Intermountain Suzuki String Institute, Round Two

We just got back from round two of the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute in Draper, Utah.  Wow! What a week. It was great and worth every penny.  I took the kids to this violin camp two years ago, and we had a beneficial, but rough first go at it.  I was better prepared this time. I left the little kids home with Rinar for the week. 

We drove to Utah Sunday and stayed with Jared and Melanie again. They were so gracious to be our personal hotel and the great thing is that their house is only a few miles from Juan Diego High School, where they hold the camp.  

Let the fun begin.

The Suzuki camp is no joke.  They get the very best teachers from around the world and fill every single room in that high school and the elementary school with classes: orchestra, technique, performance, chamber, fiddling, etc. The music fills the hallways, emanating from every nook, corner, stairwell. I think that Dr. Suzuki must smile down on this incredible string experience. It really is an experience.  This year they had 750 students attend. Most of them were violinists.  There was a healthy amount of cellists, and then the poor violists.  There are not enough violists!

Zach did a fiddling class with Aaron Ashton.  This was his second time in there and he loved it. Aaron even let him try out the electric violin. Zach was really happy about that.

One of the benefits of attending this camp is that you get to take a masters class, where you get one-on-one attention from a prominent teacher.  Raef was assigned to Beth Stuen-Walker, a viola teacher from Washington. I don't have a picture of Zach's teacher, Rosalie Keddington, but I did get to see her work with him one day.  She was great, also.

Here is something I was really excited about. Because Raef is far enough along in viola, he was able to play in a real string quartet, two violins, a cello, and his viola.  They were taught by Rebecca McFaul, who is a member of the Fry Street Quartet. They played a Rondo by Mozart and named themselves "Wolfie's Gang". It was challenging, but fun and it really came together by the time they performed on Saturday.

Zach also played in a 6 violin string chamber group with Becca Moench and I think they named themselves "Table For Six".




This was definitely a highlight of the week, violin performance (V6) with Terry Durbin.  If you ever get the chance to take a class from him, you do not want to miss it.  The guy is so fun, funny, animated, and a little off-the-wall. The kids were cracking up the whole time. But he was able to pull the very best out of them for their number, Concerto in G Minor by Vivaldi.

What a relief, because we almost had a replay of our last ISSI camp.  While we were sitting in the auditorium for the opening ceremony, Zach had a panic attack realizing he would have to play a whole lot of violin for a whole lot of days.  The kid almost had a nervous breakdown. Then he went immediately to Terry's class, and it all seemed to be okay.  Thank you, Mr. Durbin.

Zach's technique class was taught by Wilfried van Gorp, from Belgium.  He is very funny and tough.  I think it makes a perfect combination for teaching violin.

 Raef was mentored by David Becker two years ago in viola, and this go around he taught Zach in orchestra. That was pretty fun. He is a super-nice guy and both my kids really like him.

Here is Wolfie's Gang right after their successful chamber performance.  Well done, kids.

Raef was in Orchestra 11 with Michael Bayless. He was place quite a ways ahead of Zach, but this is what happens when you play the viola and there aren't many violists.  You get promoted quickly.

Our nights were filled with lots of fun stuff, but I will do another post for that.  Camp was a huge success and I could see an incredible amount of growth in both of them. When the concert finished early Saturday afternoon, we hit the road for the long drive back to Reno. I hope we get to go again next year.

Time For Three Weekend

We had an eventful weekend. On Friday, Rinar's parents and sister came down to our house. Rinar's parents went with us and Raef and Zach to see one of our favorite groups, Time for Three. They are a dynamic "classically trained garage band" if you will: two violins and a double bass. It is tons of fun to watch them perform and I was certain that the boys would love it. They totally did. They were laughing and enraptured in the stellar performance. Rinar's parents also enjoyed the concert and it was fun to be able to share this with them.

Julia really liked the feel of Grandpa's beard.

While we went to the concert, Aislinn and Dustin babysat the little ones for us, which was so kind of them. Aislinn brought down her kids and they were able to spend time together with the cousins. It is always fun to play with cousins. Jayde was the best babysitter of all.

All she wanted to do the entire time was hold the babies. She would carry them around with her. When she got tired, she would put them down. But that never lasted long. It was quite sweet. She is obviously a little mama.

We had Raef and Zach do a little concert for the family with their latest piece. Zach is playing a Seitz concerto for everyone.



Rinar also had a surprise for his mom. He had been practicing a special piano duet to play with here. You see, Rinar's parents both served an LDS mission in Denmark. That is where the met. More specifically, Rinar's mom was asked to play a piano piece entitled "Canadian Capers". It is quite difficult and she was trying to find someone else who could play it with her. Yep, you guessed it. Rinar's dad was the man for the job. That is how they met. They still play it together all the time. Well, Rinar was at their house a few months ago, and found the music. It was deteriorating, so he got it recopied and found the official cover picture. Then he practiced it so that he could play it with her. Here you go.

There are two versions. The first one has video of my kids and an interruption with Eli. You see, Eli really likes to play the piano. Ever since then, he is quite a little pest. But it is cute.



The second video has it without any major interruptions.



Enjoy.



My kids also got a hold of the camera. They thought it was hilarious to dress Julia and Harry up in a silly hat. It is kind of cute.

Christmas Things We Did

The kids had a homeschool party yesterday at Kristina's house. Santa even came. She made us wear the silly antlers, but I thought they looked better on Eli...don't you think so?

My kids played with the play-dough almost the entire time. Xander is in the foreground and Nicholas is the boy at the end of the table. These are their homeschool buddies.

Later that evening, we went to Nevada School of the Arts for the kids Christmas Concert with their classmates. The kids in this group were from all Suzuki levels. Eli really enjoyed the music and clapped at all of the appropriate times.


Wow, look at those eyes...
This is their group teacher, Jennifer Petersen. She is a fantastic teacher. And she has a lot of patience...thank goodness.

Grace, a good friend from our ward is in the background. They have known her from the first week we moved to Las Vegas. They were in Nursery together. She is a very advanced violin player.

Grace, right before the concert started.


This is a girl from their class. Fortunately, the boys are in a small class. There are about 6 kids in the class, so they get a lot of attention and help with their technique. I am pretty sure her name is Emily, but I could be wrong.

A Violin Concert

Happy Farmer

Minuet 1

Enjoy, but hold the applause till the end.