Category: Music

We are excited to share that saxophone student, Brayden Wang, received third place at the 2020 Metropolitan Music Festival, the Solo Brass/Woodwinds category.

“Brayden has flourished into a very confident and charismatic performer with a wonderful lyrical tone,” said Academy Instructor Ariel Williams, Brayden’s private lessons teacher. “His musical interpretations are compelling and show how hard he has worked to develop his craft as a performer.”

The competition attracts hundreds of young musicians around the world annually. Brayden said he had a rewarding experience performing and receiving feedback from nationally and internationally known artists.

“It was not as stressful as performing in front of the audience,” said Brayden. “It’s different from performing in-person. Because I was recording in my home, I felt less nervous.”

A young musician who actively participates in district band auditions and solo and ensemble competitions, Brayden said that these performing opportunities allow him to reflect on his progress and weaknesses and provide him a direction of what to improve upon for future performances.

Ms. Williams praised Brayden’s passion and commitment to playing the saxophone. “Coaching a student through a competition experience is challenging at the best of times. Competitions require a high level of focus and preparation and the ability to execute a great performance under intense pressure. Brayden’s competition placement was well-deserved and served as a great motivator for his studies this year.”

Earning a competition placement was not an easy task, and Brayden contributed his success to Ms. Williams’ coaching and two months of consistent practices.

Ms. Williams commented that preparing competitions during COVID added extra difficulties on the students, and they are overcoming obstacles in distance-learning with a positive attitude. “I have been amazed with the resilience and perseverance of my students during this time of virtual lessons,” said Ms. Williams. “They have shown a dedication to their craft even through the adversity we have all faced this year.”

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PRIVATE MUSIC LESSONS HERE.

Academy piano student, Anna Fulmer, received the Virginia State Top Performer Certificate Award and performed in the “Celebrations of Excellence” online ceremony in November.

Hosted by the Royal Conservatory of Music, the examination assesses students’ music study through several testing components such as performance, sight-reading, aural skills, and technical tests. Students progress through levels of difficulty from Preparatory A to Level 10. Fulmer surpassed Level 2 requirements.

“Fulmer is always a confident performer!” said Teaching Artist Faith Zúñiga, who started teaching Fulmer private lessons in 2015. “I’m always impressed with how well she plays modern classical music, even when it has very unusual harmonies and rhythms, in such a convincing manner.”

Fulmer first joined the Academy in our Piano Beginnings class then transitioned to private lessons with Ms. Zúñiga. In addition to her weekly lesson, Fulmer actively participates in the Academy’s other programming, including Piano Adventures, Piano Academy, and the Vivacé Music Enrichment Program.

“Ms. Zúñiga has been so great to me during quarantine and has really helped me develop a deeper love of playing the piano,” shared Fulmer. “It’s been important for me to practice a lot every day. By doing this, I’ve improved so much over the past year, and this award is the result.”

Fulmer has performed in the Academy’s music recitals and concerts around the Northern Virginia area. Last fall, Fulmer was selected to perform at Carnegie Hall along with four Academy piano students and dozens of young performers from Costa Rica.

“I remember she volunteered to play at her first-ever studio class when she was little,” said Ms. Zúñiga. “Fulmer has a wonderful ear for music and excels in the ear training portions of her exam preparation. She surprised me this semester with her composition, which she performed for the studio class and me. She’s quite a good composer already!”

Despite all the challenges due to the pandemic, Fulmer is determined to complete several Royal Conservatory of Music exams in the coming year. The family is thankful that Fulmer can continue her music lessons with the scholarship support from the Play It Forward fundraising campaign.

“The scholarship has helped us keep Anna in a world-class music education program despite the economic downturn. It’s truly been a blessing for us!” Landon Fulmer, Anna’s father, said the Play It Forward scholarship helped provide a sense of normalcy for Anna after the lockdown and social distancing rules.

“Music lessons are so important for kids during these troubled times,” Ms. Zúñiga added. “The focus and effort required for music lessons help students to concentrate on something other than the global pandemic. Music exams, festivals, and recitals give students goals and a sense of achievement and progress to combat the feeling of time standing still while everyone is locked in at home.”

Since its launch in May, the Play It Forward campaign has helped many students continue their music studies. On December 8, 2020, the Academy will launch a fundraising challenge to raise $5,000 to support families who need tuition assistance for music, acting or visual art classes in 2021. Please consider donating to help more students like Anna continue their arts journey! To donate, visit Play It Forward Campaign Homepage

We hope our students find these tips to be helpful for their recital preparation. For more details on preferred audio settings, device setup, and recital etiquette, check out the Student Recital Checklist for more information.

Our Winter Recitals are less than a month away! We look forward to celebrating the incredible progress our students have made through their live-streamed performances. Because this is a new experience for many of our students, our talented faculty, who have performed live on camera, will share some tips to help our students prepare for their first-ever live-streamed recital.

Tip #1 Try not to stand too close to the camera
Make sure to place your device in landscape orientation and leave enough space between you and the camera. This could alleviate stage fright and allow audience members to see you and your instrument. “You’ll need a little more space than you do for virtual lessons,” said Ms. Amy Lenk, flute teaching artist. “Also, don’t be afraid to smile and project confidence.”

Tip #2 Check your internet connection and audio settings in advance
A stable internet connection and correct audio settings are key for best performance quality. Violin Teaching Artist Hyunji Lee encouraged all students to adjust their audio settings to performance mode and eliminate all possible internet bandwidth usage during their performance.

Tip #3 Rehearse. Rehearse. Rehearse.
Getting familiar with your recital environment ahead of time helps boost your confidence, and it helps to troubleshoot all possible unexpected issues. “Practice full run-throughs of your piece in tempo with your accompaniment,” said Mr. Chris Troiano, Academy Trombone Instructor. “You may get nervous when being live-streamed, so you want to be as comfortable with your piece as possible beforehand.”

Tip #4 Share your musicality with your audience
A recital performance is not only about having the right notes or pitches but also about sharing your musicality. “Try to focus on what you feel the music is communicating rather than on your own performance,” Guitar Teaching Artist Suzanne Dorman added. “Music is meant to be shared, and sharing your music with an audience takes practice. So take every performance as an opportunity to grow and learn!”

Tip #5 Connect with the audience members
It’s much harder to see the audience’s reaction through a camera than in-person recitals. To better connect with the audience members, Vocal Teaching Artist Ashlyn Rock suggested all vocalists look a little bit above the camera and use it as their focal point. Ms. Rock also added that “if you need to feel more in ‘performance mode’, pretend you are on a stage somewhere and not in your living room. If technical issues happen, keep going. We all understand that technology can fail us sometimes.”

Tip #6 Enjoy yourself!
Even though the recitals are online this year, you still want to present your best performance. Practice recital etiquette: dress well, say your name, and announce the music piece you will be performing, and take a bow at the end. “Recitals are a space for students to share the beautiful music they’ve worked so hard to learn,” said Ms. Radina Dosseva, Academy Piano Teaching Artist. “So play with confidence and enjoy yourself!”