JAN/FEB 2014 Crescendo IN THIS ISSUE: EVENTS: Feb 8th and 9th  Thursday MusicalYoung Artist Rectial, 1:30-4pm (More Info)  Events P.1  NEW Faculty- Karin Rau! P.1 Developing Artistry by Nurturing the Talent within…  YAWPF P.2  Student Spotlight-Kate O’Hara P.2  Student Accomplishments P.2  Café Renaissance Fundraiser P.3 Feb 9th  Salon se Lève P.3  Salon se Leve, Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, 2pm Feb 19th  DEADLINE- Music Theory @ St. Ben’s (4/5) and K&S Studios (4/6) Feb 21 st  Café Renaissance Fundraiser, 5-8pm Feb 22nd  Federation Festival  MUSICALES Roseville- 10am-5pm K WCPA Welcomes Karin Rau!! arin grew up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota as the second oldest of six children. Playing piano, drums, marimba, singing, dancing, and acting in musicals are some of her fondest memories. She attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN where she studied percussion ensemble, marimba choir, Javanese gamelan ensemble, West African drumming ensemble, and was principal timpanist in the orchestra. She also swam on the swim team and taught piano, percussion, and swim lessons while majoring in Music Education. St. Cloud- 6:30pm Feb 26th  DEADLINE- Music Theory @ Normandale (4/26) Mar 1st  MMTA YA Prelims, University of Karin taught classroom music, directed choir, elementary percussion ensemble, and African drumming for 4 years in Minnesota public schools before joining the Wirth Center. She is completing her Masters of Ethnomusicology at Liberty University which allows her to study music from all cultures in the world. She has studied drumming and dance in Ghana and Guinea and plays djembe with Duniya Drum and Dance of Minneapolis. At the Wirth Center, Karin teaches the percussion instruments of snare drum, xylophone, 2 and 4 mallet marimba, drumset, and djembe. Students also learn about mallet choice and proper techniques for other concert percussion instruments like bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, triangle, claves, guiro, cabasa, maracas, and MORE! Welcome Karin to our musical community. We are so excited to have you join our faculty! Northwestern Mar 2nd-8th  Spring Break May 3rd  Spring Gala GUEST WIFI NOW AVAILABLE!! Password: WCPAGuest13 Nicole Millner now teaching FLUTE lessons! Click HERE for her Bio! Crescendo JAN/FEB 2014 Student Spotlight Kate O’Hara Kate is seven years old and attends second grade at Westwood Elementary School. She has a twin sister, Melanie, and an older sister Carly who is nine years old. Her favorite colors are black and purple. STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS:  Congratulations to al the amazing performers at the CrossRoads Mall Holiday Fundraisers! You made quite an impression on the community and helped spread that holiday cheer. BRAVO! - Chris Baugh - Susan Botz - Jared Campbell - Ana Deal-Hansen - Emma Dittleston - Finnian Jacobson-Schulte - Eliana Szabo  BRAVO!! To Bobby Levinger who was named winner of the Madison Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra competition on January 15th. As a result, he will play the first movement of Grieg’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in A Minor with the MSO in their March 26th, 2014 performance.  A Big WOW KAZOW goes to Bobby Levinger, Johnny Mattson, Evren Ozel, and Andy Xue, who all performed wonderfully at the LaCrosse Symphony Orchestra’s “Rising Stars” competition on January 18th.Evren Ozel was chosen to perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F Minor, Op. 21 with the LSO in their April 5th, 2014 concert.. with Johnny Mattson and Andy Xue garnering Honorable Mentions!  Big KUDOS go to Wirth Center students Lilly Xie, Finnian JacobsonSchulte, Yash Hindka, Paige Daniels, Derek Chen, Olivia Busch, and Crystal Lin for passing on to finals of the MMTA Piano Contest. Bravos to all!  Bravo to Joseph Caswell whose performance at SCSU elicited an enthusiastic reponse from the audience at their Convocation on Friday, Januray 18th. Keep up the great work, Joseph!!  Congratulations!! To Evren Ozel who has made the final round of the Minnesota Varsity competition sponsored by MPR. Stay tuned to MPR for further results!! She wanted to start playing the piano because she likes the sound of the instrument. She is currently in the middle of her second year of piano lessons with Tanya Rupp. “Kate is such an enthusiastic student!” says Tanya, “She always has such a glow about her during lessons and even when she thinks something is too hard, she sticks to it until it becomes ‘easy’.” Kate said when she walked into her first lesson that she didn’t expect it to be so difficult to learn how to play. At the same time she is always excited to learn new songs and to play for people at home. Besides piano, Kate has a passion for all things music. She enjoys listening to music on the radio, iPods, CD’s, etc. She also likes singing into her new microphone and at church. Kate loves going to school and spending time with friends and family. In the summer she plays soccer, and spends most hours outside. Kate practices at home on their family’s living room piano and really likes to practice when they have visitors over. She really focuses on getting the right kind of sound from the piano and realizes how much she must practice to achieve that sound. Thanks Kate for being such an amazing student and sharing your joy of learning music with us here at the Wirth Center. BRAVO on being this month’s Spotlight Student!!!! Click HERE for more information and registration forms! Page 2 Crescendo JAN/FEB 2014 A New Season Begins… Sunday, February 9th 2:30 pm All Concerts will take place in the Art Gallery at the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church. “A Very Special ValentineFrom Russia With Love!” Featuring two stunning young artists- both students of Russian professors at the U. of M.- pianist Alexander Braginsky and cellist Tanya Remenikova! Pianist Henry Wang, first prize winner and national finalist of the prestigious MTNA Auditions will definitely “knock our socks off” with his command of the keyboard… And cellist Mark Prihodko, first prize winner of the nationally known Schubert Club Scholarship Competition will also tug at our hearts and touch our souls with his dramatic playing! Happy Valentines!... “from Russia with Love!!” UPCOMING EVENTS February 9th “A Very Special ValentineFrom Russia with Love” March 9th “The Salon se Lève ‘Triple Treat Hold Onto Your Seat!’ Concert” April 6th “A Grand and Piping Hot Finale!” May 18th “Chamber Chamboree!” Benefit Concert  Click Here!  For Full Salon se Lève Season Info MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! Café Renaissance Fundraising Event February 21st, 2014 5-8pm WCPA keeps 100% of TIPS in Piano Jar as well as 15% of food purchases!! Call 320-253-9300 to make reservations. Page 3