Preparatory Department
NEWSLETTER Spring 2021
ā¢ Directorās Message
ā¢ Piano and Dance News
ā¢ Teacher and Student Spotlights
ā¢ Calendar
ā¢ COVID guidelines
Greetings PBA Prep Family,
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
goodness and blessings to us always, but especially during this time.
We are half way through February and unbelievably only one month away (March 13) from the one year anniversary of COVID 19 shutdown. It is hard to believe that we have been learning, teaching, working, and living like this for a year and unfortunately it looks like things wonāt be normal for quite some time.
All of that being said you as parents and students have been absolutely amazing in persevering through such challenging learning and living conditions. I couldnāt be more proud of our studentā s attitudes and efforts, and that is a direct reflection on the character and efforts of you as parents, to make sure our children donāt suffer long term negative consequences due to this pandemic. In fact, not only will they not suffer adversely, you have set an example and given them new skills and opportunities through your example and attitudes. We as Preparatory faculty are humbled and grateful to be able to be part of your families and have a positive and lasting impact on the lives of your children.
While things arenāt normal yet, they are improving, and there are some real positives to all that has been learned and accomplished during this challenging time. Here are several that immediately come to mind:
ā¢ Our students have continued to learn and progress both virtually and in person.
ā¢ We have continued the music and dance allowing our children to express themselves emotionally.
ā¢ We have been able to teach our children how to respond positively in adverse conditions.
ā¢ While we have been socially distanced from colleagues and friends we have had the added blessing of more family time and closer family relationships.
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, we have been able to learn and teach gratitude for Godās continual goodness and blessing regardless of our physical situation and condition.
There are many other ways that you can probably think of as well, and many ways that we wonāt even be able to realize until hindsight comes into focus. I really look forward to that day! Until then I want to encourage you to continue to strive for excellence and do not grow weary. I believe we are about three quarters of the way out of this thing and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I so look forward to the day when we can get back together as a Preparatory family and meet and fellowship in person again. In light of that we are planning on having our Spring Recitals, Ballet production, and Juries in the last week of May and the first week of June. They will be a combination of in-person, Zoom, and outdoors, and we will celebrate all of your amazing work and Godā s
We are continuing to pray for our families and students, that you will remain healthy, strong, and take special time growing together in your families and seeking God our protector, healer, and Savior! I am always encouraged by the Hebrew names that God taught the Israelites in the wilderness as He said in Exodus 6:7 āI will take you to be my people and I will be your Godā. I hope they will encourage you as well.
God is Jehovah-rophe. This name means āJehovah heals.ā God alone provides the remedy for mankindās brokenness through His son, Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the physical, moral, and spiritual remedy for all people. Exodus 15:22-26
God is Jehovah-shalom. This name means āthe God of peace.ā We are meant to know the fullness of Godās perfect peace, or His āshalom.ā Godās peace surpasses understanding and sustains us even through difficult times. It is the product of fully being what we were created to be. Judges 6:16-24
God is Jehovah-jireh. This name means āthe God who provides.ā Just as He provided yesterday, He will also provide today and tomorrow. He grants deliverance from sin, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow, and eternal citizenship in His Kingdom for all those adopted into His household. Genesis 22:9-14
God is Jehovah-nissi. This name means āGod our banner.ā Under His banner we go from triumph to triumph and say, āThanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christā 1 Corinthians 15:57, Exodus 17:8-15
God is El-Shaddai. This name means āGod Almighty,ā the God who is all-sufficient and all-bountiful, the source of all blessings. Genesis 49:22-26
God is Adonai. This name means āMasterā or āLord.ā God, our Adonai, calls all Godās people to acknowledge themselves as His servants, claiming His right to reign as Lord of our lives. 2 Samuel 7:18-20
God is Elohim. This name means āStrengthā or āPower.ā He is transcendent, mighty and strong. Elohim is the great name of God, displaying His supreme power, sovereignty, and faithfulness in His covenant relationship with us. Genesis 17:7-8
Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Blessings,
Patrick Clifford
PREPARATORY MUSIC DEPARTMENT
ā
Music changes our lives and our brains, it makes us better people and our duty is to share it with as many people as possibleā
Kathryn Krueger who teaches violin at the preparatory department has had an amazing journey to reach musical success.
