This time of year always makes me reflect. You see, it’s recital season for my students. Each April, the Herman School of Music, in Lithia, Florida, has what I call our Spring Recital Celebration and Awards Ceremony. The students who choose to participate, perform on a large stage at the historic Friday Morning Musicale Building in Tampa, Florida. Week after week, students come to my teaching studio for piano lessons; they have played and practiced piano pieces, forged through frustration, persevered even though it’s difficult, and learned patience. They begin to see progress as talent unfolds; confidence begins to blossom.
Then…the performance! One by one these young pianists perform beautifully and as they bow, hearing applause, the expression and exhilaration on each face is priceless. It again becomes clear the many things we learn from the study of music.
No matter what our age, musical expression speaks in ways that words cannot.