Ria MusicDesign Studio (riamusicdesign@gmail.com)

One Happy Teacher

2012-01-03T16:34:00.004+11:00

It's only the 3rd day of 2012, but one student said that she has learnt 1.5 out of 2 pages of her exam piece! This makes 1 happy teacher ^____________^

Even though I am still in overseas, I would love to hear from all of my students. I hope they are still practicing during this holiday season. Please do not hesitate to send me an email and let me know your progress in learning your exam pieces and even weekly practice :)

Happy practicing, everyone!

Merry Christmas 2011 & Happy New Year 2012!

2011-12-23T11:49:00.000+11:00

Happy holiday to all parents & students!

Thank you so much for all the love, trust, hard work and last but not least, these lovely gifts :)

PS: I will see you all in February 2012

Introducing: Nadine Nheu (10 years old)

2011-12-11T11:00:00.002+11:00

Her name is Nadine. She started her lesson with me since the beginning of this year. Before that, she has learned for quite sometime but never find the inspiration and motivation in learning piano. From the first time she attended her lesson with me, I could see a hidden talent that is waiting to be unleashed...

I must say, she has done a great job! She achieved A+ for her first piano exam!! She was excited about it and her mother was really proud of her.

On top of that, during her last lesson today, she surprised me by composing a phenomenal song! She composed it on her own. Apparently she got an inspiration after participating at RMDS 2011 recital!

You must listen to her composition below! It sounds amazing and you can understand why she called it Evil Cloud. She captures the emotion and ambience really well.

Good job Nadine, keep up the good work! I would like to see you grow as a fine pianist and also, a composer :)

2011 Annual Recital: Celebrating 5th Anniversary

2011-11-27T22:00:00.000+11:00

This year, we celebrated our 5th Anniversary. 20 students performed their piano pieces & some had surprise items for the audience. I was happy to see a lot of smiles and encouragements from everyone who attended the concert. There were more than 100 audience of family and friends.

The concert was really special for me, not only that we celebrated 5th anniversary, but my mother attended the concert for the first time. She plays an important role in my journey of learning piano since I was 5 years old until now. She is my inspiration & motivation. She always encourage and support me in doing my teaching. I am glad that finally she could come to see the concert live in Melbourne :)

I always dream to organize piano concerts since I was little and finally it happen before my eye for the fifth time and on top of that more people came to support us. Now, I have a new dream, to organize a bigger concert in a bigger venue that can fit 1000 people :)

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to say THANK YOU to my students, parents and their family & friends for making RMDS 5th Recital successful. Please stay tune to see the videos! :)

1 week to go

2011-11-20T22:40:00.000+11:00

7 days to go to RMDS 2011 Annual Recital! The performers have been working so hard to make sure they will be performing at their very best. We met for the very first time yesterday & they were excited to see each other again, there were 15 students here at my studio. One special guest will be attending for the very first time, guess who the person is? :)

2011 Annual Recital: Celebrating 5th Year Anniversary

2011-11-08T11:34:00.002+11:00

It is less than 3 weeks to go until 2011 Annual Recital. We have sent out invitations and we have over than 90 guests of family members & friends confirmed coming to the concert. Many more to come... This is exciting!!! :)

This year we have 17 performers from as young as 7 years old to full-time working students who have passion & love of music. We are going to perform pieces by favourite classical composers such as Bartok, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Tchaikovsky to popular modern music Elton John, Elissa Milne & jazzy Gershwin, Duke Ellington.

It will be a great music celebration! I can't wait to see my students perform this year! :)

Please feel free to email me to know more about the recital. Stay tune for updates on our rehearsals!

Introducing: Serafim

2011-09-15T11:09:00.011+10:00

Her parents named her Serafim Autumn Putrifajar because she was born in Australia during the Autumn season. When she was 7 months old, her family decided to go back to Indonesia.

Serafim's music journey started when she was only 3.5 years old, after her parents saw her musical talent by involving her in children's choir practice at her local church. Later that year, Serafim participated in a musical event and she had to memorise 6 songs.

At the age of 4, Serafim started to learn piano at Yamaha in Indonesia. Then, at the age of 7, she came back to Melbourne and took her first lesson with me on September the 12th, 2010.

This is Serafim's response when she was asked about her first experience participating in AMEB exam:

1. How do you feel about your first piano & theory exams in Melbourne?

* I feel nervous because it was my first piano and theory exam.

2. How often did you study & practice for the exams?

* I practice 1's or 2's a day.

3. Which one is more difficult to do? the practical or theory exam?
* I feel good with the theory because it is a little bit easy peasy..

4. How do you feel when you know the result?
* I feel very happy because the score was 99.

5. Now that you have achieved great results for your exams, what would like to achieve next?

* Now I am learning pieces:'Rag Time,Marcia Trionfale and Dance'. So I want to improve the Dance and Marcia Triumphal.

Stefanie Wins 2 Eisteddfod Awards!

2011-09-11T22:00:00.002+10:00

Congratulations Stefanie for winning these awards:

1. Pianoforte Championship Solo
performing Bach English Suite Prelude No. 3 & Mozart Piano Sonata K283 in G minor - 1st Movement

2. Rea Dickson Pianoforte Award Solo
performing Mozart Piano Sonata K283 in G minor - 3rd Movement & Debussy Passepied

Well done Stef! Keep up the good work! :)

Meet Tommy Emmanuel

2011-08-24T09:52:00.001+10:00

It was December 12, 2010 when I was at the Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, waiting for my turn to check-in my baggage before this picture was taken. I couldn't believe my eye! I left my queue, rushed to meet him and asked to get a picture with this Australian guitar maestro, Tommy Emmanuel.

He was really friendly & kind. He spent time to talk & greet me, even though he was waiting for check-in baggage. A great musician with a great heart! Not to mention that he is really tall!

In 2009, I had the opportunity to watch his guitar recital at the Arts Centre Melbourne. He gave a full 3-hours concert without interval. Apparently he did not keep the time :)

I hope someday he will give another concert in Melbourne. I'm definitely going to see it again!

AMEB Theory Session 1 Result (2011)

2011-07-25T23:09:00.003+10:00

Well done everyone! I am very proud of you all! Our hard work certainly paid off! :)

Grade 1 - Honours (92)

Grade 1 - Honours (91)

Grade 2 - High Distinction (99)

Grade 2 - High Distinction (95)

Grade 3 - High Distinction (99)

Grade 3 - High Distinction (95)

Grade 4 - Honours (85)

Grade 5 - Honours (92)

Meet Herbie Hancock

2011-07-15T22:44:00.001+10:00

An Evening with Herbie Hancock

and His Band

(Band: James Genus - bass / Trevor Lawrence - drums / Kristina Train - vocals )

The legendary jazz pianist performed at Palais Theater Melbourne on Saturday April 30. The concert was absolutely A-MA-ZING!! Watermelon man, Cantaloupe Island and Chameleon (as encore) to named the pieces that he performed. I have been hearing his name since I learned jazz during my teenage years and many years later, I watched his live concert!

At the end of the concert, after waited 2.5 hours later, Herbie Hancock went out thru the back door & I got a photograph with him!! :)

A night to remember...

Today, a year ago...

2011-05-30T22:03:00.000+10:00

I made this arrangement of Indonesian Folk Song, as a tribute to the composer, Gesang, and dedicated to my dad, who was sick & treated in a hospital in Jakarta.

I was hoping that a miracle would happen, but it didn't... so life must go on. But at least, I am happy that he got a chance to view this video before he passed away 21 days later.

