We hope you are all staying healthy and finding your way in navigating the “new normal”.
Piano teachers play a vital role in our students’ and families’ lives. You are a stabilizing factor, and now share a very special opportunity to soothe the anxiety in many homes.
Music soothes the soul: How music is bringing people together and spreading hope
Excerpt from above: …Professional musicians and singers to aspiring artists and average folks have begun posting their performances on social media. Why? How does music bring people together, even during the coronavirus?
On Wednesday, the NAMM sponsored webinar “Bridging the Gap: Teaching and Learning Music online” was excellent. Though mostly geared to group teaching, much of it very applicable to traditional piano lessons.
There were 8,000 signups for this live webinar – but bandwidth for only 5,000 people. Therefore NAMM provided all registrants the replay link https://youtu.be/CSUaMeIyCVc. It has been edited to allow for pause, rewind and sharing.
A few notes from the webinar:
Free Student Resources from Piano Technicians Guild: (This is a fantastic resource) https://www.ptg.org/piano/students
BSO at Home – Home School beginning week of March 23rd: Video tutorials with BSO musicians – https://www.bso.org/brands/bso/at-home/bso-at-home-homeschool.aspx
Films about Classical Music and Musicians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_classical_music_and_musicians
Quarantine Soirees – Classical music and Opera to stream at home – https://www.br-klassik.de/concert/ausstrahlung-1225990.html (NAMM 3/18)
Piano Music from Sheet Music Direct from Hal Leonard: https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/subscription
Short Term Stay at Home Rental, M.Steinert & Sons: http://staging-msteinertcom.kinsta.cloud/musicu/
Video tutorial and Instructions on setting up Skype for Home Teaching, M.Steinert & Sons: http://staging-msteinertcom.kinsta.cloud/teachers-and-learning/remote-lesson/
Getting creative is one of our strengths as musicians. Perhaps we can all use this time of challenge to inspire new ideas and inspire people of all ages to experience the joy of the piano. Although our stores are open by appointment only at this time, we are available online to serve you at any time!
Sincerely,
The Entire Team at M. Steinert & Sons
Ms. Ranko Konishi-Houston of Cambridge is Elected to Steinway Piano Teacher Hall of Fame
Boston, MA (December 3, 2019): Ranko Konishi-Houston, a Cambridge piano teacher, has been inducted into the national Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame, a prestigious designation recognizing the work of North America’s most committed and passionate piano educators. Ms. Konishi-Houston was nominated for the honor by M. Steinert & Sons, the nation’s oldest music retailer and the region’s only authorized representative for Steinway pianos.
Ranko Konishi-Houston is the owner of RKH Piano Studio and is the immediate past-president of the New England Piano Teachers’ Association (NEPTA). She is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, where she earned both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in piano performance. Ms. Konishi-Houston is an active member of various music organizations in the Greater Boston area including the Massachusetts Music Teachers Association (MMTA). She is a recipient of Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Awards in 2017 and 2018, and is a Steinway Teacher and Educational Partner.
Forty-three teachers from the United States and Canada were inducted into the Steinway Teachers Hall of Fame with special events hosted at the historic Steinway factory in New York City. The teachers’ names are now displayed on a commemorative display wall inside the iconic factory.
“M. Steinert & Son is proud to work with some of the finest piano teachers in the world,” said Brendan Murphy, Vice President and director of Institutional Sales at M. Steinert & Sons, whose family has owned the company for four generations. “We are so pleased that Ranko Konishi-Houston has been recognized for her important contributions to music education.”
About M. Steinert & Sons
Founded in 1860 by Morris Steinert, a German immigrant, M. Steinert & Sons is the country’s oldest continuously operating music retailer, and the exclusive regional dealer for world-renowned Steinway & Sons pianos, Boston pianos, Essex pianos, and Roland digital electronic pianos. The company has showrooms in Boston and Natick, MA.
A group of eager young sleuths gathered at M. Steinert & Sons’ Boston showroom in November to help solve a musical mystery while learning about the inner workings of a Steinway grand piano. The adventure combined learning and fun for all.
Steinway & Sons occasionally invites artists into their Astoria, NY factory to play for the 350-plus craftspeople who work on building the world’s best pianos. Recently, the company hosted The 5 Browns – Ryan, Melody, Gregory, Deondra and Desirae, who played their unique 5 piano version of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by French composer Paul Dukas.
The Browns all attended New York’s Juilliard School. In fact, they became the first family of five siblings ever accepted simultaneously. The 5 Browns tour extensively and have performed in numerous venues including the Grand National Theater in China, Suntory Hall in Japan and, in the United States, The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Symphony Hall in Chicago and Alice Tully Hall in New York City.
