DESPITE the national lockdown, a local music teacher in Northdene is determined to keep the music coming while still doing all she can to keep her students safe.
It would take more than a national lockdown to prevent local music teacher, Melissa Greyvenstein, from reaching her learners.
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The music school, which usually runs from Greyvenstein’s home, has been dedicated to producing independent musicians since 2002.
“I specialise in the classical genre with a strong focus on performance,” explained Greyvenstein.
“My students usually take part in many festivals, concerts, eisteddfods and exams throughout the year.”
Greyvenstein’s students study classical piano or recorder performance and also receive thorough theoretical instruction as part of their musical education.
Through all the closures and the inevitable lockdown, her students have continued to enjoy all their usual events and lessons; in fact, they have had more events than usual to keep their spirits up.
“Students work very hard to prepare for events throughout the year. To postpone one of them creates a huge problem as students don’t have the time to work on multiple projects at once,” said Greyvenstein speaking to her community newspaper, Queensburgh News on Friday, 3 April, as the country entered its second week of restrictions.
“This made me determined that nothing should change our plans for the year, not even the need for social distancing, or even a national lockdown.”
Music festival
The first big event affected was the Interstudio Music Festival, an annual event which took place the weekend after the first Presidential announcement.
Despite much discouragement from family and friends, Greyvenstein pushed ahead and ran the entire two-day festival, with nearly 200 entries, almost entirely on video performances. “Everything ran exactly as normal, with the exception that students were not physically present,” she explained.
“The adjudicator and I went through all the video entries. At the end of the festival, teachers collected the certificates and prizes their students had won.”
Online concert
As the Covid-19 pandemic took a firmer hold on the country, Greyvenstein began planning the first live online concert for her students, something that had never been attempted before.
“I knew that with schools being closed, students needed encouragement and something to look forward to. When the national lockdown was announced, we were already preparing for this first concert which took place the night the lockdown took effect.”
Since then, Greyvenstein has been organising an online concert every week. Students are excited to share their music with their peers but an added excitement is the theme for each concert. “Classical piano concerts are normally formal affairs, so online dress-up concerts are a real treat for students,” she said.
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Parents are enjoying the weekly concerts almost as much as the children.
Greyvenstein said one parent had sent their congratulations and commented: “I think it’s amazing that you pulled this off and invested so much time in our most valuable gifts, our kids. Well done to you for inculcating this love of music and this most amazing skill.”
Another said: “Thank you for encouraging them, especially during this time. The kids are looking forward to the concerts you are arranging.”
Online learning
Lessons are also continuing with Greyvenstein embracing online teaching.
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“Learners have been progressing at a far brisker pace than usual as they needed to take charge of their learning. They cannot rely on me as much as they usually do. With the switch to online lessons, my role has changed from teacher to coach and the change in my students is awesome to witness,” said a beaming Greyvenstein who admits this “new normal” has opened some doors she doesn’t want to see closed after lockdown.
“Online lessons are definitely here to stay.”
After her son’s first online lesson a parent exclaimed, “That was fun!”
With many people in lockdown taking the time to learn new skills or improve on those they already have, music instruction is a great idea. For more information on MG Music School email mgmusicschool@outlook.com
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