I hope you enjoy watching this video, as much as my father did :)

Repertoire Class

2011-04-30T15:30:00.012+10:00

Today's concert is called Repertoire Class. Students who participate on this class will be facing their piano exam in the near future. The closest one will be Peter's exam on next Sunday 15th May. Ray (top left), he just like to perform & participate in any concerts :)

They have to play their 3 exam pieces plus any extra list, and also SCALE in front of a small audience. They say it is a very nerve-racking experience, but they used to it by now :)

ABRSM's top tips for exam success

2011-04-13T11:29:00.003+10:00

I was searching on the ABRSM website and found this handy tips for exam:

Ten top tips for practising

Always have a practice plan and decide what you want to achieve in each practice time
Sometimes, begin with the 'difficult bits' rather than starting at the beginning of a piece
Check your posture – the way you stand or sit and the way you hold your instrument – using a mirror
Practise small sections of music slowly and thoroughly before you speed them up. Remember – what you can’t play slowly, you can’t play fast!
If you make a mistake, correct it immediately. Don’t simply go back to the beginning for another ‘run up’
Be aware of the pulse of the music - it's dangerously easy to slow up for tricky bits!
Practise the whole ‘performance’ experience – play your exam pieces to friends and family so you experience a few nerves and learn how to cope with them
Listen to your tuning and always aim for a beautiful tone quality
Try practising your scales to a different rhythm or, for a change, start at the top note, descend and finish at the top again
Enjoy what you play – vary the styles of pieces that you practise to avoid getting bored

Ten top tips for exam success

Arrive in the waiting room at least 10 minutes before your exam is due to start. Last-minute panics do not help the playing or singing
Use the time before your exam to get your music and instrument ready – you can warm up silently by moving your fingers or blowing though your instrument
Feeling nervous before an exam is natural. Try smiling as you go into the exam room – it will help you relax
Make sure you are comfortable before you begin. If the stool or music stand is the wrong height, don’t be afraid to adjust it or ask for help
It’s fine to ask the examiner if you can warm up by playing a scale or a few bars of a piece
You can choose to do your exam in any order. Just let the examiner know
Try to keep going in the exam even if you make a mistake – it probably won’t be as disastrous as you think
Don't worry about pauses between your pieces – the examiner will be writing and will tell you when to start your next piece
Your examiner may stop you during a piece if he or she has heard enough to make a judgement
Remember – the examiner is on your side and is looking forward to hearing you perform

Source:
ABRSM's top tips for exam success : ABRSM.org - News Articles

Home Concert 1 in 2011

2011-02-26T17:00:00.015+11:00

8 students came to Home Concert 1 on Saturday 26 February.
They performed pieces such as Sabre Dance, Chopin's Prelude, Bumble Boogie and many more.

We played Mario Kart on Nintendo Wii while waiting for the students to come. Even Alex, who attended the concert for the fist time, played too with the steering wheel!

After everyone came, I asked them to pick one handbell and to play as an ensemble. Try to guess the title after you hear them play on the video below.

At the end of the concert, we celebrated Rik's birthday as he turned 15 on Friday. Happy birthday Rik! :)

The next home concert is scheduled on Saturday 19 March. Stay tuned!

AMEB Exam Session 5 (2010)

2011-02-23T12:38:00.000+11:00

Piano for Leisure Grade 2:
Honours

Piano for Leisure Grade 3:
Honours

Congratulations Moira & Hendrik
for achieving an award with Honours!

AMEB Theory Session 2 (2010)

2011-02-23T12:31:00.000+11:00

I just realized that I haven't post these achievements of my students AMEB theory exam in 2010.

Back then, I only had less than 4 weeks to prepare these students for their theory exams. I was in Jakarta due to the pass away of my father in June 2010. They came twice a week to catch up with the theory materials. I was worried due to the time constrain but I knew they would be fine.

Well done kids! Looking forward to another great result in 2011! :)

Grade 4 - High Distinction

Grade 3 - Honours

Grade 2 - Honours

Grade 2 - High Distinction

Learning Music Theory

2011-02-21T21:30:00.024+11:00

Today I'm starting to prepare my students for theory exams in May & June. I'm planning to finish up the theory book & learning all the terms and materials for each grade by end of March so my students can start doing some past exam papers in April & revisions in May.

I have 14 students registering for Theory Session 1. My youngest theory exam students this year will be age 8 (ameb) & age 7 (abrsm). Some of these students will be doing their practical exams in May & June.

Jazzy Rudolf (Arr. B. Nugroho)

2011-02-06T23:46:00.001+11:00

Nathalie Agnesia performs for the first time at RMDS 2010 Annual Piano Recital

An Unforgettable Performance by Rik Span

2011-02-06T23:43:00.002+11:00

RIK, started his lesson with me in 2007 and now he is in year 10. He made me & his parents proud last year during the Annual Recital. He gave a very entertaining appearance & performed his pieces well. This year, he is going to do 3 exams: Grade 4 Piano for Leisure AMEB, Grade 2 Theory & Grade 1 Jazz ABRSM.

Pieces from AMEB P-Plate Piano Book 1

2011-02-06T23:35:00.000+11:00

Josh Philip, 8 years old, performs for the second time at RMDS 2010 Annual Piano Recital

Serafim Putrifajar Performs at 2010 Annual Recital

2011-02-06T23:33:00.007+11:00

My youngest student, Serafim (7 years old) will be doing 3 exams this year: Preliminary piano AMEB, Grade 1 theory & Grade 1 piano ABRSM. She started her lesson in September 2010 in Surabaya, Indonesia. She went thru Yamaha programme for a couple of years and her parents decided to move to Melbourne. She is a brilliant little girl & always make significant progression every single week. I can't wait to see her amazing achievements this year.

This is her video of her performance in November 2010

Ria plays a medley of Coldplay

2011-01-31T16:51:00.005+11:00

Back in Australia!

2011-01-29T14:00:00.000+11:00

Hello everyone! Happy new year!!

I am back in Australia after 2 months holiday in Jakarta, Bali, Bandung & Vietnam with my mother & brother. It's good to be back here in Melbourne although for the last 2 days the weather has been almost (or perhaps reached) 40 degrees Celsius! It is even hotter than Jakarta...

Despite the extreme weather, I am excited to meet my students & to design an exciting programme for each one of them. I will post some videos of our 2010 Annual Piano Recital. They are available on my youtube channel.

2010 Annual Piano Recital

2010-12-15T10:00:00.000+11:00

Here are the videos of our piano recital this year.

It's only a short clip of 6:21 minutes in total so you can have a sneak peek of our most memorable recital.

Have fun watching! I hope you enjoy the videos :)

2010 Annual Piano Recital

2010-11-29T09:14:00.001+11:00

It was a concert to remember...

I had a super duper great time listening to my students performing, chatting with parents, students & friends as well as new friends.

God has been giving me THE best memorable experienceS this year. Some were too painful to remember but I could write a song & Let Go of every single feelings that I had. In the beginning, it was a tear of sadness, but now it has turned into to a tear of happiness :')

T H A N K Y O U to:

1. 100 audiences who attended yesterday. It wont be a successful event without your presence :) Sorry I couldn't greet all of you in person during the meal but I would like to know you all so please add my facebook & we can keep in touch for our next year's event.

2. My lovely helpers & photographer who did the work in background... You know who you are :) Next year, I need more people to help me during the pre-concert prep so I won't be so nervous :P

3. Parents & students who had generously provided the yummy food. Couldn't believe the feast we had yesterday!! :) I didn't get to taste all of them, but I'm sure they were lovely!

Thank you everyone for supporting my work, my hobby & my passion. We'll continue to work harder & harder next year.

