Micek Music

"Talent is only a starting point." - Irving Berlin

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." - Beverly Sills

Hi All. I just received the schedule in the mail today. Remember that the Theory testing is conducted on the weekend of March 13-14 at Chabot College. The location of the performance evaluations varies from student to student. I will distribute maps & driving directions next week. Here are the pertinent details for each participating student: Jessika March 7, 5:30pm in Fremont Johnmark March 14, 11:40am in Newark Gregory March 13, 12:05pm in Hayward Allyn & Carissa March 6, 9:35am & 9:55am in Castro Valley Alex March 13, 11:40am in Newark Aniruddh March 13, 11:55am in Newark Sriya March 13, 11:40am in Newark Hemang & Aditya March 6, 9:35am & 9:50am in Newark Nitin March 13, 11:40am in Castro Valley Linda March 13, 12:35pm in Hayward Louise March 13, 11:50am in Newark

There's a teacher who posts videos of her students on Youtube who goes by the name " BelCantoV ". I subscribe to her video posts. One of her students is a young lad named Andrei who seems like a very cool and precocious little dude. Though he's young, he's already begun composing his own music (examples: ">here and ">here ). Anyway, his latest video performance is an excellent microcosm of the typical music student's experience. At first one tries and does not succeed, but if one is willing to persist and remain patient the joy of music and the thoughtfulness of its great artists will gradually unfold. Or, as BelCantoV puts it, "Everyone can see how hard we try and how many passions in music we have...". That sounds like Yoda to me, but at this moment I'll buy it. Here's Andrei taking Tim Gunn's advice and "making it work":

  The Vatican newspaper has revealed its top 10 records:                                               1.  Revolver  by the Beatles 2.  If I Could Only Remember My Name  by David Crosby  3.  The Dark Side of the Moon  by Pink Floyd  4.  Rumours  by Fleetwood Mac  5.  The Nightfly  by Donald Fagen  6. Thriller  by Michael Jackson  7.  Graceland  by Paul Simon  8.  Achtung Baby  by U2  9.  (What's the Story) Morning Glory  by Oasis  10.  Supernatural  by Carlos Santana  Guardian writer Carrie Quinlan opines : " It turns out that Satan doesn't have all the best tunes after all, because it's actually rather a good list: nothing outrageously [awful], nothing too fleeting and no ghastly attempts to be down with the kids." Quinlan goes on to reveal that she owns 9 out of the 10 albums on the list. I only own 3 out of the 10. This list is so Anglo-heavy! Entire continents are feeling "dissed" by the Vatican. They'll have to le

"If I've learned nothing else, it's that time and practice equal achievement." - Andre Agassi

One parent who purchased the Winter Recital DVD has had problems playing the disc. This is not cool. A lot of time and care is put into producing these DVDs. They are certainly supposed to play when placed in a DVD player! Please contact me if you have any problems with a disc I have distributed to you, and I will promptly deliver you a replacement copy. What I have learned is that the DVD - as presently formatted - may only play on a computer and not a standard DVD player. I plan to do more research on how to burn a disc with adjusted settings so that the finished product is playable on any console. My only intention with this project is to do a "good thing" and offer a valuable service to my students and their families. I'm continually learning - bear with me as I work out the kinks. Thanks, Jesse

I have fielded many CM schedule inquiries from students and parents over the last couple weeks. Firstly, participation in this program requires that you keep 2 weekends in the spring open. The specific dates of these weekends are communicated 6 months in advance. This ought to be ample time to sort out any conflicts. This year, the performance dates for my students are March 6-7 of March 13-14 . The theory tests for everyone are on March 13-14 , held at Chabot College in Hayward. The performance locations are varied, stretching anywhere from Castro Valley to Fremont. And finally: I was mistaken when I informed a few people that I would receive student evaluation dates during the first week of February. In fact, as a North region teacher of the Southern Alameda County branch of MTAC , I will not receive this information prior to the week of  February 14 . So hold tight everyone and please be patient - the wait is short now. Jesse