Natalie's Piano Studio

The growing audience eagerly awaits the start of the recital while enjoying the beautiful prelude music provided by students Sarah, Darcy and Molly.

Lisa, Jonalee and Noelle enjoy performing a challenging trio they've worked hard to prepare.

Tomi, all dressed up for the occasion, plays a favorite Christmas carol, O Come, All Ye Faithful.

The beautiful artwork, drawn by Molly, that won the student's vote for our recital program cover contest.

After the recital, students, family and friends enjoy talking together and feasting on all the scrumptious refreshments.

Lisa, joined by friend, Jynae, smiles for a picture, relieved to be done with her performance.

Jed, Bryce and Prestyn have a different way of expressing relief after their recital performances!

Click here to go directly to the page of on-line music activity links.

Click here to go directly to the page of rhythmic dictation drills.

Check out the newest pictures from the Christmas Ball! Or have fun looking over some great pictures from other past events. Just click on the appropriate event title.


Noelle, Prestyn, Lisa, Naomi, Bryce and Bekah opened the recital with this Christmas Ensemble.	Hannah rose to the challenge and gave a beautiful performance of O Little Town of Bethlehem.	Athen and I enjoyed playing this duet arrangement of O Come, O Come Emmanuel.	Lisa and Anna did a lovely job playing O Holy Night.	Isabella combined Pat-a-Pan with Sing We Now of Christmas for a striking medley.

Anthony's expressive playing of The Christmas Song was wonderful!	Duane and Joel shared a few special selections as our guest musicians, including one of my favorites - In Christ Alone.	Katei did a super job conveying the gentle mood of this arrangement of Still, Still, Still.	Bryce, Prestyn and Holly look on as the students take turns sharing their selections with family and friends gathered for the occasion.	All of his dedicated practice paid off as James gave an impressive performance of Angels We Have Heard on High.

A row of students eagerly awaiting their turn to play.	After learning her arrangement of The First Noel in only one week, Cynthia decided to combine it with an arrangement of O Come, O Come Emmanuel.	Joey loved playing this arrangement of O Come All Ye Faithful!	Who could ask for a better group of students? I love every one of them! We had such an enjoyable evening praising God with our music and sharing what we've been working on with our families and friends.	Cynthia won the students' vote for the recital program cover this year with this festive drawing!


To start off this sacred-music themed ball, we split into teams and had a spelling bee. I called out a word, comprised entirely of letters within the musical alphabet, and the students had to arrange themselves in the correct order.	Hannah and I played a lovely duet arrangement of Sweet Hour of Prayer.	Katei delighted us with some of the beautiful music they sing at her church.

Anna did a super job on this arrangement of Be Thou My Vision.	Joey enjoyed playing this arrangement of He Is Exalted.	Timothy gave a beautiful performance of Heart of Worship.


The theme for the Fall Ball was music that inspires. Students were allowed to select and prepare any music that inspired them. We started the ball by splitting the students into teams and then having each team search the room for leaves to make up the word "INSPIRE."	Naomi beautifully played Morning Dove and inspired the rest of us too!	The students remained on their teams and were each given a sheet to fill in as we played Name That Tune and Name That Composer. I played the tunes or compositions at the piano and they had to write down the correct answer. The team with the most correct each round got to play their pieces next.	Bryce flew across the keys in his fast piece, Tales from Hungary.

Hayley can hardly reach the floor, but she did a super job playing!	Brittany compiled several folk songs into a fun medley.	A group shot of all of us - we are certainly having a ball this year!

Students prepared a piece on their own through the summer and then surprised me with it at this special kick-off for the year!
	This group of five students prepared a Patriotic Medley and rotated parts as they switched songs within the medley. They won the award for the "best team effort."	Landon surprised me by playing the melody to a song and having me sing along with him.

After playing Ode to Joy once the normal way, Harrison pulled out this bandana and played it blindfolded.	He surprised us all by then pulling off his shoe and proceeding to play the song again with his toes! He won the award for the "most humorous."	Ashlyn dressed for the occasion as she expressively played When Johnny Comes Marching Home. She won the award for the "most creative."


A favorite new addition to piano camp this year - playing bells!	The older group works diligently to learn a fun Patriotic Medley.	The younger girls enjoyed a visit each day from "Sloppy Sally" and each one took a turn giving her a lesson and helping her apply the principle we were focusing on that day.

The younger boys each worked on a duet in addition to their solo masterclass repertoire for the week.		For the younger boys, part of camp each day included a "nature exploration" where they had to record something they saw, something they heard and something they found. These were shared once we went back inside and served as the inspiration for the song we composed throughout the week.