With lots of joy, happiness & love,

Ria Angelika Polo
(On behalf of my students)

2010 Annual Piano Recital Promo Video 3

2010-11-16T21:21:00.001+11:00

General Rehearsal 1

2010-11-13T22:13:00.000+11:00

L-R: Peter, Ray, Stefanie, Serafim, Daniel, Tessa, Emilia

7 out of 14 performers came to my studio on a rainy Saturday. It was Serafim's first time performing with us & everyone liked her performance! :) She has a little surprise for us on the Recital day. You have to come & see it yourself. I assure you, it's NOT to be missed! :)

The final rehersal will be on Saturday 27 November, the day before the concert. I hope everyone can come to attend this very important rehearsal, because this year we are expecting audiences between 80 - 90 and we would like to perform at our best :)

2010 Annual Piano Recital Promo Video 2

2010-11-10T23:06:00.001+11:00

Meet the Musicians

Part 1

2010 Annual Piano Recital Promo Video 1

2010-11-03T17:37:00.002+11:00

4th Annual Piano Recital

2010-10-26T14:28:00.000+11:00

It is a month away to our 4th Annual Recital. Sunday 28 November will be the day that we are going to hold our concert this year.

I am glad that I finally found the right venue at the right time. Every year I have to struggle to find venues at an affordable rate. We couldn't hire the same venue as last year because the grand piano disappeared! Well, not exactly *Poof* out of nowhere, but now it's just a room with no piano...

I have started to list my students who are ready to perform.15 students on my list & 4 will be their first time performing at our Annual Piano Recital. This event is free to the public but by invitation only due to limited seats.

Stay tune for more update! :)

Alina Ibragimova (Moscow) & Cedric Tiberghien (Paris)

2010-10-19T19:00:00.000+11:00

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to organizing a musical outing with my students! Sometimes their parents would like to come along as well.

We attended a concert at Melbourne Recital Centre of Alina Ibragimova (Violin) and Cedric Tiberghien (Piano). The concert started at 7:00 PM and ended at about 10:00 PM. Some of us where feeling hungry so we decided to go and have a late dinner in the city.

I am loving my job more and more... it's my life, my passion & my hobby! :)

October Home Concert

2010-10-09T16:00:00.003+11:00

7 students (and 2 spectators) participate on the home concert Oct 9th. This concert serve 2 purposes: as exam & recital preparation. Their piano exam is in the next couple of weeks & end-of-year recital is a month away!

I am happy to see my students performing well this time. It cheers me up to hear my students play well as specially after having a long teaching sessions on Saturday.

At the next home concert, we will be focusing on performance aspect to inspire them to become a professional pianist one day :) I am glad that my students enjoy performing & even though they can get really nervous, but who's not nervous when you are on the stage?! You just gotta enjoy the feeling & treasure the moment when you are on the stage :)

Rik-Ray-Peter
Moira-Stacey-Tessa-Adi-Stefanie

Cake & chocolate time @ Brunetti, Carlton

Home Concert 25 Sept

2010-09-25T11:00:00.022+10:00

R-L: Nathalie, Stella, Tessa, Peter, Stefanie & Suminto

6 students came on Saturday's Home Concert. It was during school holiday so I decided to held it at 11 AM so we could head to lunch @ Lygon Street. That's the beauty of teaching based in Carlton! :) Lygon Street is just down the road & you can choose from Italian food to Asian food and dessert not to be missed!

3 students: Tessa (Grade 8 ABRSM), Stefanie (Grade 5 Jazz ABRSM) & Suminto (Grade 1 AMEB) were preparing themselves for their piano exams on Oct 29th & Nov 6th. While Agnes, Stella & Peter came to try their pieces for end of year concert in November.

~The next Home Concert is scheduled on Oct 9th @ 4 PM~

Lunch @ Indolicious & Dessert @ Il Dolce Freddo

The Truth Behind AMEB Session 4 Results! :D

2010-08-25T14:00:00.137+10:00

Matt - Piano for Leisure Grade 7 (A+)

I feel thrilled & excited whenever I see a big envelope from AMEB. Imagine a little girl receives a special gift for her birthday! :) I tear the envelope, take out the papers out of the envelope & open up the papers slowly... The first thing that I am looking forward, is the result box, which is located towards the end of the report: It is an A+ and A this time!! :)

It is a very special A+ and A because there is a drama behind these wonderful results. It all started with a very sad news when my mom called me to get a flight to Jakarta ASAP on Monday 21st June. It turned out my dad passed away the next day, while I was on the plane. I was daddy's little girl... A lot of people say that I look exactly like my dad.

I had to stay in Jakarta for 4 weeks until July 22nd to be with my mother & brother. In the mean time, these 2 students, Adi & Matt, were scheduled for their piano exam on Aug 21st & theory on Aug 25th. Adi was away from June and started his lesson on August 4th, meaning there was only less than 3 weeks to get ready for his exam!! Matt was thinking to postpone his piano exam until 2 weeks later. Not to mention, I have 2 other students, Ray & Emilia, scheduled for theory exam (oh noo...!!).

Being an organized person, who wants to be controlled of all situation, I started to panicking as well... but I know that my students will be fine. I really know their capability & their talent. Thank God I have wonderfully talented & smart students!! (this applies to all of my students too!) Yes of course, sometimes they are giving me hard time, but it was fun and I NEVER consider it as a burden. It is a process of learning & teaching between students & teacher.

When I came back in Melbourne, I started to call my students & scheduled their lessons to 2x a week. Adi came on every Wednesday and Friday. Emilia had double lessons on Thursday, Ray came on every Tuesday afternoon and Friday. Matt came on Monday 5pm and Thursday 7.30pm until 9pm!

In the end, "Hard work pays off!". When you work hard, spend time to study & practise, it will never go wasted! :)

Thank You:
God & daddy! I know they are helping me from heaven :)
Adi & Matt for working extra hard for these exams! I am really proud of you guys!!

Stay tune for their theory results!!

There was a drama behind the theory exam as well... Most of you would've know it from my facebook page.

Adi - Piano for Leisure Grade 5 (A)

Theory Trial Exam Session 2

2010-08-21T16:30:00.005+10:00

Today I organize a small trial exam at my studio. We start at 4.30 PM and they finish their papers at around 5.10 PM even though I give them 2 hours, then we go for a nice Italian dinner at Cafe Notturno in Lygon Street.

They will face the real theory exam on Wednesday at 2PM.

All the best kids! May the force be with you :)

Cafe Notturno, Lygon Street

Celebrating Ria's Birthday 2010

2010-08-14T16:00:00.005+10:00

What do I like about my job?

(Well it isn't a job really, it's more like a hobby)

I can organise a home concert to celebrate my birthday! :)

12 students came and performed their pieces that they are preparing for exams or end-of-year recital.

It's good to see my students meet together again since it has been awhile since the last home concert.

The next one will be in September and it'll be 2 months away until the recital!

How exciting!!! :)

Dan, Ray, Matt, Rik, Peter

Stella, Kina, Emilia, Me, Agnes, Tessa, Stefanie

Dan, Ray, Rik, Peter, Tessa, Stef

Stella, Matt, Agnes, Me, Emilia, Eggi

---------------------------

Presents from my students:

Playin' with Alicia Keys :)

2010-08-09T09:08:00.004+10:00

A special video that I made for my birthday today! :D It's my first birthday without hearing my dad saying "happy birthday" to me.

I dedicate this video for my dearest friends who have been supporting me & my family, especially daddy. I hope he likes this video.

Reuben Morgan / Hillsong Australia

2010-08-04T23:43:00.004+10:00

This is my arrangement of one of my favourite songs by Reuben Morgan/Hillsong Australia

My Redemeer Lives

I hope you'll enjoy watching my video
God bless you all! :D

I heart Indonesia 4

2010-08-01T14:20:00.002+10:00

One of the top hits of the legendary Indonesian rock band, DEWA19 (now known as DEWA). Composed by Ahmad Dhani. I added a small bridge section & modulation to the song.

