Category: Latest News

SCMT Christmas 2018 Concerts

What a triumph!  An amazing weekend of performances.  What a happy, inspired and exciting bunch you are.  Here is a photo from Concert 1 which showcased the youngest of our pianists.  Most were performing in public for the first time.  We were all massively impressed and can’t wait to see you again next year!

Thank you to all the parents, friends, tutors and extended families that came to support their loved ones.  Performance is the key to confidence and progression… and your presence on the day makes their whole musical journey worthwhile and unforgettable.

Have a wonderful Christmas,

With love from Susanna and the whole SCMT team

We’ve joined forces with The Piano Shop Bath!   www.thepianoshopbath.co.uk. They quite simply sell the best acoustic pianos anywhere in the South and have an enormous selection catering for ALL budgets and tastes. We visited the shop recently and were blown away by their passion, dedication and service. What a team! You simply must have a look on their website.  We can’t wait to work alongside them, building and nurturing and inspiring our community of young musicians in the South. Exciting times ahead…

SCMT Music Tuition expanded to Bath in 2016 and is growing fast. Click here to find out more about music lessons in Bath.

Time is flying past!  We have now booked our Christmas 2018 Concerts – for Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd of December.

We really hope you are all free to play something, so please put it in your diary now as we know your weekends in the run up to Christmas can get very busy.  As usual all instruments, solos, duets and ensembles are very welcome.  The concerts are free choice and welcome all ages and abilities.  If you are new to us, please be assured that it’s a very relaxed environment and a great opportunity to play for friends and family in a beautiful venue.  Complete beginners are very welcome too (in fact we have entire concerts dedicated to you!).

Concert dates and details:

Saturday 1st December, 8pm:  Adults and advanced teens.

Sunday 2nd December, 2pm – 7pm:  Four concerts for young musicians and beginners.

Venue:  Brighton Unitarian Church, New Road, Brighton, BN1 1UF.

Entry deadline:  Friday 2nd November.  Entries will be accepted after this date provided there is space still available.

(you will be scheduled to play on the date considered most relevant to you.  If you can’t make one of the dates, please specify upon entry)

Please note:

1.  Guest price:  £5 adults (payable on the door, cash only – the concerts are free to all children under 16… and concert performers).  
2.  Maximum of 1 or 2 pieces per performer.  Total performance time of 3 minutes (Sunday concerts) and 6 minutes (Saturday Concert).
3.  Performance lists, inclusive of your particular concert time, will be emailed to you once the deadline has passed and performances have been collated.  Full programmes will be supplied on the door free or charge.   Drinks and nibbles will be served throughout as usual, also free of charge.
4.  You can either submit your entry to Susanna in person at this email address, or ask your tutor to.

We can’t wait to see you all there!

MUSIC IN SCHOOLS…….

Congratulations to our piano teachers Athena, Eleanor and River who have secured more teaching roles (1 on 1 piano tuition) within The Drive Prep School in Hove, The Endeavour Academy in Oxford and Glenesk prep school, located between Guildford and Leatherhead.  A brilliant achievement, securing yet more term-time relationships and enabling children to learn within the school day… or on site straight after school!

If you’re interested in piano lessons in Guildford, our Guildford school page includes all our tutors and opening times.

We’re so proud of the roles that our tutors play in creating learning environments that continuously inspire our pupils on their musical journeys.  Ask your school for more details about the options SCMT can offer, or contact us direct!

What an amazing weekend we had celebrating our young musicians.  Hundreds of eager music pupils and parents making the most of the opportunity to play their music in front of an excited crowd.  Thank you all for coming and supporting us and enabling us to raise lots of money for our chosen charity (Fun in Action for Children, total raised to be confirmed by the end of this week).  Music lives to be let out!!!

We wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!  SCMT has some amazing new music teachers joining us this week.  Have you contacted us yet to arrange some lessons?  Here is Elena (pictured), fully vetted and ready to go.  Five more are also waiting in the wings.

The first lesson is free and without any obligation. Pay as you go if you’d prefer. Lessons at home at no extra cost. A free starter pack. Brilliant concerts to perform in. Dedicated, engaging, inspired, happy tutors ?.   Come and join us on our musical adventure…

Check out our list of tutors on our music tutors page.

We have recently asked parents whether they’d like to write their tutor a testimonial for the website… and we now have more than 100 for you to read!  Here are some that arrived yesterday in the SCMT Christmas mailbox…

‘Tom has been teaching Max (aged 8) piano for about three months and it’s going really well. Tom has found the perfect balance for Max – they cover an impressive amount of ground, but have a lot of fun at the same time. Tom is a great communicator – always positive and encouraging – and structures the sessions clearly which helps Max feel confident. He also gives clear instructions for practice, which really helps us to keep things going in between sessions. Our priority was for learning an instrument to be fun and not a chore, and Tom has definitely achieved that. Max is practising without complaint and loves to play us what he is learning, so I feel he is developing a strong foundation that he can build on as he grows older. Thank you Tom!’  From mum, Elly.

