Golden Key Paino School’s November 2023 Newsletter

Dear Golden Key Piano School Community,

As we approach the end of the year, we come closer to the busiest season of the year. This upcoming month has several activities that we would love our community to participate in

1. Register Now for Annual Duet Rehearsal

With the approach of our annual duet recital, we have upcoming rehearsals as preparation.

The rehearsal will happen on 10th December 2023 in the morning and 13th December in the evening.

To register for the recital, please choose your rehearsal time below.

Here is the registration link.

2. Annual Duet Recital

We would love to welcome you to our annual duet recital.

The annual duet recital is set up for 17th December 2023.

As we are all preparing for the duet recital, by now you should have a duet partner and a piece assigned for you by your teacher.

It is a good idea for the parents to have the duet partner’s contact info and stay in touch for practicing and later for rehearsal.

Practicing duet is motivating for those students who need some motivation. It is much more fun to have a piano peer and practice with than to do it alone.

Thank you in advanced for your time coordinating the practices and making it work.

3. Calendar Reminder

Please note that the school will be closed from November 23rd to November 26th for thanksgiving break. For those classes fall on these dates, your lessons balance out as there were 5 weeks in October/November hence you don’t need makeup classes.

Here is the school calendar for reference in case you need it for future reference.

4. Piano for Sale; Proceeds Go Toward Elaine Scholarship

It is with great pleasure that we announce that one of our former students has decided to donate their piano as they go off to college.

As such, we would like to put it up for sale for $500 and the proceeds will go towards the Elaine Scholarship Foundation. If you are just starting with piano and would love an upright piano but are also worried about cost, this would be the perfect start and tradeoff for you.

They bought the piano used at DC Piano store in Berkeley for $2000. It is still in good condition.

Please find the pictures of the piano below. Email us back if you would like to purchase it/get connected to the family.

Kindly note that if you would love to purchase it, you would have to arrange for transport (from El Cerrito) and tuning.

Thank you so much Irene for your generosity and we wish Felix nothing but the best as he loves on to college!

5. Staff News

Teacher Susan

We would love to welcome Susan to our strong team of teachers.

Susan T. Mashiyama, PhD, is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, and is an active music teacher in the Bay Area. She studied the piano from a young age with James Lynch in Long Beach, CA and in college at Yale University with Japanese pianist Aki Shimazu. Susan holds a PhD in biology from UC Berkeley and is interested in both the science and emotions behind music.

She completed a Montessori education training program for elementary school aged students and has a certificate in Music Leadership from the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Association for which coursework included exploring what music means to us in terms of spirituality and being human.

Susan also currently serves as the music director of the Live Oak UU Fellowship in Alameda.

Once more, we warmly welcome Susan to to the Golden Key Piano School.