At what age did you begin playing the violin? started playing the violin when I was three years old. I was told I had to wait, which I didnāt want to do, and so a ā violinā was made for me with a cigar box and ruler, and my bow was a pencil. I had group lessons twice a week and once a week a private.
As a child who inspired you? Was there someone who mentored you?
What is one of your favorite performances? Did you travel to different countries to play your instrument and if so which ones? Some interesting performances, started as a child. I was told in the Berlin Philharmonie where the stage is surrounded by the audience, I had to be removed from the stage after performing, because I kept bowing, not wanting to be unpolite to any of the audience. Another interesting experience was in Moscow under the baton of Bernstein, and in the middle of the piece, a light blows out over his head, he stops conducting and everyone thought a gun had been fired.
Kathryn Krueger nominated Joseph Mauldin this month from her studio, as he continues to work hard.
My mother always brought me to concerts( we were living in Chicago at the time), and we would sit in a balcony. Normally the beautiful music would lull me to sleep, but at one concert I stayed awake the whole concert. A famous violinist was performing a solo concerto with orchestra and I said that is what I want to do! The violinistās name was Mishakoff, and I was allowed to take lessons with him!! He became a father figure for me, a beautiful person, and teacher. My lessons were a mix of history, stories of his life, and then of the composers. They lasted up to four hours, and I was never tired. At the end of each lesson I was allowed to try out his collection of violins in the basement, I was even once forgotten there!
You started playing professionally at what age? What kind of training did you do achieve this at such a young age?
I was lucky to join a performing group when I was four. We played concerts everywhere, at churches, assisted living facilities, even in concert halls. And when I was six, the group was invited to perform a tour in Germany. It was amazing because we got to perform on tv, radio and some beautiful halls. I have been performing since then. But maybe one can say, as a professional when I moved to Germany and started studying with my last teacher Zacher Bron. I had three lessons a week and knew I need about ten hours of practice between each lesson. I was asked to perform all the time. My teacher sometimes surprised me admitting he put me down on a program and I would have a week to learn pieces like Paganini concerto or Ysaye Ballade. It was an amazing time. I had always had times of intense practicing, at Juilliard( normally between 10 pm-2 am), or at Meadowmount camp, a supervised 5 hour practice a day.
Also different was performing the Brahms concerto in Shanghai festival, and I had to actually teach the music to the orchestra. We communicated with the instruments, hands and feet and sharing tea!
A really fun experience was on a tour in Brazil. I was touring with Sibelius concerto and we performed everywhere, I learned that one of the concerts had been streamed on tv, and after that I was treated like a rock star, groupies everywhere, that was really fun.
Maybe the strongest memory was from a tour in Japan right after the Fukushima disaster. My trio had concerts all over but two of them stay strong in my memory. One was in Fukushima, we were offered first a meal, which we were a bit afraid to eat due to the radiation, but didnāt want to be impolite. The audience was a mix of normal people and those who were now living in shelters. Very emotional. The concert in Suntory hall was maybe the most professional I have ever experienced. One of the trios we performed , by Shostakovich, left the audience quiet for at least 3 minutes after we had finished playing. It was a piece written during the last world war, when disaster was also part of life. And it affected the audience and us all so extremely strong.
What are the most important traits a violinist should have?
I believe what is most important in a violinist is the desire to learn, the need to communicate a message, the willingness to serve the music, and the dedication. Talent is important but hard work trumps a talent which doesnāt work. Music changes our lives and our brains, it makes us better people and our duty is to share it with as many people as possible.