‘Our daughter Lara has been having beginner’s piano lessons for a few weeks now. Laura, her teacher is so lovely, patient and encouraging. Together they breeze through the book. Lara loves playing and doesn’t need encouragement to practice.’  From mum, Katerina.

“Charlie has been a really excellent piano teacher. In the 2 months or so that he has been teaching Stephane, I have seen him make a lot of progress and really enjoy the sessions. Charlie’s enthusiasm for teaching children is very apparent, and his positive approach has really helped create a good relationship with Stephane.”  From dad, Fabrice.

We wanted to share a reference we gained for our new Oxford tutor, Victoria.  Firstly, it’s very much appreciated that people take the time to go into so much detail.  Secondly, we’re so delighted to hear such great re-assurances!  She still has spaces for new violin pupils and is proving very popular already with our young strings players!

‘This is an absolutely outstanding young musician, who has enormous empathy with children, out of the ordinary teaching, performing and mentoring skills and the ability to engage sensitively with people from all walks of life.  I have used photographs and videos of Victorias own pupil-led outreach projects as examples of excellent practise in my lectures throughout the UK and teaching programmes with trainee students.  If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me.  (A…… C……  OBE)

Our longstanding voice coach is now also offering Alexander Technique!

Adrian is a fully qualified Alexander Technique Teacher and runs a private practice in Hove giving individual private lessons. He trained at the Brighton Alexander Technique College, undergoing a 3 year full time STAT accredited course.  The Alexander technique can help you with:

Playing a musical instrument or singing

Enhancing performance in any activity

Managing stress and anxiety in performance

Voice or breathing problems

Improving your posture

Adrian helps his clients use their bodies better by improving overall co-ordination and balance to reduce excess muscle tension and promote freedom of movement.  He works with musicians and singers to improve their posture, co-ordination and breath efficiency so that they can perform with less tension and more freedom .

Sessions last 40 minutes.  Please call or email us for prices.  Discounts are available if you book a course of lessons.

SCMT Charity Concerts (Summer 2017)…

We would like to thank everyone for playing your music over the last two weekends.  The events were an absolute triumph and we couldn’t have hoped for a better turnout.  There were over 100 performances in the end!  So many beginners, stepping up to the stage for the first time.  Lots of SCMT intermediates too – every year we’re left stunned by how much you’ve progressed (and how much you’ve grown).  We’ll see you all again in December!

Thank you to Ackerman Music for sponsoring us again, we couldn’t do it without you.

Thank you to our tutors for encouraging your pupils, guiding them at every step – and continuing to inspire them.

We raised an amazing £610 for our chosen charity – MSF (doctors without borders).

Music lives to be let out!

Susanna Cassam.

Sometimes we receive feedback about a tutor that seems to entirely sum up their value, talent and dedication to teaching music.  We received this one Jan 2017, from a parent who has been learning with Richard through SCMT for many years.  We simply had to share it…

‘Over the years Richard has been hugely dedicated to helping Jude progress on the piano. He is currently at grade 6.

Richard is also always happy to accompany Jude on Violin for his grade exams which gives Jude greater confidence.  He recently achieved a distinction (140) in Grade 7 violin and I’m sure that was massively helped by Richard’s great piano playing and guidance during practice. 

He is always a patient, kind and inspiring teacher who delivers criticism very constructively. He is meticulous in how he teaches, ensuring Jude doesn’t run before he can walk or pick up bad habits.  He is usually always on time and often generously stays beyond his allotted 45 mins if needed.

The rapport between Richard and Jude  is great. I often hear them laughing, rapping and exchanging ideas and musical references.  Lessons have been going every week during term time for many years now so it’s been really consistent.  Richard is really friendly, personable and always polite. Moreover, he is a talented and intelligent musician.

We have loved having him as Jude’s piano teacher and consider him a friend (Richard has joined us for concerts or dinner from time to time). He also composes which Jude’s father does for a living so this ties in with a broader interest Jude and Richard share. 

Richard is a big part of Jude’s success so far as musician so we’d like to thank him for all his help over the years.’  Lou S, parent to Jude…

NEW TESTIMONIALS FROM OUR 400 SCMT MUSIC PUPILS AND THEIR PARENTS – all received during October 2016. Oh my goodness, what a team.

The 16 new testimonials can be found on the the testimonials page, but here is one of our favourites…

Esther (parent) – testimonial for Toby 2016

SCMT NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2016

FEEDBACK – Hopefully you’ve all now received our request for feedback about your lessons.   We’ve had some amazing responses that have been an absolute delight to read.  Those tutors mentioned are so pleased and at the end of this week the comments will be posted as ‘new testimonials’ on the website.  Just to mention that we’d love to hear back from those of you who still have thoughts/suggestions/concerns… good or bad, we rely massively on your input when trying to ensure that you are enjoying yourselves, progressing well and feeling inspired.  In addition, if you’d like to know how your tutor views YOUR progress, please ask for a written review.  These can be very helpful indeed in summing up your general musical development … simply request one in reply to this email.

