Golden Key Piano School’s December 2025 Newsletter

Dear Golden Key Piano School Community,

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Below you’ll find the most important updates and exciting opportunities for our community this month:

1. Annual Duet Rehearsal

If you haven’t already, register now for our annual duet recital. The annual duet recital is set up for 21st December 2025. We start at 10am and there will be three groups. You will be notified after the rehearsal which group you belong to.

Please choose from one of the rehearsals on Sunday 7th December 2025 in the morning and Tuesday 9th December in the evening. You can register for the rehearsal here. Please note that to attend the recital, you only need to pay once for the rehearsal. The rehearsal location will be at Golden Key Piano School.

Looking forward to seeing you on stage. Have fun practising! Don’t forget to invite your family and friends to the recital.

2. Book an Extra Duet Practice Session with Katrin

Katrin is offering seven 20-minute time slots for those students who had trouble finding time meeting each other for duet practise or need more practise with a teacher.

You can book an extra practise session with Teacher Katrin here.
Make sure to book with your duet partner and bring your music.

3. Only 5 Time Slots Left!

The flowing teachers have only one opening left on their schedules each. Take it for your child or share it with your friends before it’s gone!

Katrin Arefy available Monday at 6pm

As two of her beloved long term students are heading to college this year, Katrin is opening one slot for a new committed student to start his or her music journey. Katrin’s teaching style is focused on helping the student become an independent artist by giving them a deeper understanding of the music so the student can make their own artistic choices based on the vast of knowledge they gain in class. Her passion for learning and teaching music is contagious and keep her students love of music growing beyond the weekly lessons.

Dr. Hyunkyung Woo available Thursday 4pm

Teacher Hyunk’s teaching style combines her very high education and experience as a pianist with the patience and playfulness that only someone born as a teacher has. Specially recommended for advanced students teacher Hyunk is one of those rare great musician capable of working with any age and level and capable of taking her students to win competitions if they wish.

Jeff Li Saturday 12pm

A great pianist and a multi talented artist, Jeff’s sweet personality and passion for music makes it easy for all his students to improve their skills with much joy. Jeff only works with intermediate and advanced students of ages 8 and up. We love hearing him and his students laugh during the lesson and watch the recorded videos on our school’s Whatsapp group showing a really big jump in the quality of their playing. Warning! It is easy to fall in love with him! 🙂

Jin Kim, Friday 5:15pm

Teacher Jin is a great musician able to take her students to the advanced level and guide them achieve exceptional quality in their playing. If you believe that some teachers have a magic wand teacher Jin most likely has it! Her commitment to her students shows in her students’ excellent performances at the school’s performance opportunities and annual exams. Highly recommended for any age or level. Also specially good for serious adult students.

Last but not least we have teacher Susan T. Mashiyama, Friday 3:15pm. Teacher Susan is known for her creative ways to motivate the students and her gentle ways to let the student learn at their own pace. Specially recommended for younger students and beginners.

4. Calendar Reminder

Please note that the school will be closed from 28th December 2025 to January 8th 2026 for winter break. For those classes fall on these dates, your lessons balance out as there were 5 weeks in December/January hence you don’t need makeup classes.

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

5. Staff News

Welcome Amy

We warmly Amy to our Golden Key Piano School staff. Amy Aguirre is a passionate lifelong learner with a deep love for music and the arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a minor in Education from the University of California, Davis, where she developed a strong foundation in ethnomusicology, musicology, and theory. Amy enjoys painting, playing piano, and singing, and finds joy in creative expression in all its forms.

Her curiosity and dedication to learning inspire her to explore new ideas every day, a pursuit she continues through her master’s degree studies at San Jose State University. Beyond her academic and artistic interests, Amy is a proud mother to a daughter just under a year old, who motivates her to approach each day with patience, wonder, and gratitude. She brings this same spirit of warmth, creativity, and enthusiasm to her work and to the Golden Key Piano School community. We welcome Amy as an office assistant in our Berkeley location!

6. Follow Our Blog

We update our blog with a new post every month, where we post useful insights, advice, and more.

Check the blog here:

How Learning Piano Sharpens the Brain