PIANO NEWS
FROM THE DESK OF DR. ROJAS AND PIANO FACULTY
Warm greetings from the faculty of the Prep Piano program! It is our sincere hope and prayer that all is healthy and well with our Prep families, with whom we team up to cultivate and foster the wonderful musical gifts that a gracious God has endowed to our care and stewardship.
I often remind my students to not take for granted the reason we do what we do. I tell them that without God there would be nothing. He is (behind/before) the beginning of all. In His eternal Wisdom, He decided to share His amazing love and creativity through His Creation: all things visible and invisible. It is a self-evident, natural consequence of such creation to constantly display and honor the wonderful nature of its Creator. From indescribable earthly sunsets to terrifying storms, and from the singing of birds to vastly multicolored foliage, humans also get to play a particularly special and conscious role in this great harmony of Art the indispensable, necessary, expressive, and imitative response to the creative order that permeates all. Assuming that the English aesthete, Walter Pater, has valuable insight when he claims that āall art aspires to the condition of musicā, then we who study and share in that world of invisible sound (and silence) must be both humbled and proud to take up our instrument in pursuit of excellence, to the glory of our Creator and the invigorating of life all around us.
And now that the entire lesson time has slipped away in my philosophical/theological excursions, let me quickly rush through some relevant updates in our program. We are thrilled that the number of piano students continues to rise, despite the challenges that many families face during this persistent pandemic in which we still find ourselves. We have boldly rose and faced our circumstances, even if with a mask. Instruction and music-making have continued, both online and in-person (with safety precautions). We are happy to announce that plans are in order to offer opportunity for participation in our Spring Piano Recital, which will be modified to address COVID-19 concerns.
Although weāve terribly missed our monthly Studio Classes on Saturdays, we hope and are confident for more ānormalcyā next fall. In the meantime, we are still busying ourselves with musical accomplishments and discoveries, or, as 7 year-old Noah Bruck realized in a recent lesson: ā...so, music is another world of scienceā... yes! Two other students continue to benefit from invitation and attendance to PBAā college-level Piano Studio Class: Elisabeth Thomashoff and Daniel Johnson. Elisabeth, an outstanding student of Dr. Joseph Kingma, has recently recorded repertoire to be submitted in application to prestigious conservatories of music, including Oberlin and New England. She has also applied to PBAās own college piano program. We wish her success and discernment in choosing the right place for her collegiate studies. In other news, we congratulate alumnus David Johnson on account of his acceptance as a Piano Performance Major at PBA.
Well, dear friends, take heart, even if we now see through a āglass dimlyā (whether on a tablet screen or through fogged lenses), soon we shall see āface to faceā (1 Corinthians 13:12).
On behalf of Dr. Kingma, Dr. Soo-Mauldin, and myself,
Peace and blessings to you all!
Dr. Rojas
Ā· Only one parent per student in the instruction room. Parent and student must complete temperature check and digital wellness check.
Ā· Students must wear mask anytime on campus.
Ā· No siblings that are not students coming for their lesson or class.
We have designed a wellness check specifically for our Prep program. You may access the form by clicking on this link https://bit.ly/PrepFall20 , This form must be filled out by the parent for both the student and the parent. Below is the QR code that you can scan and use on your mobile device.
You should enter the building by the east āelevator entranceā.
Your teacher will meet you and take your temperature before entering the building.
Ā· Our team will keep strict records of attendees, including family members, for contact tracing purposes.
Once in the building you will follow the clearly marked directional traffic flow signs to your teachersā studio.
Ā· After your lesson you are expected to leave the building again follow directional signs out the east entrance stairwell.
Ā· A maximum of four people are allowed on the elevator.
Students staying safe during ināperson lessons
FROM THE DESK OF EILEEN HEBRON
Dear PBA Preparatory Parents and Dancers,
You have put in so much effort to make it to classes amidst all the hurdles of the pandemic and we here at Palm Beach Atlantic University are so grateful to everyone for keeping dancing alive. To all the students for persevering with taking class with the new regulations and genuinely respecting the policies, thank you. I would like to request that continue to arrive 5-10 minutes early to your classes to meet in the lobby and then upon clearing your temperature, you will go up to class with your teacher. Your strong work ethics in class are paying off; It is a gift to a teacher to be able to witness the fruits of your labor. We are so excited to see you reach your goals.