Cintakan Membawamu Kembali

AMEB Theory Session 1 Result

2010-07-31T00:43:00.001+10:00

Congratulations to those who did their Theory exam in Session 1 AMEB

I am proud to see your excellent achievements!

Your hard work was certaintly paid off :)

Grade 2 - High Distinction

Grade 3 - High Distinction

Grade 2 - High Distinction

2010-07-23T00:25:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone!

I have returned safely to Melbourne from Indonesia.

I will be continuing my teaching sessions on Friday at my studio starting from 1 pm onwards.

I miss my students... I am looking forward to teaching them all again.

We are going to work really hard to prepare my exam students for their exams on the next 4 weeks.

The time is near but I believe that they will be ready to do well :)

Thank You...

2010-06-22T03:45:00.005+10:00

Dear Parents & Students & Friends of Ria MusicDesign Studio,

I would like to say thank you very much for your support for me & my family during this hard time. It was such a shocking news that I had to left Melbourne so suddenly.

My dearest father passed away on Tuesday 22nd June at 3.45am in Jakarta, Indonesia. I had no idea that he had left this world as I was on the plane from Melbourne to Jakarta. The original plans was I had a flight booked to Jakarta on Sunday 27th June & we made plans to travel around Indonesia for 2 weeks. My dad was looking forward to travel with the 3 of us: me, mom & my brother.

During his last few days in the hospital, he watched the last 3 of my videos that I posted on Youtube:
1) Burung Kakak Tua (Cuckatoo)
2) Bengawan Solo (Tribute to Gesang)
3) Naik-naik ke Puncak Gunung

I posted these videos hoping that he would feel happy & light and not thinking about his conditions. Mom told me that whenever dad viewed these video, he cried... I hope he is proud of me :)

I have been in Jakarta for about 3 weeks now to spend time with my mom & brother. I will be flying off to Melbourne on Wednesday 21st July and I will be teaching piano on the next day, Thursday 22nd July. I am excited to teach my students again. We are going to organize Mid-Year Recital in August & End-of-Year Recital in November plus lots of piano exams in between.

Thank you once again for all the love & support that you all gave for me & and my family.

I heart Indonesia 3

2010-06-07T19:00:00.000+10:00

A simple piano arrangement of Indonesian popular children's song & traditional song of Maluku:

Naik-naik ke Puncak Gunung

AMEB Session 1 & 2 Result

2010-06-05T00:58:00.003+10:00

Congratulations

Ray for obtaining A grading
&
Daniel for obtaining B+ grading
Grade 5 Piano for Leisure!

Well done boys!
Keep up the good work :)

I heart Indonesia 2

2010-05-31T14:35:00.002+10:00

A tribute to Indonesian renown composer, Gesang

Bengawan Solo

I arranged this song and added an element of Gamelan with a touch of classical & jazz influence.

Dedicated to my mom & dad, who love this song soooo much :)
and to my greatest piano teachers who taught me piano, Aisha Sudiarso Pletscher & Edmay Solaiman

Project 2 with Mahanugra Kinzana

2010-05-31T13:24:00.007+10:00

Brian Mcknight - Back at One

Katya Grineva Live in Melbourne

2010-05-29T20:00:00.004+10:00

The Arts Centre, Melbourne

We attended a solo piano recital by Katya Grineva, Moscow-born Romantic Pianist, at Hamer Hall right after the Advance Home Concert. It has been a while since we watch a professional piano recital. The last recital was by David Helfgott in 2009. I like to invite my students to watch live performance so they can learn something new from the experienced musicians.

Dinner @ Southgate Foodcourt

Advanced Home Concert 2

2010-05-29T16:00:00.001+10:00

Stella, Tessa, Myra,Kina, Nathalie, Stef, Adi & Peter

I am happy to announced that we have 2 additional students in the group. They are Stella & Nathalie. Stella performed Debussy's Arabesque while Nathalie came to visit & support my other students :) Also, it was Peter's last home concert as he will be leaving to Brisbane for the whole month of June.

Take care Peter. I hope you can still practice your exam pieces in Brisbane! :)

I heart Indonesia 1

2010-05-24T13:30:00.002+10:00

Jazzy version of Indonesian children's song:
Burung Kakak Tua
(Cuckatoo)

The birds right outside my window decided to join along with their beautiful chirping! :)

The University of Melbourne Chamber Orchestra

2010-05-22T21:00:00.000+10:00

We attended The University of Melbourne Chamber Orchestra on Saturday 22nd May at Melbourne Recital Centre. They performed pieces by Bach Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D BWV 1069, Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 21 & Beethoven Symphony No. 7 Op. 92.

We enjoyed all the 3 contrasting pieces from different music period. I think it was the first time my students saw a real life Harpsichord! :) Did I mention that the event was free of charge...?

Theory Trial Exam Session 1

2010-05-18T14:46:00.003+10:00

Peter, Rik, Dan & Ray

I organized 2 events at my studio on Saturday 8 May 2010:

Home concert for Daniel's grade 5 preparation, following by Theory trial exam for students who will be doing their theory exam on June 22nd. They had their theory lessons early this week to boost their confidence as well as mine.

All the best everyone!
You have done your hard work but it's not finish until the exam is over! :)

Melbourne Jazz Festival: Ahmad Jamal Quartet

2010-05-11T14:19:00.003+10:00

Ahmad Jamal (piano)

James Cammack (bass) & Manolo Badrena (percussion)

Herlin Riley (drums)

This year is my 1st time to participate on Melbourne Jazz Festival 2010. When I first saw the programme & found out that Ahmad Jamal will be one of the guest artist this year, I invited my students to attend this once-in-a-life-time opportunity. My students did not know what to expect from this concert but they certaintly left Melbourne Recital Centre in awe, speechless & amazed!

"Ahmad Jamal lets his fingers speak for itself.. Great skillfully jazz pianist... a virtuoso!"

Alfred Music: Professional Development for Piano Teachers

2010-05-11T13:32:00.002+10:00

Elissa Milne, Ria, Nancy Bachus & Geri Rea

On Thursday April 22nd 2010, I attended Alfred Music Professional Development Day for Piano teachers in Melbourne. It was a great opportunity for me to meet 3 famous authors: Nancy Bachus (US), Geri Rea (UK/AUS) & Elissa Milne (AUS).

Everytime I attend a piano workshop, I always get a fresh new idea & spirit to keep me fresh & excited to teach piano. Plus I can get the presenters to personally sign their books & take a picture with them :)

Nancy Bachus "Modern Piano Book" & Elissa Milne "Pepperbox Jazz"

Geri Rea & her piano book "Musical Menagerie"

Teaching on ANZAC Day

2010-04-26T22:20:00.043+10:00

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I write a journal entry about my teaching sessions. Today I have 6 students on my list starting from 9am until 4pm. They come early because it's public holiday here in Australia as we are remembering ANZAC Day.

In today's entry, I would like to share a short story about my job as a piano teacher here in Melbourne:

MariA, came at 2.30pm. She is one of my adult beginner students. She has a beautiful voice & she wants to be able to play piano to accompany herself while singing. She is studying full time at Victoria University & has a part-time job as well. Although she has all other activities, she still makes an effort to learn piano.
Today, she shared a story for about 1 hour of her stressful assignments. I did not know that she was not feeling okay because she still focus well during her lesson. She alway comes 30 minute earlier to practice on the piano as she does not have her own keyboard at home. At the end, she said thank you for listening & I could see she had a smile on her face again.

Teaching piano in Melbourne definately open up a new perspective on how I see myself not only as a teacher to my students, but also as a friend to support them eventhough we only meet for 30 minutes up to 60 minutes a week.

Myra, one of my ABRSM Grade 8 students, is preparing for her exam somewhere in June. We are focussing to strengthen her fingers & technique. There are a couple of exercises that she can do with scales & Hanon. I ask her to dissect her pieces & focus on practising the difficult parts. She will be running all of her exam pieces at the next advanced group home concert.

