at Memorial Baptist Church last June 1st.  It's Ms. Burrito's  second year with them.  The music  she played is the  piece that she won first prize with  during the 6th Annual KIngsley S. Ard memorial  talent show on March 28 at Milton J. Weinberg Theater, Weir High Campus.

We are torn whether to leave or continue  taking piano lessons  at Torrance because  her teacher there is  such a nice lady and she is very good  with Ms. Burrito.  She will be starting   the music program at Doquesne University  this September so I don't know what we are going to do.

Anyway, here are some of the photos we took during the event.

I wasn't able to capture good pictures during  her performance.  I totally regret that I did not bring my 200mm lens for the camera.  I thought that we would be able to  have a seat close to the front  since we went there early but no, the seats were already filled when we arrived, sigh.

Our little Mister said that he is ready to take  guitar lesson since  he saw many guitar  performances.  EJ can play piano too but it is not his thing.

Our great friends in the neighborhood came to watch the  recital as well.  Here with the Howells' ladies, Angie, Sarah, and LIzzy.  Thanks for coming guys!

Lolo Don Fancher also came  but Lola Ruth did not make it.

It was a really nice  recital I must say.  The little Miss did really well.  I am glad that her nerves  did not overcome her ability to perform her piece as she was really nervous while waiting for the show to start.  Below is the video that my husband took using his iPhone.  

Thank you for watching and for leaving your thoughts!

Audition to Mary Pappert School of Music at Doquesne University

When our daughter was in second grade, the music teacher at school saw rare musical skills with Ms. Burrito. She talked to me one time at school that our daughter has an exceptional talent in music and that we should consider putting her in a bigger school like Carnegie Mellon. She also asked me if she could spend some time with our daughter during her free time in school so she could teach Ms. Burrito some technique in playing the piano. According to her, Ms. Burrito is developing some wrong habit in playing piano like playing some keys using the wrong fingers or something like that.  She talked to my husband and encouraged us to  really consider in enrolling Rylie in a bigger school.  She gave us some contacts and she also  consulted the priest  at our church.  Fr. Manny then suggested for Ms. Burrito to try at Doquesne.

We set her an appointment on February 22nd so she could audition to their music program.

Doquesne University is huge and Mary Pappert School of Music is just one of the many buildings inside the campus.  

Natasha Snitkovsky is the Artistic Director and Chair of the Piano Department at City Music Center of Duquesne University. She is also Director of Duquesne Young Artist National Competition.  She was the one who tested Ms. Burrito's musical ability.  She let her play   some piece that the little Miss did not play yet with her current teacher in Weirton.  She also let her sit backward, not facing the piano so she could ask Ms. B what keys she is typing.  

She asked us how long Ms. B has been taking piano lessons and we told her that she started in January of 2013.  She said that given the short period of time, she is already at a level three skill which  she think is  excellent.  She kind of scolded us why we started  her  so late in piano.  She said that we could have send her to school when she is just 3 years old.  We never really thought about engaging our kids to those kind of stuff  before because my husband was still in the service and being overseas is not easy.

Shadow Shots

But anyway, Ms. Snitkovsky will take her under her mentorship.  The Director of Music Admissions, Troy Centofanto,  who assisted us during our visit  was impressed that Ms. Snitkovsky took  our daughter under her wing because he said that there are other students who are on her waiting list.

Ms. Burrito have participated in three different  classes that day just so she could experience what is it like and how their music program goes.  She likes the singing part.

The tuition is a lot higher than what we are paying with her current teacher at  Torrance Music but I think that it will open a bigger opportunity for our daughter at Doquesne University.  I don't really want to leave her current teacher because she ios such a  great teacher for Ms. Burrito.  We are thinking not to pull her  out from her  even though she will go to Doquesne this fall but am nit sure yet.  We will see.

Before we left the campus, we had a great time exploring the university.  We even stood at their Frank and Florence Sklar Skywalk and took some photos of the bottom view.

As you can see in the map, it is a huge university.

We will be registering her soon.

Doodle4Google

The teacher who handles the classes for the Gifted program at my children's school gave us the information about the Doodle4Google contest that is being held every year. This is my daughter's first year in the Gifted program so she jumped on the opportunity to enter the said contest.  This year's theme is  "If I Could Invent One Thing to Make the World a Better Place..."

One talented young artist (grades K-12) will see her/his  artwork on the Google homepage and receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 Google for Education technology grant for his or her school.

My daughter was very excited  upon reading the prize for  the school. She does not even care about  the individual prize but  she wants to win it for the school.  It makes me proud of our little girl because she wants to help her school.  