Now that many of the auditions for college and the Performing Arts Schools are over we will begin working on the Choreography for the Sleeping Beauty. Level Three will be performing The Garland Dance, from Act I, and Level Pre Professional will be learning the fairy variations from the Prologue, Princess Florine and the Bluebird, and Aurora and Prince DesirĆ©ās wedding pas de deux, from Act III.
It is our hope to present an outdoor evening performance, Excerpts from the Sleeping Beauty, the first week of June, here on the Palm Beach Atlantic Campus. We will start rehearsals this February. The children will rehearse in their classes during the last portion of class. Some of the Pre Professional level students will be asked to remain after class to work on learning the soloist and pas de deux choreography, from the ballet privately, on Friday and Saturday. The schedule will be emailed next week.
Congratulations to all the students for everything you have accomplished in regards to recent auditions and personal goals in your classes this semester. The staff and administration are thrilled to work with such a beautiful group of students.
Appreciatively,
Eileen P. Hebron Coordinator of the Dance Preparatory/ Artist in Residence
School
of Music and Fine Arts
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT
At what age did you begin dancing?
I started ballet when I was 9 years old.
As a child in Venezuela who inspired you? Was there someone who mentored you?
I used to watch videos in my VCR machine (LOL!!). Some of the dancers I loved watching were Gelsey Kirkland, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnicov. I was also inspired by looking at the older dancers around me, I felt I could learn so much from everybody.
My mentors where all the teachers and choreographers I had the opportunity to work with during my time as a student and even as a professional. I absorbed every input they had and made it a part of my personal work for excellence.
When did you decide to make dancing your career?
It wasnāt until my audition with Ballet Nacional de Caracas. When I got into the company. I just loved everything around it and being a professional dancer became my purpose in life.
You started dancing professionally at 14 with the National Ballet in Caracas Venezuela, what kind of training did you do achieve this at such a young age?
The training in my Ballet school was based on the French Method. I was fortunate enough to have a ballet teacher that made so much emphasis on our artistry. She also was so demanding of a clean technique and quality of movement instead of quantity. I think that gave me the perfect foundation for a very conscious way of work throughout my career. Definitely, I wasnāt the āperfect ballerinaā when I joined the company at 14 but I was a very hard worker. Having the opportunity to work in the company with teachers from Russia, Cuba and other very talented Venezuelan ones made me improve at a very fast pace.
You joined Miami City Ballet in 1995, what is one of your favorite performances?
Oh!! So many!! But Jimmy Gamonetās āNous Sommesā has a special place in my heart! Also I really enjoyed dancing Balanchineās āRubiesā it is such a powerful piece.
Did you travel to different countries to dance?
Yes, I had the opportunity to visit so many countries and lots of different cities inside the States. Some of the countries that come to my mind now are Italy, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Canada, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Austria. Cuba, Puerto Rico, Curacao, Hungary and China.
What are the most important traits a dancer should have?
We all know that a flexible body is great for anyone that does ballet but in my opinion, that is just a plus. What I really think a dancer needs is an immense and honest passion for the Art, the perseverance to work hard and not give up, and the focus and humility to always continue growing as a dancer and as a better human being.
Kira never misses classes, she always works her best and has a very positive attitude towards her work. She is someone that definitely sets a great example for everyone around.
Marife Gimenez
UPCOMING DATES
PHONE NUMBER : 561-803-2403
EMAIL: Preparatory_department@pba.edu
WEBSITE
https://www.pba.edu/ academics/schools/musicfine-arts/preparatory/
The Preparatory Department will be closing for the Spring Break holiday on : March 15-22nd, 2021 And
Good Friday /April 2nd
See Calendar on next page !
Happy Valentineās Day and St. Patrickās day to all preparatory families and faculty !
