Masterclass Weekend

Catherine McMichael was here all weekend giving masterclass lessons to my students.  I hope she enjoyed her stay and didn't find family life with the Kotrbas too chaotic.  Bill is usually the wind beneath my wings on these weekends, but this time he was sick Friday and Saturday and left on a work trip Sunday morning.  We left a lot of dishes in the sink and some unsupervised kids but as Maggie would say, we coped.

These experiences are always highlights of the year for me.  The students pay for the lessons.  The guest teacher gets paid.  I seemingly give up my weekend without pay but that it not completely true.  I get paid in the fresh insight of a watching a new teacher working with my kids.  I learn a lot.

When we work with a student long enough we know his strengths and weaknesses pretty well.  As a teacher we have our own strengths and weaknesses.  We get locked into patterns. A guest teacher throws all that out the window. They don't know the presumed limitations of the kid or the teacher.  She keeps us all on on toes.

Catherine made the comment that when her own students play in a recital, it is like a report card for her.  I always feel that way too.  When we see our students perform, or in this case have a lesson with someone else, it is like a final exam of our teaching.  I can see patterns in my students' performance habits that show me where I can be a stronger teacher.  At times I can also see what is going really well.

I plan to keep doing these masterclasses and to even add more for the advanced kids in my studio.  There is more than one way to think about music and we all grow when we stretch our ideas about music, technique, pedaling and even finger numbers.  The kids get to work with challenging faculty but still return home to the safety and community of a home studio.  Catherine called a group of my kids that have been with me 8-10 years "litter mates."  I liked that metaphor.

So, Catherine if you are out there reading, thanks for taking your weekend to work with us.  Thanks for being so well prepared and giving us a fresh insight!   Thanks for making French toast for the kids on Sunday.  Calvin and Mary will see you this summer in DC at the piano institute, and I hope you will come back to Eagan again soon.