Her entry was about creating a cure for cancer. Below is her essay.

The world would be a much better place  if we could stop cancer from taking so many lives each year.  Technology has made it easier to detect  and treat but  we still have a long way to go.  One life lost is one too many.

Her entry was inspired of the fact that my husband's family have lost lives of love ones  from cancer-related  diseases.  She's sad that she did not get to meet her grandmother (my husband's Mom and her Uncle, my husband's brother).  

I told her  when we sent her  entry that even if she  gets to be included in the 250  that the judges will be selected, it is already a good thing.  But when Google called us and informed us that she is the State of West Virginia Winner, we were  delighted.  She is one of the 50 finalists now that will compete to  hopefully be included in the top 5 finalists.

Please help my daughter realize her dream  of helping her school  by hopefully winning this contest.  It is a shot in the dark but  with your help,  it is possible.  The 50 designs will be  displayed at Google's website  for the public to cast their votes.  The above design is my daughter's entry,  she is representing the State of West Virginia.

THANK YOU all so much for casting your votes!

Header Transformation

When I first started this blog, I posted this crafty guitar that my daughter made out of craft foam as my header.  I thought it is fitting that this is about music and arts.

Then a friend of mine, tweaked it that looked like below.

Then she decided to make it look more fancy and found this design.

She is also willing to walk me step by step on how to do the background that matches the header but I have never got around  to it.  Thank you so much sis Mai of  Redlane Geraine for sharing your artistic skill and talent with me.

Kinsley S. Ard Memorial Talent Show

Last Friday, March 28, 2014, the 6th Annual Kinsley S. Ard Memorial Talent show was held at Milton J. Weinberg Theater, Weirton High, Weirton, WV. Our daughter's piano teacher encouraged our daughter to join the said talent show. Our daughter has never joined any talent show, since she only started taking lessons in January 2013. We gave it a try and sent her application. There was a sign up fee of $15 for every participant.  Prior to the competition, we told our daughter that it  is okay if she don't win, the most important part is  she will get to experience it.

This event was  spearheaded by the Parent Group of the Weir Middle School  in honor of a late student, Kinsley Savannah Ard who died years ago.  

Our daughter was anxious going to this talent show because she did not have any experience but we told her to just enjoy it.  I must admit that I was more  nervous than her lol.  There were three judges and there were three categories Elementary (K-4), Middle School (5-8), and High School (9-12).  Daughter was on the first category.  

She competed  against 10 other acts in Elementary  category. Four of them  played piano, some sung songs, and other danced.  Two winners were piano players and one was a broadway singer.  No dance acts won.  

There  was an entrance fee of $5 for adults and $3 for kids.  There were also raffle prizes during the duration of the show.  They sold tickets  inside the  theatre.  The proceeds  of this event goes to the Weir Middle School.  I am glad that my daughter  have participated  and  became a big part of this good cause.  I think that the event was a huge success, lots of people came to watch which  means that  lots of fund was collected.  

They gave out $675 worth of cash prize to the  winners:

• 1st  place's prize is $100
•  2nd Place's Prize is $75
•  3rd place  received $50 each.

When the head judge   explained the mechanics, she said that the  crowd  will serve as the  4th judge.  Hubby and I looked at each other and said "Well, her chance of winning is very slim because  we  don't know anyone in there" lol.  Our daughter was the underdog so when they announced that she won the first prize, we were actually shocked.

Each contestant  was judged according to  quality of performance, presentation, length of act (2 minutes) and over all impression.  

I think what helped our daughter was the fact that she played without  music sheet and that she confidently played her piece.  When she played the crowd was very silent.  I wasn't sure if they were drawn to her  act or they just did not dig her performance.  But I guess, she captured the audience as she got applauded after her act.

It was nerve wracking when they  were announcing the winner.  When they call the 3rd and 2nd place winners, hubby and I thought that our daughter won't place at all so just imagine  what we felt when  the judge announced that she won the first place, I was like  yohoooo.  

So yeah, she was so thrilled.  This is her first experience and she finished  with victory.  Look how overjoyed  her face is lol.

Of course, the whole family has to share to her  victory so we took a  family picture with victorious smile, wink.  Sorry if my post may sound like too much bragging but I can't contain my happiness inside, I have to share it!  This win will help  boost her confidence to  the next level.

Here is her piece that I recorded.  I missed the first part because I had to switch my camera from  taking photo to video recording.    She was going to play Beethoven's Fur Elise but decided to play The Hunters as suggested by her Piano  teacher.  

I hope you enjoy watching.