Next, I have 2 students, Matthew & DanieL, who will be doing their theory exam in May. Daniel will also having his piano exam on Saturday 15th May. He has a busy schedule in May. He has 2 AMEB Exams both practical & theory, he will be participating on the next advanced group home concert as well to run thru his classical pieces for Mid-year Recital. He will be doing Hanon & continue A Dozen A Day book 3 after his grade 5 exam.

StefaniE, one of my AMusA students, gave a great performance today. She will be doing her AMusA in Session 4 or 5 this year. She has been playing her exam pieces really well. She definately has got her own style of playing Tchaikovsky's October & Mozart's Sonata in G & Bach's English Suite No.3 even though this piece is still on progress. Next on the list will be Debussy Passepied. EmiliA, came after Stef. She is one of my AMEB Grade 8 students. She is focussing on her Chopin Waltz Op. 70 No. 2. She too, will be participating on the next advanced group home concert.

Introducing Ria's Premier SOLO Project

2010-04-21T22:32:00.001+10:00

Please feel free to write a feedback for me :)

Home Concert 2

2010-04-17T22:31:00.001+10:00

6 students came to Home Concert 2. It was designed for Ray to prepare him for his Grade 5 exam in the next 2 weeks. He surely performed his pieces well this week & everyone agreed to this. I hope he will perform well on his exam day! :)

After the concert ended, we had a small tournament of Mario Kart on DS. We shall arrange for a bigger tournament when more students come in the next session! I will ask my students to bring their own Nintendo Ds next time so we can have more fun :)

Introducing Ria's new project in 2010

2010-04-16T12:25:00.004+10:00

Project 1: Jamie Foxx - Heaven
Colaboration with Mahanugra Kinzana

Advanced Group Home Concert 1

2010-04-10T14:18:00.000+10:00

Welcome to our premier Advanced Group Home Concert. This is a new program in 2010 that I design specially for my Grade 8 & above students. I also encourage some of my Grade 5 students to participate at this concert. The idea is to achieve a high standard performance, which focussing to produce more musical performance than just the notes itself.

This concert also gives my students a chance to learn more academic materials such as music history. It is crucial for any piano students to know the history of the pieces that they are learning, in order for them to deliver a high quality of performance.

The next Advanced Group Home Concert is scheduled on Saturday 29th May. So stay tune to see how these students progress :)

School Holiday Day 3

2010-03-31T23:33:00.002+11:00

It is 4 days away till Easter & the easter chocolate eggs are still up for grab! :)

KinA is the first student on my list for today. She is a working piano student & comes on every Wednesday during her day off. We have set an exciting plan for her to achieve this year. She is learning Malaguena by Albeniz & she has to perform it for my very first Mid-Year Recital. She is also learning 2 other pieces, Chopin's Prelude & Bach Prelude No. 2 for End-of-Year Recital. She's nervous to do performance but she doesn't give up & take the challenge really well! :)

SaM, who is also a working piano student, comes at 3pm for her lesson. She is an adult beginner student, who just started her lesson on 17th March.

Adi is my last student on the list today. He has made an improvement for the last 2 weeks. Today we set down a date when he will be doing his Grade 5 exam AND we also decide to jump to Grade 7 after his exam. He looks excited & I hope he will do more practise & progress well every week :)

6 days before Easter Sunday!

2010-03-30T00:03:00.002+11:00

It is 6 days counting down till Easter Sunday so I have a bucket of easter chocolate eggs ready to be given for my students. Each one of them gets 1 chocolate egg & some of them take extra eggs for their siblings.

For those who miss this week's lesson, I will try my best to keep some eggs for you but I can't guarantee as it may be running out quickly! :)

There were 5 students on the first day of school holiday:

DanieL came at 11am while it was raining outside. We were focussing on Bach's Invention today. He still not sure with the notes, so we decided to go back to practise hand separately with metronome this time, to make sure that he is keeping a steady beat. He was very excited to perform this piece in Advance Group Class next Saturday. He really got Bee's Fur Elise & Axel F ready on his fingers! It's amazing to see how far Dan has progressed since the first time he had his piano lesson with me in 2008.

TessA came in the afternoon. Her lesson is actually on Friday but she will be away to Great Ocean Road during this long weekend. Even though she just came in on last Friday, she already made an improvement. She's very diligent in her work & a very hard working girl. We were focussing on Piazolla's Retrato de Alfredo Gobbi. She got the idea how to play this piece, although she needs to polish up the notes on the very last part of this piece :)

PegaH came straight after her work in CBD area. She just came back from France for 1 month & just started her piano lesson again recently. She will be doing Piano Grade 1 exam in September. She did her preliminary exam beginning last year & she is determine to take all grades even until diploma level :) I like her motivation & spirit in learning piano. She has been wanting to learn piano since she was little but didn't have the chance. Now, she's really taking piano seriously as her part of her life. It's been never been too late to learn piano! :) Learn it while you have the chance to learn it...

PeteR is another example of this. Music becomes part of his life and it's amazing to see how he performs his favorite pieces on the piano. He always participates in my Home Concerts & End-of-Year Recital. I recorded many videos of his performances. He will be away for 3 weeks but he has promise to take his theory grade 2 book with him so he can do his theory while he enjoys his holiday. I hope that'll works! :)

StefaniE also came straight after her work in CBD area. She has 2 exams to do this year: AmusA & ABRSM Jazz Grade 5. She will be participating in Eisteddfod Piano Competition 2010 in May. I'm also amazed on her dedication & motivation in learning piano. She's taking piano seriously & I hope she will become a piano teacher too one day :)

I am proud of my students, I am proud of every single one of them. Everyone is special & unique but in the end of the day, they all love music & they are taking this seriously :) I am a high achiever & I set a high expectation for them to do well in piano exams. I'm glad that my students are on the same page. They motivate & suport one another during home concerts.

I always remember Jane Bastien's Golden Rule "Treat each & every single child as if he or she were your very best student".

2010-03-25T11:25:00.000+11:00

Yankee Doodle duet between a father & a 7-years-old son. They perform this piece at Spring Music Carnival 2009.

Music From The Inside Out

2010-03-23T13:04:00.003+11:00

I saw an interesting tweet on riamusicdesign twitter this morning. It certainly got my attention to purchase the DVD & invite my students to watch it together.

Music From the Inside Out, a 90-minute documentary film made by Daniel Anker, tells a journey of Art & Life about 105 musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

P.S: I did not create the video
My purpose is simply to spread the word about the film

A Night with the Prince of the Piano

2010-03-21T19:18:00.009+11:00

On Friday 19th March 2010, my students & I went out to a 1st musical outing for this year: Prince of the Piano, Alan Kogosowski. He performed music by Frederic Chopin to honor the 200th anniversary of his birth (1810 - 1849).

I was drawned back to my childhood when I sat and listened to Kogosowski performance. I remember the first piece, that I learned with my first piano teacher, was Waltz Op. 64 No. 2. I was captivated by the heartfelt melody & the suspended chords in the left hand, following by a faster, more movement passage in the right hands. Since then, I wanted to learn more and more of Chopin's pieces even until now.

This year, I hope to inspire & encourage my students to learn at least 1 or 2 works of Chopin. Some students have started learning their favorite pieces.

After the recital, we headed to Sofia's Pizza House down the road in Camberwell. Take a look at the size of the food portions!

Fritto Misto - crumbed calamari, fish, shrimp & scallop

Pasta Mista - spaghetti carbonara, chicken & mushroom risotto & spaghetti sofia

Gelati - mix of ALL flavours!

Goose bumps from Bach, Mozart to Beethoven!

2010-03-16T00:04:00.001+11:00

I am proud of all of my students today! They make an amazing improvement from last week's lesson.

