CONGRATULATIONS MIA QUINN!!

Mia Quinn, who lives in Franklin and studies voice at Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios, has been awarded the National Gold Medal of Excellence for 2016-2017 in Preparatory Voice, with a remarkable score of 97. The Royal Conservatory of Music awards the National Gold Medal to the student who has achieved the highest score in the country within their specific skill level for each instrument. Mia, now 11 years old, has been studying voice, as well as performing and recording albums with the Recording Ensemble at Encore for over two years. Under the guidance of her vocal instructor, Lisa Ostrow, (who has guided students to national gold medals twice before), Mia began her studies in voice using the curriculum of the RCM right from the start.

The Royal Conservatory of Music provides a recognized national standard of success in music study from beginner to advanced levels. It inspires excellence through individual student assessments that are central to the Program, while also supporting teachers with high-quality and innovative resources. The RCM allows students to measure and celebrate accomplishment and track their progress throughout the country. All students and teachers across the United States are invited to participate, and Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios is proud to be able to offer these opportunities at the school and through outreach to the surrounding communities.

A number of students from Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios, located in Franklin and Millis, participate in the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) assessment sessions each year. The RCM assessment process represents an extremely exciting opportunity for students, on a national level, to demonstrate the skills that they have honed through practice. Locally, assessments are held at Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios, which is a Founding School and a regional assessment center for this internationally-acclaimed program. Student participants come from all around the New England area to take the assessments, while adjudicators travel from all across Canada in order to administer the exams. Not only do the adjudicators judge students based on ability to perform on the instrument of their choice within their skill level, but they also administer academic assessments in music theory, harmony, history, and analysis.

Ostrow, Vocal Director and co-owner of Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios, had this to say:

“Mia’s accomplishment is extraordinary. Having scored an unprecedented score of 97 on her vocal assessment, her National Gold Medal is a true testament to the dedication she brings to her music studies, the level of support she receives from her family, her innate talent, and her tremendous desire to achieve. And, best of all, Mia is an absolute joy to work with – fun and funny, and incredibly sweet. We are very proud of her, as we are of all our students.”

In December, 2017, Mia received First Class Honors with Distinction on her Level 1 vocal assessment with a score of 92, and is on her way to perform at Carnegie Hall as a result of having won her Gold Medal!

For the assessments, students are graded on proficiency in the following areas: Performance; technical requirements; aural skills; rhythm; and, sight-reading ability. Encore will be hosting another round of regional assessments this spring and is very much looking forward to the opportunity to meet and interact with young musicians from all over the Northeast.

Wow! What an honor to be voted “Most Loved Music Lessons” by our community and surrounding towns. An online platform called Hulafrog ran a contest for the month of January 2018 for the most beloved family-friendly businesses in our area. Parents voted on their favorites, and Encore was the top contender for the category of music lesson provider! This would not be possible without our amazing faculty and staff, as well as our amazing clients. Thank you all for your continued support! Check out the link here.

Here’s the link to the Fox 25 website and our interview for the upcoming Encore Music Education Foundation scholarship event.

http://www.myfoxboston.com/news/award-winning-recording-artist-harvard-grad-teaches-music-in-franklin/11091202

Thank you to Fox25 News for their wonderful news story about the release of our holiday album entitled, “DECEMBER”! The album is available for pre-order by calling 508-533-7700 and will be available for pick-up on December 20 at our CD Release Party and Scholarship Fundraiser at the Milford DoubleTree, or on December 21 at Encore Music Academy in Franklin and Millis! Thank you, Fox25! If you missed it, watch it online at www.myfoxboston.com and click on videos.

Jordan Rich recently interviewed Lisa Ostrow and Pat Dreier for his feature, Weekend New England Minute, on WBZ Radio 1030. The interview will air over the weekend. If you would like to donate to the Encore Music Education Foundation, or purchase tickets to the CD Release party and scholarship fundraiser at the Doubletree Hotel in Milford, please call us at 508-533-7700 or email us at info@encoremusicacademy.net.

Encore Music Academy’s faculty member, Ronald Hawkins has been nominated for the 2016 GRAMMY’s Music Educator Award. The Recording Academy, in partnership with the GRAMMY Foundation, created this award to bring attention and recognition to the teaching profession in general and to school music teachers in particular. Winners will receive an award along with a monetary grant. Additionally, one teacher will be selected to attend the Special Merit Awards Ceremony, the Annual GRAMMY Awards Telecast and other events during GRAMMY Week 2016 in Los Angeles, CA. Ronald Hawkins also serves on the piano faculties at The Conservatory for the Arts, Calvary Music School, and is the Arts Coordinator at Capital Prep Magnet School.

Music, like mathematics, sign language, English, Braille, or Russian – to name only a few – is a universal language, recognized by millions around the world. It is one of the few languages understood by everyone, felt by everyone, expressed by everyone in some small way, from the lullaby sung to a child, to the famous symphony composed by a deaf man by the name of Beethoven. It speaks to the heart, soothes the soul, and rocks our world!

Music theory, the study of written musical notation, is the Roman alphabet of English, the Cyrillic alphabet of Russian, and the calculation symbols of mathematics. As with any language we speak, it is essential that we be able to read and write it, in order for us to be fully literate in that language. It is for this reason that music theory should be studied, along with an instrument of choice, in order for the student to be fully fluent and conversant in the world of music.

Imagine how comfortable it would be for a student who has studied theory to be able to walk into an audition and know what it means when the director asks them to sing the song a minor third down, or to transpose the melody to the key of F# major on the piano. Imagine how, if the student had not been exposed to theory, he or she would feel as the director spoke in a language, bewildering and unfamiliar. “Now that you have sung that for me, I think it’s too high; transpose it down a fourth and then sing it again, this time in 3/4 time. Oh, and I only want to hear it from the coda.” What???

For the student only interested in learning to play music as a hobby, theory is still an important component. Some people learn Russian, maybe just as a hobby or because they are going to Russia on vacation. When they get there, they can speak the language well enough to get around, but they can’t read the signs! They’re all in Cyrillic, and their spoken language skills are just enough to get by, but not fluent, by any stretch. So, they wander around, not being able to read the signs, the menus, or the train schedules, much less the name of their hotel. They suddenly feel a bit at a disadvantage, despite the fact that they can speak a few words and sentences. They may even begin to feel a bit lost in a world completely foreign to them.

So it can be with music. The guitarist, who has been learning to play a few songs, suddenly has the opportunity to sit in with a band, but when he gets up there to play, the bandleader says, “Okay then, “Dust In The Wind”, key of E minor”, but the guitarist has only ever played it in A minor (or at least, he thinks that’s the key he plays it in), and so he has no idea what to do, how to transpose it, and he suddenly feels lost, just like that tourist in Russia. Even the most basic beginning theory would be enough to have made the guitarist literate enough in the language of music to have been able to speak knowledgeably with the bandleader, transpose on the fly, enjoy the song.

The serious student, however, really has no choice but to study theory. Those interested in auditioning for college music schools and programs, audio recording engineer programs, or performance programs and opportunities, must learn to speak and write the language of music. If they don’t, it would be akin to becoming a French translator without being able to write the language, spell words, or know which accents go where.

Encore Music Academy and Recording Studios is deeply committed to ensuring that all of our students, whether they are hobbyists or college-bound music majors learn, at the very least, even the most basic theory. We feel we would be doing a disservice to our students were we to ignore such an essential component of music. After all, theory is music, and music is theory.

* Beginning theory classes have begun, and we urge our students to sign up and experience an essential part of music culture. Please call or email us for further information and class times. We really hope to see you there!