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Piano Practice

MEGA Piano Festival

Brand new this year!  What a fun new venture for our students to explore - the JOY of ensemble playing.  This concert event highlights six pianos on stage with different ensemble groupings of 2-3 students, including LOTS of fun and exciting repertoire, and a special teacher feature!  Students must audition to participate in this event, so plan ahead!

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Open to students studying piano.

Event Details

Event Date | May 3, 2025

Audition Deadline | February 9, 2025

Location | Trinity Lutheran Church, Vancouver

Register students online.  Mail a check made payable to MTACC to the Festival Chair within one week with registration fees.

Piano on Stage

Festival Chairs

Have questions about the MEGA Piano Festival?  We have answers!

MEGA Piano Festival!

​"Want young people to work together? Put them in a music ensemble. Want them to listen to each other? Put them in a music ensemble. Want them to learn the importance of personal responsibility? Put them in a music ensemble. Want them to connect? Put them in a music ensemble." ~ Vaughan Fleischfresser

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Six pianos on stage with different ensemble groupings of students and a special teacher feature!​  What are the skills that this festival can teach our students?

Playing with a Metronome

For some students, this is intuitive, but it takes practice and can often be VERY difficult.  Students who audition for this event will be required to demonstrate their ability to play with a metronome.

Page Turning

This skill may seem intuitive, but we pianists who play collaboratively know how hard it is to device exactly where to choose which hand to leave on the keyboard so we miss the fewest notes!

Sight Reading + Technique

In solo playing, we focus on mastering just one way of playing.  In ensemble playing, this is not an option.  Strong sight-reading skills make us more adaptable.  Adaptability is essential and the foundation of a strong technique.

Continuity

Pianists usually practice and perform alone, so students will learn the ability to keep going, no matter what!  Students will practice with recordings, live with their piano partner, and finally with other pianists and a conductor.  All this focused practice adds "continuity" to the vocabulary of musical skills.

Responsibility to Others

Unlike private lessons where unpreparedness is more easily forgiven, it is not acceptable to cop out on your partner once you've committed to learning a duet.  Peer pressure, in the best sense, can be a powerful incentive to completing a piece.

Following an External Tempo

Playing in an ensemble means careful listening and observing the conductor, while simultaneously watching the music and your hands!  There is a lot going on in ensemble playing - multi-tasking at its best!

Festival Guidlines

Festival Guidelines​

  • Teachers registering students will be expected to assist with the event

  • Concert ticket suggested donation for all non-participants: $20 each.  Participating students receive one free ticket

Rehearsal Guidelines + Schedule

  • Specific audition times and rehearsal schedules will be organized in February following registration and auditions.  Students are required to be present at all rehearsals.

  • Teacher's deadline for registration forms, audition videos (format TBD), and fees: February 9, 2025

  • 1st Rehearsal (location TBD): Date TBD

  • 2nd Rehearsal (location TBD): Date TBD

  • Final Dress Rehearsal (location TBD): May 3, 2025 from 9am-3pm

  • Concert: May 3, 2025 at 4:30pm

Repertoire Guidelines

  • Studio most own a copy of the original score and teachers may photocopy for their own students

  • Purchased digital downloaded sheet music must be contained in a black binder (no loose sheets) or on a digital device

  • It is expected that students have practiced with the practice recordings, found here.  These recordings are provided for your benefit to play along with the recordings.  This will help you know exactly what the other part(s) sound like, and should make our rehearsals easier for ALL!

  • Make any needed corrections to pieces as indicated on repertoire notes

  • Students are required to attend ALL scheduled rehearsals

Student Fees

  • Registration Fee: $25, including adult participants ($35 non-MTACC member price)

  • Please mail checks made payable to MTACC to the Treasurer within one week of registration

Auditions​​

  • All students should be prepared to submit a video recording of their pieces recorded with the metronome.  There will be a practice suggestion page that will indicate performance tempo suggestions as well as any other material that we want the students to emphasize in preparation for their recordings.  Students should know their music well enough that they can keep an eye on the conductor.  This is especially important at the beginning of the piece and at cadences or changes of tempo. 

  • It is a privilege to be chosen to play in this event.  We encourage students to learn and submit recordings for at least two different pieces to increase their chances of getting to perform.  A student need not learn both a primo and secondo part, but they may if so desired.  Every attempt will be made to accept as many students as possible, but if there are too many students for a specific piece, they might not be able to perform all of the pieces they audition form - even if they are very good.

  • Audition results will be available to teachers by February 15th.  Judges' audition decisions are final and cannot be changed.

Student + Parent Policies

  • Please direct all communications regarding the Festival to your teacher, not the conductors.

  • By participating in this event, you are giving consent to being video recorded.  The video will be shared on YouTube and any other media platforms of MTACC's choosing. 

  • All rehearsals are mandatory with the exception of an emergency or illness. 

    • Parental notification of a missed rehearsal must be communicated strictly to the teacher.  The teacher will then pass the information to the Festival Chairs.​

    • Please note, students who miss more than one rehearsal OR the final dress rehearsal will not be allowed to play in the concert. 

Concert Attire

  • TBA

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