Yamaha Music School of Boston Ends Year With a Bang
Lexington, MA (PRWEB) July 03, 2014 -- Yamaha Music School of Boston finished up the 2013-14 school year with a bang by hosting 7 concerts over two days on June 20 and 21st.
Nearly 600 students from 70 different Yamaha Music Education System (YMES) classes performed for families and friends at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA. Highlights included performances by beginning musicians from the Junior Music Course, the Young Musicians Course, advanced course students, and original compositions by Yamaha students.
This was the first time that Yamaha Music School held the school concert in the National Heritage Museum. The new format included smaller, shorter concerts in a more intimate hall, while still featuring every level of the YMES program.
Director Jim Keenan said, "Our school concerts have been a great success every year. But because the school has grown so much, we were looking to make some changes to our traditional concert format and setting. We wanted the audience to have the more up-close and personal experience afforded by a smaller venue. Making the change from 3 large concerts to 7 smaller ones was challenging, and it was important to continue to focus on preserving what was already great about the concerts. We were able to feature the full scope of the Yamaha program, including lyric singing, keyboard repertoire, music class ensembles, and original compositions. The new concert format worked to improve the audience and performer experience."
Teachers and parents were very enthusiastic about the location, hall, and new format. Parent Rawan Angele Khabbaz commented, "The cutting-edge curriculum is refreshing and innovative. Every year we are amazed and delighted to see how the student knowledge evolving and grows and exponentially. Stunning performances and staff... thank you for continuing to delight us with so much talent in one hour!"
Each concert featured a Junior Original Concert performance (JOC), or performance of an original composition, by Boston Yamaha students. Junior Advanced Course graduate and 11-year-old Joseph Kalarickal, from Acton, MA performed his composition for solo piano, "Baroque Meets Carnatic." Two graduates of the Junior Special Advanced Course also performed: 11-year-old Lexington, MA student Alex Zhang performed his piece for solo piano, "Shattered Memory," and 11-year-old Lily Hoyt performed her piece for piano, cello, and flute called, "Swan at Sunset." The final JOC performance was by 14-year-old and Young Musicians Course graduate Jennifer Murphy from Woburn, MA, performing her piece for piano and violin, "Camelot: La Vie du vwaa Aktuu."
Speaking about their experiences at the school after the concerts, parents Nima and Harish Guntakatta wrote, "We feel that Yamaha Music School is playing an important role in our child's growing years. She learns not just about music but also about creativity and imagination. The teachers at Yamaha are very kind and passionate about teaching music and we are very happy to see our child learning from her teacher. It is a beautiful melodies journey and happy to be a part of Yamaha family."
All of the instruments, including a Yamaha C7 grand piano and Yamaha Clavinova digital pianos, were supplied by the Boston-area Yamaha dealer, Rogers Piano, with support from Yamaha Artist Services in New York, NY.
Lily Symmonds, Yamaha Music School of Boston, http://ymsboston.com/, +1 (781) 274-7100, [email protected]
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