Let's start with StefaniE, who just had her birthday on Friday March 12th >>>Happy Birthday Stef!<<< She impressed me with her Mozart Sonata. She really captured Mozart's character in her playing. The playful slurs following by staccatos, She is going to play this piece for both her piano exam & Eisteddfod piano competition 2010 in May.

Next student is DaNieL. He came to Home Concert 1 on Saturday & played 3 pieces, and then 2 days later, he's going straight to the roof! He played Bach Invention No. 13 & Beethoven's Fur Elise. I didn't know how he did that but all I know, he gave me goose bumps! Even Celia, Dan's mother, who was reading a book & sitting comfortably on my super comfy bean bag, suddenly noticed him playing & got goose bumps as well! :) I invited Dan to come to advance home concert on the 10th April to test his performance in front of my grade 8 students. If he could perform those 2 like what he did today or even better, I will post it on my Youtube channel! Dan's interest in music has grown so much since the first time he had his first lesson with me. Now, he is getting more into classical music & his technique has improved so much a long the way. Well done Daniel! Keep up the good work!

Earlier today, EmiLiA came at 3pm for her lesson. She came to visit Home Concert 1 on Saturday & today, she could play Chopin's Waltz really well. She is starting to play both hands for page 1 & 2. I am confident that by next week or two. She surprises me with Bumble Boogie from Piano for Leisure book Grade 8. According to her little brother, Suminto, she has been learning it by herself at home. I request her to perform this piece for End-of-Year recital :)

MaTT is focusing to get one of his piece, Proud Mary. He has been practising the most difficult part, which is RH crotchet triplets & straight forward crotchet with quavers rhythm on the LH and he has succesfully tackle that part. Now he needs to make sure that the whole song will run smoothly without any hiccups.

The First Home Concert in 2010

2010-03-14T00:09:00.002+11:00

Welcome to Home Concert 1!

10 students came including duo brother & sister, Suminto & Emilia. I am glad that they could join us this year. I hope to see them perform with us in Mid-Year & End-of-Year Recital this year :)

We opened the concert by playing 2 musical games: Twister & Flashcard Quiz. Ray was the only student who has to play scale today. He will be doing Grade 5 exam sometime in April or May. Everyone named a scale & Ray has to play it from memory. At the end of the concert, everyone stayed around for a while and enjoy the small refreshments. This is one of the factors why my students love to come to Home Concert :)

One of them sent a short message to me:

"Ria, thanks again for the concert. It was nice to get away from homework for a bit :)"

From ABRSM Grade 8 to AMEB Grade 8

2010-03-08T22:42:00.003+11:00

This year, I have three Grade 8 students:

MyrA, whose lesson is on Sunday afternoon, will be doing her ABRSM exam in June/July. She chose Scarlatti's Sonata in B L. 446, Clementi's 1st movt Sonata in Bb Op. 24 No. 2 & Fats Waller's Alligator Crawl. She has learned them with her teacher in Malaysia probably two years ago & she came to me in July 2009. She has so much potential in her & I believe she will do well in her exam. She want to pass her exam but I want her to do more than just pass :) We are working on the technique & interpretation for each pieces. Her biggest challenge is to play octave & big chords with her small hands, but that doesn't stop her from learning Clementi & Fats Waller pieces.

TessA, whose lesson is on Friday after school hours, will be doing her ABRSM exam in October/December. She had her first lesson with me on May 2009. She has performed one of her pieces, Beethoven 3rd Movt Sonata in C minor Op. 10 No. 1, in Spring Music Carnival 2009 (http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/12/spring-music-carnival-2009-session-1.html) Now, she is learning Handel's Fugue No. 6 in C minor & Piazzolla's Retrato de Alfredo Gobbi.

EmiliA, who comes in on every Thursday morning just before her class at uni, decides to do AMEB Grade 8 & she selected these pieces for her exam: Bach Italy Concerto BWV 971 3rd Movt, Schubert Sonata in A minor Op. 143 3rd Movt, Chopin Waltz in F minor Op. 70 No. 2 & Poulenc Novelette in Bb minor No. 2. She is learning Chopin's Waltz & hopefully she will be ready to perform it for Mid-Year or End-of-Year Recital this year :)

Joyeux anniversaire, Moira!

2010-03-04T13:28:00.003+11:00

Joyeux anniversaire, Moira! She's turning 12 today but she will always be a 10 years old to me :) She's very friendly, bubbly & energetic little girl! She loves anything about panda and I hope she loves music & piano too :) It's been almost 3 years since she came for her first piano lesson with me.

She requested to learn all songs from HAIR the musical & I offered her a good deal today. As soon as she could play 2 of her Grade 2 pieces smoothly, we will learn any songs she wants from HAIR. I think she likes the idea, so we'll see how fast will she takes to mastering those 2 pieces.

Peter came earlier for his lesson today, so he saw the small present that I had for Moira, and he said that he is looking forward to his birthday because he knew what he will be getting from me, Ben & Jerry's ice cream! I gave Moira a mini-tub of Strawberry Cheesecake. They are absolutely yummy and rich in taste. Unfortunately, they did not pay me to say this. It's just an honest opinion from a very happy customer :) If you have twitter, click on this link to follow them http://twitter.com/BenAndJerryOz & don't forget to follow me http://twitter.com/riamusicdesign

I also wanted to share a short story about my morning teaching sessions Suminto & Kina.

Suminto is my improvisation student. He wants to be able to play freely on the piano. He is learning chords as well as scales & reading notes (and YES, scales, not only for classical pieces, but it's a very useful tools to learn chords!) I came from a strong classical background on both practical & theory since I was 5 years old, and I took lessons on learning improvisation, pop & jazz to balance out my interest in piano. His project for next week is to create 1 full song consist of a Verse, Pre-chorus and Chorus. I'll give an update next week.

Kina brought me a cup of latte this morning & it brighten up my day! :) We had a small chat before we commenced the lesson. She is learning classical pieces but she has an interest in learning pop songs. I designed a plan for her: she must performs classical pieces for mid-year recital & pop songs for end-of-year recital. She likes the idea & she is on the track! She is working full-time optometrist and yet she still have passion to learn piano. She also participated in Home Concerts & Spring Music Carnival last year.

Click here to view past entries about Kina:
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/03/home-concert-1.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/06/home-concert-5.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/12/spring-music-carnival-2009-session-2.html

Aujourd'hui est le premier jour de l'automne

2010-03-01T23:15:00.010+11:00

Bonjour tout le monde! Aujourd'hui est le premier jour de l'automne. The weather was perfect here in Melbourne: Sunny & a max of 22°C. Finally more wind and cool breeze instead of hot dry air! Just in case if you are wondering, I am learning a little bit of French & trying to use it regularly. So from now on, I might use 1 or 2 sentences in French & hopefully one day, I could write the whole entry in French! :)

I have 4 students in my schedule today & my first student, Adi, came at 12pm. He just came back to Melbourne 3 days ago from his long holiday. I am glad that he still remember how to play scale without any flat fingers! :) He will be doing Grade 5 Piano for Leisure in June or August. I will post his short profile next week after he writes his own music goal for 2010.

I have 2 theory students today & both will be doing Theory grade 3 exam in May. They need to memorize a list of musical terms from grade 1 up to grade 3 material. For example: Adagio, andante, prestissimo, con moto, meno mosso, morendo, agitato, dolce and so on. They also need to memorize 3 folk tunes set by AMEB and today we learn "the lone birch tree".

I encouraged my theory students to study each tunes by using scale degree as well as playing the notes on the piano, but first of all, we need to identify the key signature and then start to work on the scale degree. They can also sing the tune, if they want to. Some students are too shy to sing! :)

For the last 2 weeks, I assigned 1 topic for each week. I need to increase the doses starting from next week in order for them to be well-prepared for their exam. They did well for Grade 1 & 2 theory last time.

