Composer of the Month and Virtues for Virtuosos

At the Piano Academy, we believe that getting to know the music of the masters is an essential part of a well-rounded musical education. To help our students do this, we highlight one composer each month with a worksheet about each composer's life and music as well as a sample playlist of piano and chamber works for students to listen to. Not only is it awesome music, but completing the worksheet and listening to the pieces on the playlist earn extra music bucks at Piano Academy lessons! (Download the worksheets here)

Along with the rest of the Conservatory, the Piano Academy also spotlights one character trait each month - our "Virtues for Virtuosos!" It's our hope that our students will recognize that the benefits of piano lessons go far beyond the physical ability to play an instrument; studying music can help us become better people in every aspect of our lives. As Henry Ward Beecher once wrote, "Music cleanses the understanding; inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself."

Here's the list of composers and virtues for 2016. We hope that you will take a few minutes each month to discuss some of the music of the masters as well as the ways in which music is helping your family to develop both talent and testimony. (Links on the composers' names are to the UPC playlists for each composer - not an extensive list by any means, but hopefully something to get you started!)

Composer of the Month
Virtues for Virtuosos

January
Chopin
Discipline

February
Scarlatti
Charity

March
Debussy
Patience

April
Bartok
Obedience

May
Schumann
Confidence

June
Bach
Respect

July
Mozart
Joy

August
Beethoven
Persistence

September
Rachmaninoff
Work

October
Liszt
Sacrifice

November
Haydn
Gratitude

December
Schubert
Sensitivity