M. Steinert & Sons, in cooperation with Steinway & Sons, is pleased to announce the donation of a new Steinway designed Boston grand piano to the Allegro Music School in Natick, MA, for use during the 2015-2016 teaching season.
Doina Simovici, founder and director of the Allegro Music School, said she and her students are “very excited” about their new instrument and (she is) “enjoying the piano with my heart and soul!”
The Allegro Music School offers Private and Group lesson for instrumental instruction in piano, violin, cello, harp, guitar and voice, and embodies the spirit of promoting “music for life.” The school was founded by Doina Simovici, who holds a M.A. degree in piano performance from the George Enescu Conservatory of Music in Romania, and has performed with various orchestras in Romania, and taught for Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Walnut Hill School and Brookline Music School.
“Doina and the Allegro Music School have been partners with M. Steinert’s for many years,” says M. Steinert & Sons’ Vivian Handis. “Her love for her students, passion and tireless dedication to Allegro is truly extraordinary.”
“Doina and I met two weeks after I started working at M. Steinert’s. We were both piano teachers embarking on new musical paths: Doina was launching Allegro Music School, and I was beginning a new career at M. Steinert’s. We were simpatico from the start. Our piano partnership and friendship is now in its 14th year! I like to say that we are keeping our cherished piano tradition alive from both sides of the piano bench,” said Vivian Handis.
A recent article in the Boston Globe details the new owner’s plans for the building’s renovation. Click here to read the full article.
At M. Steinert & Sons in The Natick Mall on Sunday, April 12 we saw an extremely well-attended day with pianist and educator Doug Johnson. An early afternoon workshop with Doug was followed by a riveting concert later in the day.
Using the interface of various somatic (mind-body) studies, body-mapping, Alexander Technique, piano study with extraordinary teacher Burton Hatheway and teaching; Doug has developed an approach to the piano that fully integrates movement and music. When one moves well playing the piano can become a health giving activity.
About Doug Johnson
Doug Johnson is a pianist and an educator and is Associate Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Doug has performed or recorded with Esperanza Spalding, Luciana Souza, Phil Woods, Terry Lynne Carrington, Jerry Bergonzi, Hal Crook, Ingrid Jensen, Jason Palmer, Marty Erlich, the Jazz Composer’s Alliance, and Grace Kelly. Doug has performed in London (Ronnie Scotts), Paris, Berlin (A-Train), Vienna (Jazzland, Porgy and Bess, Joe Zawinul’s Birdland), Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Warsaw, Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Los Angeles and New York (Dizzys Club Coca Cola, Jazz Standard, Birdland); also Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival.
As an educator Doug has done workshops and masterclasses at the University of Vienna, the Vienna Music Institute, the Krakow Jazz Academy, the Freiburg Rock and Jazz Hochschule, American Scociety of Alexander Technique Teachers, (AmSAT) National Convention, the Performing Arts Medicine Association National Conference (PAMA) and Wellesley College and Boston University.
Doug is a Licensed Andover Educator (Body Mapping Certification) and a founding member of the Berklee Performance Wellness Institute. He earned his Masters degree in Music from the New England Conservatory.
On Saturday March 28, the M. Steinert & Sons Natick Performance Center welcomed the SMS Jazz Project.
Specializing in the sounds of cocktail hour jazz, the SMS Jazz Project presented a classy blend of standards and hard bop jazz. Performing works by Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, John Coltrane and more.
Click either of the links below to visit the band’s official Youtube channel and see video from the concert.
SMS Jazz Project- Summertime
The SMS Jazz Project is:
Stan Schertzer, piano
Gerry Rollack, bass
Adam Schertzer, woodwinds
Dave Penn, drums
On Sunday, March 15 in our Boston recital hall, Steinway Artist Victor Rosenbaum returned to Boston’s historic Steinert Hall to treat a riveted audience (including many very young pianists) to a marvelous afternoon of teaching and inspiring!
Mr. Rosenbaum’s master class was extremely well-attended. Featured students were Kathleen He, 9 (Alla Troyanovsky, teacher), Arman Koul, 17 (Linda Shen, teacher) and Michelle Chen, 16 (Nilly Shilo, teacher) and all who were in attendance were inspired by Mr. Rosenbaum’s superb and insightful teaching.
On Saturday, March 14, guests at the M. Steinert & Sons showroom in Boston were treated to a unique two piano concert of classical music performed by Winchester Community Music School.