Click on these links to find out who they are:
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/10/theory-grade-2-result-2009.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2008/10/theory-grade-1-result-2008.html

Next on my list is Stefanie. She is preparing hard for her AMusA exam this year. She must do well for her exam as we are taking her pieces to the next level of performance. She has done well with her Mozart sonata in G major. She really picked the right sonata that suits her character. She has shown a significant improvement and great spirit of learning from the very first lesson this year. I hope she can continue to maintain the same spirit & even more until the end of year :) I have a great feeling that she will reach great improvement and achieve lots of achievements this year.

That's all for today... It's time for me to have a little bit of practice piano before I go to bed. I am going to post 2 videos this month. So keep an eye on it!

Introducing Moira

2010-02-24T21:19:00.001+11:00

Moira, 11 years Old

She came in for her lesson today at 4.00 PM... When she entered the door and sat at the bean bag, I found out that her left leg is wounded. She felt down somewhere along the way while she traveled to my studio with her brother. I take care of her before we start our lesson and put on the band aid.

I was worried that this little accident might disturb her concentration today, but amazingly it didn't affect her at all! She was giving me her best concentration & she successfully play both hands of Dance of Sugarplum Fairy halfway thru as well as Money Money Money. She could play D Major both hands smoothly! She will be doing AMEB Grade 2 Piano for Leisure & Theory Grade 1 this year.

She composed a blues piece called "Shaggy Blues" & performed it at Spring Music Carnival 2009.

2009 End of Year Gifts & Cards

2010-02-24T19:13:00.003+11:00

Who doesn't like gifts & lovely cards? Well I do! :)

Take a look at these gorgeous gifts that my students & their parents gave for me during the end of 2009. I love to read the cards that they wrote for me & I kept them in my personal black book, where my students wrote their testimonials as well as any cards that they have written for me in the past.

~Thank you everyone for your lovely gifts~

Week 3 Term 1

2010-02-17T20:06:00.007+11:00

Hello everyone, it's good to have my internet relocated to my new studio! It's very spacious here and it has wooden floor! I can't wait to organize home concerts this year and I am sure that my students will be looking forward to see each other again after these loooong holidays. Some of my uni students are still in overseas until today, but they will be back in March.

I promised to update my blog regularly so here's the first entry :)

We just started Term 1 around 2 weeks ago. We are now in Week 3 of Term 1. All the school kids seem very busy with their homework and other activities (sports!). Putting them through Session 1 AMEB might be a struggle here. I have to submit the form by 24th Feb the latest. But, I have a couple of students who are keen to do their exam in Session 1.

One of them is Ray, my piano student who has a big heart and passion in jazz! When he came for his 1st lesson back in the end of 2007, he has passed Grade 1 exam with his previous teacher and did not want to do anymore exam! I saw so much potential in him so I introduced him AMEB Piano for Leisure pieces and he fell in love with their jazz pieces. So he took the courage to do grade 2 exam in May 2008 and he was awarded a Pass in Honours! (A). Since then he was motivated to continue Piano for Leisure and even achieved an excellent result for his Theory grade 1. He always participate to any concerts that I organize and he always gets into it when he performs his jazz pieces! :)

This year he is preparing himself for Grade 5 piano for leisure. He's got his 2 pieces (Everybody's Blues & Jazz Exercise) & Eb plus Bb scales ready. He is still practising his last piece, Latin Touch. This piece is his most difficult one out of the other 2 that he chose. I like to give my students a challenging piece even my preliminary students. I do not allow them to pick all easy pieces. As much as I want them to get A+ for their exam, but I want them to reach that extra level of skill & technique after they have succesfuly tackle the challenging piece :)

He has set his goal for 2010 and this is what he wrote:
1) To get a good grade for all of my exams. Aiming for A+ and never below A
2) To get an excellent mark for Theory Grade 2
3) To do more public performances
4) To participate in duet performance and play his favorite flute

Please click on these links to find out more about Ray's achievement:
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/06/student-testimonial.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/06/ameb-exam-result-session-2-3.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2008/11/ameb-exam-result-session-5.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2008/10/theory-grade-1-result-2008.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2008/05/ameb-exam-result-session-1.html

Please click on these links to watch Ray's performances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKhjMI2CbGU
http://www.youtube.com/riamusicdesign#p/u/3/0VwwEMwhHrU
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/02/music-extravaganza-2008.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/12/spring-music-carnival-2009-session-1.html
http://ria-musicdesign.blogspot.com/2009/11/2009-annual-recital-promotion-video.html

Welome to 2010!

2010-01-25T12:45:00.004+11:00

Dear readers,

Thank you for your support & time in reading my blog. It has been 2 years since I posted my first ever entry in January 2008. I am very excited to start my teaching journey again and looking forward to post my students' achievement in this blog & Youtube.

This year, I am going to post more of videos of my playing and improvisation from jazz, pop to hymns :) So, stay tune and keep posting comments & messages for me... Because I love to read them! :)

Love,

Ria

Spring Music Carnival 2009 (Session 2)

2009-12-06T21:45:00.006+11:00

Here is a video of our 2009 Recital, Spring Music Carnival.

Thank you everyone for coming & supporting your performers.

Also, thank you to all of my students, for giving us beautiful performances.

Looking forward to have another successful Recital in 2010! :)

Spring Music Carnival 2009 (Session 1)

2009-12-06T21:43:00.001+11:00

AMEB Session 5 Exam Result

2009-11-27T01:31:00.001+11:00

Congratulations Adi Janitra for obtaining an award "A Pass with High Distinction (A+) for his Grade 4 Piano for Leisure"

2009 Annual Recital Promo

2009-11-16T10:51:00.009+11:00

ABRSM Jazz Piano Grade 3

2009-11-03T16:33:00.015+11:00

Here are the videos of one of my students, Stefanie, who took The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) Jazz Piano Grade 3 recently

Barrelhouse Blues by Tim Richards

A Smooth One by Benny Goodman

A Spanish Sketch by Terry Seabrook

Ria performs Fragmen composed by Jaya Suprana

2009-10-28T14:48:00.005+11:00

A wonderful piano solo piece with a touch of Indonesian traditional music composed by Indonesian renown composer, Jaya Suprana.

The piece opens with a peaceful atmosphere and it ends with a fiery rhythm of Kendang & Gamelan.

~Performed at Melba Hall, The University of Melbourne, Australia on Sunday 25th October 2009~

2009 Annual Recital - Preparation

2009-10-26T23:13:00.003+11:00

Today I listed down all the things that I need to prepare for 2009 Annual Recital:

The first thing on the list was to print out the invitations. 16 envelopes are ready to be distributed to my students. Then I order 'the surprise gifts' for my students. I hope they will like it! :)

I also made some arrangements for the room that we are going to use. It is going to be very different than the last 2 Annual Recital that we had previously.

During my teaching sessions today, we are focusing into the pieces that they are going to perform for the recital. Each students play 2 pieces of different styles & tempo. We made some funky & different arrangements to some of the pieces, aiming for more performance elements :)

The Last Home Concert for AMEB Exam 2009

2009-10-24T23:46:00.000+11:00

Today we have our last Home Concert Series for AMEB Exam. 6 students come but only 4 of them (ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 6 Piano for Leisure) will be doing their exam on next Saturday 31st October 2009. They have been working really hard for this exam & I hope they will do well.

I will be going with them to AMEB office at Auburn Road in Hawthorn, to give them support & encouragement. It has been a long time since I attended their exams because I teach piano from 9am - 3pm on Saturday, but next Saturday is a public holiday, Melbourne Cup day.