Happy Birthday! But to whom? That was the mystery of the night for this energetic bunch of students. Their goal was to identify whose birthday we were celebrating by the end of the night. They were split into two teams and accumulated points throughout the evening based on their score in different games that we played. For every 25 points they accumulated, they were given a clue about the one whose birthday we were celebrating. At the end of the allotted time for games, they had to use the clues they had been given and the resources that I made available to them to determine whose birthday it was. They quickly deduced that it was a historical composer, but had a little more trouble trying to determine which one! If the team submitted a correct answer, all the members of the team were entered into a drawing for a CD of music by that composer. Impressively, both teams eventually came to the corect conclusion that we were celebrating the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (who they learned was officially named "Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophillus Amadeus Mozart"!) and Timothy was the grateful recipient of the CD.

It just wouldn't be a proper birthday celebration without food, so the students filled up on birthday cupcakes and lemonade. They all took home a short arrangement of Happy Birthday with a challenge to learn it by their next lesson. Extra dollars would be deposited in the accounts of those who also played the song by memory.


the Chapman family commences the evening with this tender rendition of Silent Night	Ryan and his Mom, Jessi, have fun playing Away In A Manger and Jolly Old St. Nicholas	Jon does a great job playing this fun arrangement of Jingle Bells while I accompany him with the duet	Hannah and her brother, Josh, teamed up to share with us this great arrangement of What Child Is This?

Landon and his brother, Jordan, put together the perfect combo for The Little Drummer Boy	James is joined by his sister, Nikki, in his first recital, playing Away In A Manger	Garrett and Caleb are joined by their Mom in a beautiful performance of One Small Child	Joel added a few touches of his own to this medlet of White Christmas and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Bryce and Prestyn pull off an energetic performance of Pat-A-Pan	Ashlyn and Harrison are joined by their violinist sister, MacKenzie, to play I Wonder As I Wander	Bailey and Gavin rise to the challenge of preparing and performing this arrangement of The First Noel	Elle is joined by her Grandma in her expressive performance of We Three Kings

Noelle, Naomi, Joey and I had a blast preparing and playing this medley of Carol of the Bells/What Child Is This?	A group shot with the most wonderful students ever! I am so blessed!	designed by Naomi, this won the students' vote for the recital program cover


the string of turkeys that the students had to try to shoot	students took turns taking aim as they tried to shoot down turkeys to collect the hidden segments of the ensemble they would be playing later in the evening

meanwhile, other students took turns trying to fish out those elusive segments of the ensemble that were harder to catch than they initially anticipated!

with the shooting and fishing complete, students work together to piece together the ensemble		mission accomplished! now it's time for some music! everyone did an amazing job counting out there part and playing it!	in honor of Thanksgiving, the students were promised a feast if they were successfull in acquiring the skills necessary to complete their assignment (putting together and playing the ensemble). They will take turns playing for each other while munching on the feast of pretzels, corn chips, popcorn and lemonade. Yum!


Group One - the students work in their camp workbooks, learning about composers, intervals, dynamics, moods and more!	The students move their little magnets on the keyboards to find the "mystery note."	Displaying the humongo dynamics chain that Garrett and Caleb brought back the third day of camp.	A casual, comfy setting added to the fun as students got to know each other and learned to work together.

Group Two - the students decorate their dynamics chains.	...The other half of the group two students.	The students pick up on some new concepts quickly and become super fast at identifying intervals on the staff!	The week was a blast for all! One of the favorite activities for this group was the daily masterclass.

Group Three - Noelle and Bekah have fun at the "Improvisation Station."	Anna and Naomi work through the challenge of figuring out the melody and then adding chords at the "Play It By Ear station."	Bryce and Prestyn focus intensely as they improve their playing skills at the "Sight-Reading Station."	The students work together to complete a Circle of 5ths Worksheet.

Click on the links below to hear a midi recording of the composition and read the lyrics. Click here to find out more about The Psalms Project.

Brittany - Psalm 1:1	Bryce - Psalm 1:6	Grace - Psalm 8:3-4	Joey - Psalm 10:13
Sean - Psalm 21:13	Addison - Psalm 23:1	Prestyn - Psalm 23:4	Natalie - Psalm 32:6-8,11
Joel - Psalm 50:22	Anna - Psalm 89:5	Naomi - Psalm 100:4	Caleb - Psalm 101:1
Garrett - Psalm 116:1	Isabella - Psalm 118:24	Joshua - Psalm 119:114	Rebekah - Psalm 121:1-2
Ashlyn - Psalm 136:1-3	Cynthia - Psalm 147:3	Noelle - Psalm 149:3-4


Students listen carefully and answer questions on the listening sheets they have been given as the Symphony Orchestra rehearses with guest pianist, Garrick Ohlsson.		The performers and guest artist rehearse Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 16.

A bit blurry...but a group shot of all the winners who got to enjoy this exciting evening!	After we left the rehearsal, we made our way back to the house where everyone enjoyed making their own delicious ice cream sundaes. Yum!


