Yes, you need another reason to attend the Collaborative Conference in Toronto next month. I hope my invitation for you to attend free, informal pedagogy workshops and consultations will bring us together at this exciting conference.

I will be at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel from Friday afternoon, 3/23 to Sunday afternoon, 3/25. This means that some advanced planning is indicated.

If you are interested in this offer, please E-mail me as soon as possible. (You can use the link at the end of this Newsletter.) It will help organize our meetings if you also E-mail several topics to address as well as the best times for us to meet.

I look forward to exploring your interests and your questions with you in person!

If your children had been in school for a few years and had never been asked to write their own thoughts, you would be pounding on the school board’s door demanding an explanation—and rightfully so. Yet many music students are taught only to read and play the musical language, but not to understand it and directly participate in it.

Now teachers and students can learn to write music through personal step-by-step instruction with a distinguished American composer whose dedication to the music education of children, young adults, and teachers continues the tradition of Bartok, Kodaly, and Orff.

To find out more and to contact James Drew, please follow this link...

Teachers have been asking for the charts that you see being used in the DVD. They are now available for download online. These charts include:

• Rhythmic Figures (all 55 rhythmic figures taught in the Introduction to Music including their hand signals)
• Pitch (all three sets of notes, totaling the 30 pitches used in virtually all piano music)

Available in two sizes, Wall Charts (22 X 28) and study charts (8.5 X 11), you will find many uses for them in your teaching and for your students’ home study. These charts will help your students master the basic rhythmic and pitch vocabularies of the musical language. They will also save you a great deal of time.

To prepare the wall charts you see on the DVD, we suggest that you call Kinko’s or any print shop that handles larger print jobs. Tell them the size to confirm that they can complete your order. The charts on the DVD were mounted on foam core and then laminated for durability. You can also have grommets installed on the upper corners for hanging. These five charts are very lightweight and easy to store or hang in your studio. You will find a complete description of the charts in the Alliance Store Front, under Teaching Aids.

The completion of these pedagogy guides has been held back by extreme computer software and hardware problems. This is also why you have not received an ArtistryAlliance Newsletter for a while. But solutions are in sight. We hope to announce the availability of this pedagogy download soon, and we thank you for your understanding and your patience.

We want to hear from more Canadian teachers in order to help families locate Artistry teachers to the North. Please contact your colleagues by forwarding this Newsletter to them. If you are already on this mail list, please use the email contact form at the end of this Newsletter to send us your location and contact information. The latest request is for Artistry teachers in Calgary, AB as well as teachers in southern Alberta

“The DVD is wonderful! I have it set up so the parents can watch it each week as they wait for their children.” L. K., Tampa, FL, Artistry at the Piano teacher since 1980

“Thanks so much for your ideas. I know I've already become a better teacher after studying your materials.” R.L.

“There are exciting things going on in the studio since the arrival of Artistry at the Piano!” V.T.

“In these troubling times, I'm intensely grateful we devote our lives to great music. It's my spiritual survival and the contribution I can offer my students!” J.F., Bethesda MD