EXAMS – The ABRSM, Trinity and Rock School Autumn exams are booked.  We have our fingers crossed for everyone!  No dates are through yet but we are expecting most to be scheduled for the week beginning 28^th November 2016.  We are always here to help prepare and re-assure, so please make sure you ask.  With so much experience under our belts, we can advise on general skills, controlling nerves, identifying areas of weakness etc.  We can also provide you with a mock exam the week before your real one… including full written notes and an estimated score.

NEW PIANO TEACHERS – In the last few weeks we’ve taken on nine new tutors… mostly piano teachers this time.  So if you have friends, relatives or colleagues interested in starting piano lessons, please get in touch.  The new tutors have lots of options for days/times/locations and offer a great variety of styles too – with some contemporary teachers alongside those with a traditional/classical musical focus.  All are classically trained of course, but some have taken a different path since graduating.  Something for everybody!  If you recommend us and it leads to a booking, we’ll give you £10 off your next lesson.

SCMT CHRISTMAS 2016 CONCERTS, entry deadline Friday 28^th October – Not long now and we’re expecting huge numbers of entries as usual.  If you haven’t done so already, please consider performing.  Perhaps talk to your tutor about it if you’re unsure, they’ll be there on the day to help settle nerves and can even sit with you whilst you perform.  You can play anything you like and it’s a brilliant opportunity for friends and family to see you perform, even if you’re a complete beginner and the piece is short.  We pride ourselves on the relaxed atmosphere of our concerts, so come on down!

http://www.facebook.com/susannacassammusictuition/

NEW MUSIC TEACHERS

Three BRILLIANT new piano teachers, fully vetted and starting this week… covering Brighton and Hove.

Lorella, Hannah and Timothy… Welcome to SCMT!

As with all of our tutors, the first lesson is free with no obligation to continue… and then you can pay as you go for your music lessons.  Please get in touch if you’d like to hear more about them – their spaces are filling fast.

LORELLA.

Lorella is a classically trained pianist. She started playing piano at the age of 5 and graduated at the Conservatoire of Bari (Italy) at the age of 23 with a diploma in solo piano performance. She is a kind, patient and enthusiastic tutor with many years of experience.

Lorella is passionate about teaching and she is committed to getting the most out of her students, whatever their aims or abilities. She particularly enjoys teaching young children. She lives in Hove and she will be happy to visit you.

HANNAH.

Hannah is a classically trained pianist with a BA in Music Performance from the University of Chichester. After attaining her Grade 8 from the Royal Irish Academy of Music at age 16, she started teaching piano from home, and continued to do so after moving to University, teaching beginners and fellow students.

Hannah also studied at DrumTech (now BIMM, London) for a year in contemporary music performance, and so as a busy multi-instrumentalist, she fills her time gigging as a drummer for bands in and around Brighton as well as a piano accompanist for several vocalists. These different sides of her playing have enabled her to teach in both classical and contemporary ways.

Being very patient and encouraging, her lessons are relaxed and customised to the student’s needs and goals. Hannah enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities.

http://www.facebook.com/susannacassammusictuition/

We’ve got lots of new music teachers joining us in September, available for lessons on the following instruments:  Piano, cello, drums, saxophone, flute, clarinet, singing and guitar.  You can find their pictures and profiles on the ‘our teachers’ page of the website.  All are fully vetted and ready to go and cover the whole of Brighton and Hove.  We also have music graduates from Sussex University shadowing our most experienced team-members, inspiring and guiding them ready to take the reins on their own with young beginners.  Our existing tutors also have spaces ready to fill for the new term.  Call us for a free lesson on 01273 831554 or email us here – http://www.cassam.co.uk/contact.  Thank you!

SCMT services.  Why recommend us (aside from our AMAZING music tutors, obviously)?  We thought we’d keep it simple and list all of our services.  We truly believe we can offer more that anyone else when it comes to dedication and service.  We hope you’ll agree.  Come and join

Annual full tutor vetting, Free introductory lesson, Free starter pack, Free materials, Termly progress reviews, Tutor absence cover, Pupil Concerts, Music performance competitions, Free DVD’s of your performances, Monthly Newsletters, Exam entry and training, Money back when you recommend us, Ackerman Music book shopping with 15% discount, Annual Instrumental Competitions, Youtube channel tuition, Termly prize draws, Books sales (new and 2nd hand), Monthly receipts.  WE’VE GOT IT COVERED…

http://www.facebook.com/susannacassammusictuition/

Not long now… see you there!

This year we are raising as much money as we can for the Starr Trust (www.starrtrust.com) and as usual are sponsored by our wonderful friends at Ackerman Music. Please note that once again the concerts are scheduled for two separate weekends. We really hope you are free to play something, so please put it in your diary now as we know your weekends can get very busy. As usual all instruments, solos, duets and ensembles are very welcome. The concerts are free choice and welcome all ages and abilities. If you are new, please be assured that it’s a very relaxed environment and a great opportunity to play for friends and family in a beautiful venue. Complete beginners are very welcome (in fact we have entire concerts dedicated to you!).