After learning about the structure of The Golden Gate Bridge, the students work together to build their own suspension bridge.		Lindsay and Isabella explain how a metronome can be used to help learn a piece of music.

James demonstrates with a hand grip while he and Noelle remind us to build strong finger muscles so we play with good technique.	Timothy and Caleb using a magnifying glass to remind us to pay attention to the little details in our music.	Cynthia and Joey explain the many ways that a tape recorder can help us improve our playing and performing skills.

Oops! We were having so much fun making our own drums and trying to beat Santa Anna's army to The Alamo that I forgot to take pictures...


Students uncover key facts about Mount Rushmore by blasting away balloons that are covering the faces of the four Presidents on the mountain.	Lindsay and Cynthia practice their part in the rhythm ensemble together.	Joey and Addi stop every so often in between laughing to count out the rhythms in their part of the ensemble.

Naomi, Timothy and Noelle practice the piano part of the ensemble.	Students work hard to try to sculpt their pears; they gain a new appreciation for the artistic abilities of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor who designed, and supervised the work on, Mount Rushmore.


Molly accompanies Addi in her first recital as she plays Silent Night.	Grace and Lisa enjoy playing a duet of Angels We Have Heard on High.	Timothy and Anthony have fun with this duet version of Deck the Halls.	Amanda and Natalie tackle this challenging 2 piano arrangement of The Little Drummer Boy/He Is Born.

Noelle, Grace, Charis and Ashlyn open the recital with this triumphant version of Joy to the World.	Josh, Joel, Isaac and Christopher do an excellent job playing O Christmas Tree.	Joel, Prestyn, Bryce and Landon finally pull together a cheery version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.	Bekah, Cynthia, Naomi and Susanna beautifully perform Carol of the Bells.

A group shot of all the students who participated in the recital - what a great group of students they are!	Family and friends enjoy visiting with the students and each other as they munch on all the delicious goodies at the reception following the recital.


Students enjoy playing roles in a reenactment of the Louisiana Purchase and the events that led up to the building of the St. Louis Arch.		Students listen to a piece of music representative of each era of music history and write or draw their perceptions on a white board.

Students take turns performing and listening to each other perform while observing proper performance procedures and etiquette.


Students worked together in groups of four to write their own lyrics to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

Students enjoy (some more than others) singing their song for the rest of us!

Traveling to Triumph
Wow! Some of you amaze me with your ongoing dedication to practice consistently and do all kinds of extra things to earn spending money along the way! Check out the following places that these people have visited so far:


As students arrived, they had a chance to purchase raffle tickets for $1 each. Throughout the evening, we drew numbers and the winners got to select an item from the display.	The bidding begins! Many of these students racked up hundreds of dollars to spend!	Ah, so much to choose from...

One of the top selling items - kinder surprise chocolate eggs. All the way from Germany!	Our incredible auctioneer, Josh, who made the whole event super fun and entertaining!	Janelle eagerly receives her yummy purchase.


Cathy and Anthony Condit start out the program for the evening with a comic presentation of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.	Sarah and Kimberlyn really rise to the challenge and do a great job playing this tough arrangement of Mary Did You Know?	Amanda and I play a beautiful arrangement of O Holy Night.	This year's cover artwork, beautifully drawn by Cassie Cook (with a bit of help from Kimberlyn!).

A group shot of all the students who worked so diligently to prepare for their recital performances.	Brittany and Janay hang out in the hallway after the recital is over.	Everyone enjoys hanging around to visit and munch on all the yummy treats!	Ha! Got you both! Jennaea and Naomi managed to dodge my first attempts to capture them on camera.

Congratulations to the many students who worked so diligently throughout the year and made it to each level of The Box Club! Special recognition to each of the following students who were either President or Vice-President of one of the clubs and helped plan the incredible Patriotic-themed finale to the year: Bryce, Bekah, Jonalee, Jennaea, Naomi, Ashlyn and Makenzie.


Katie, Noelle, Joel and Bryce help prepare food for the dinner.	Guests begin to gather and enjoy visiting while munching on the popcorn appetizer that awaited them at their table. Soon they will be feasting on a delicious meal of salad, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread and chocolate sheet cake. Yum! (A huge thanks to my Mom, Nancy, for preparing the meal!)		Another beautiful work of art, drawn by Molly for our program cover.

The behind-the-scenes kitchen crew who served up 150+ plates of food.	One of the many ensembles who performed throughout the evening. Jonalee, Noelle and Anthony practice ahead of time for their piece "Perpetual Commotion."	A group shot of all the incredible students who not only performed, but also doubled as servers for each of the tables of guests. Wow!



		Students have a fun time learning together at group classes in the studio.