Keep practicing hard kids! The journey hasn't ended yet until next Saturday! :)

2009 Annual Recital

2009-10-23T22:21:00.003+11:00

We are 4 weeks away from our 2009 Annual Recital. We decided to held this year's recital on Sunday 22nd November, so I can spend more time with my students before I left Melbourne for Indonesia to visit my family for Christmas & new year's holiday.

16 students will be performing this year and they have chosen their favorite pieces range from Classical, pop to jazz pieces. I will be performing one of Beethoven's piano sonata & a short jazz prelude by Gershwin.

I have taken some pictures of the performers & will post it soon once I have everyone's. It's going to be excited & fun! If the weather is cool, bright & sunny that day, we will enjoy the refreshments right outside the courtyard.

So stay tune & keep an eye out for further information including pictures, videos & the name of the recital! :)

NEW Video by Peter "Georgia on My Mind"

2009-10-15T11:36:00.008+11:00

Here is a new video performance by Peter.

He just turned 50-years-old this year but he is young at heart :)

He still wants to keep learning piano & perform his favourite piano pieces in public.

Keep up the good work Peter!

Theory Grade 2 Result 2009

2009-10-12T23:35:00.002+11:00

Congratulations for your great achievement!

Home Concert for Session 5 AMEB

2009-10-11T16:41:00.003+11:00

We had a repertoire class on Saturday, as a preparation for Session 5 AMEB exam. They will be doing exams from Grade 1 piano for leisure up to Grade 6 piano for leisure on 31st October 2009.

Stay tune for the next home concert series!

Boys' Home Concert

2009-09-05T18:16:00.008+10:00

There were 5 boys participated in the home concert. We had music games before they started playing their pieces.

I am happy that Elhaq, my new student, participated as well. He will be doing his 1st grade classical exam next year. No doubt he has musical talent and he is improving on his technique.

David Helfgott in Recital @ Arts Centre, Melbourne

2009-08-20T00:02:00.014+10:00

"David Helfgott's solo recital was without a doubt an eye opener for any musicians and non-musicians alike. His agile and precise finger acrobatics combined with his refined interpretation of the great masterpieces of the past truly defy one's expectation. His incredible ability to focus and execute a song in such a gusto right from the moment his finger touches the key of the grand piano still haunts me to this very day.

I particularly find his performance of the prelude in G minor op. 23 no. 5 by S. Rachmaninov as well as his execution of Khachaturian's Sabre Dance especially entertaining and definitely worth of a standing ovation.

I left the recital feeling very inspired and almost spiritually lifted. As some may remember during the end of performance, I declared that one can tell a great pianists among the ordinaries when he makes a hard piece sound so effortlessly easy that you think you would be able to execute it in no time as well!

In short, that is exactly what a great musician like David Helfgott does to me."

by Adi Janitra

Home Concert 6

2009-08-19T00:55:00.007+10:00

I organize a home concert for my Grade 8 & Diploma students on Saturday 15 August 2009. It is their first time to play for one another. They feel very nervous but in the end they feel comfortable & we have a good girls' time.

Grade 8 ABRSM

AMusA AMEB

I will organize many more home concerts for them because they need more support from one another. My goal is always to achieve the best result for them :)

Celebration "Quarter of a Century"

2009-08-09T01:26:00.021+10:00

Student Testimonial

2009-07-23T00:44:00.028+10:00

Written in Dec 2007

~ Peter is my first student in Melbourne. He started as an adult beginner & has taken Grade 1 to Grade 3 piano exams. He learned various pieces from Chopin, Ray Charles, Tchaikovsky to Moon River. Now, he is preparing for Grade 4 ~

>> Here is a video performance by Peter <<

Parent Testimonial

2009-07-23T00:30:00.002+10:00

AMEB Exam Result Session 3

2009-06-30T21:49:00.008+10:00

This is a picture of Pegah & her first piano exam certificate! :) She's very excited because she just did her first preliminary piano classical exam and achieved B+. Bravo Pegah!

Now, she is eager to take Grade 1 classical exam on November during Session 5. We will work hard to make sure that she will be ready for it & achieve a greater result! :)

Student Testimonial

2009-06-30T15:09:00.005+10:00

>> Click here to view Ray's Jazz Performance <<

Bon Voyage!

2009-06-30T01:11:00.007+10:00

I have been teaching this 5 years old girl from February 2009. She has showned a great improvement since then. Her skills to read the notes are fluent as well as gaining more strength in her lil fingers!! :)

Unfortunately, she will be leaving Melbourne for 9 months. Before she left, she gave a solo performance of Old McDonald had a farm & a duet of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - The song of Mary Poppins. She did fantastically & the audience loved it!

I am looking forward teaching her again in the future...

~Bon Voyage~

AMEB Exam Result Session 2 & 3

2009-06-30T00:52:00.005+10:00

Well done boys! Keep up the good work! :)

AMEB Piano Workshop Presented by Dr. Mark McGee

2009-06-30T00:19:00.003+10:00

This is a picture taken from a piano workshop which was organized by AMEB for piano teachers

I attended this event with my A.Mus.A student, Stefanie. Stef & I received a lot of useful information about the new syllabus as well as teaching tips from the presenter, Dr. Mark McGee.

Towards the end of the workshop, he analyzed Mozart - Sonata in G K283, which Stef is learning for her A.Mus.A exam in Session 4 2009. We were lucky to attended the workshop & hear some of the expectations from the examiner himself.

Ria MusicDesign Studio goes online!

2009-06-17T14:12:00.003+10:00

Hi everyone! I've signed up for Youtube and post the videos there (It is also available on the right hand side of this blog). Please feel free to drop a comment & rate on the videos. Some of you may already done so in my Facebook & Twitter account - Thank you! :)

Please stay tune for more exciting videos! I will post videos of myself playing on the piano oneday :) Also, don't forget to add me on your Facebook & Tweet @riamusicdesign.

Home Concert 5

2009-06-13T17:51:00.011+10:00

Today only 4 students come to Home Concert 5, but everyone likes the ambience today. They feel less nervous performing in front of 3 other students.

Ray is the only one who will be doing his exam on next Saturday. Each students ask 3 scales & Ray has to perform it well.

Rik gives his debut performance of "The Entertainer" today. He performs it well. The piece suits his character: Fun, easy going & entertaining!

MSO Superheroes Concert

2009-06-06T23:41:00.019+10:00

It was a fun & entertaining concert! The music, the lighting & everything was good! We sat at the balcony & filled up the whole line. Anthony Inglis was the conductor and he certainly was an interesting & entertaining conductor I've ever seen. He turned into SUPERMAN at the end of the concert (while the orchestra performed the theme)!

I always enjoy the MSO Pops events. They play musics that are easy listening & something that we can relate to. In this event, they play Superheroes theme. Music from Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Robin Hood, Indiana Jones, The Incredibles, Harry Potter, Gladiator (Russel Crowe's film) & the one and only, James Bond.

We had dinner at Southgate Foodcourt, just under neath the Arts Centre. There are a lot of varieties of yummy food. Good food before the concert! :)

Lesson Update

2009-06-05T13:20:00.002+10:00

It was an exciting & challenging first week in June! Students are learning new pieces & scales.

This week, we are focusing into the scales, as this is the very important element of the exam & learning piano! :) I assign 1 scale in a week for them to practice at home and suggest a "Practice-Scale-Method" to achieve the perfect smooth running scale. If they do practice the method everyday, they can play the scale without no hesitation on the following lesson. Students are also required to practice "A Dozen A Day" & "Schmitt or Hanon" everyday at home.

When learning new piece, I always break it down into smaller section. We analyze the piece during the lesson, so that the students will gain more understanding about the pieces before they learn the notes. By analyzing the piece, students will be able to learn the notes easier & faster section by section. That is what I am aiming for: effective practice.