So the furry little groundhog didn’t see his shadow this year. As we know, that’s an indication of an early Spring. As much as I’m hopeful of that, I’m also very skeptical. LOL. Looking outside and seeing all of the snow that still remains from the storm that we were hit with at the start of the month, in addition to the additional snow that has been added, doesn’t give me much hope. I always thought the groundhog myth was a little backwards. I mean, I get it. If he sees his shadow, the shadow scares him and he crawls back into his hole to sleep, but you would think that the sun being out enough to cast a shadow would indicate Spring, right?? Or am I the only one who thinks it’s kind of backwards? Regardless, he seems to think that we are in for an early Spring so let’s hope he is correct this year. Even with February being a little rough weather wise this year, there has still been some exciting things happening and as always, some ‘housekeeping’ things to address, so let’s get right into it. Here’s what we have for our February, 2026 newsletter…..
- Monthly Invoices and Payments
- The Portal
- 2026 Community Votes Awards Nominations Reminder
- ADSOM on Instagram
- Alex On Vacation Reminder
- March Newsletter
- Alex’s New Car
- Congratulations Ari and Remy
- Pet Corner
- Student Of The Month
Monthly Invoices and Payments
I would like to preface this by saying that there are absolutely no hard feelings towards anyone or that I’m not angry or upset. I’ve been finding over the past few months that some of the monthly lesson payments are starting to come in much later than usual, to the extent of at times half way through the month and at times even close to the end of the month, and each month there seems to be more coming in later. I don’t like chasing people for payments, it feels yucky to do, and I’m sure it feels yucky if I need to remind you. I do understand that things can happen and I know nobody does it maliciously. I’m just asking everyone to be a little more aware and if something comes up where you know you need to send payment a little later, please let me know. I’m always understanding, as you know. Thanks in advance!
The Portal
A few weeks ago, I sent out a survey to your inboxes regarding a new feature I’m looking at implimenting, a Parent/Student login portal that would be accessible from the school website. Thank you to those who took the time to fill out the survey. I was hoping to have more responses however the responses I received did provide some great insight and some feedback from some of you as well. I have decided that I will be moving forward with the Portal plan. The biggest feature that everyone liked was having full access to my teaching schedule, being able to schedule your make-up lessons and having automated reminders for schedule changes and montly payments. There are many features I’ll be implementing, however as far as how payments are made, that will NOT be changing. That will stay as it currently is with Email transfers. Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll be providing more information about the Portal and once I’m ready to launch it, I’ll be providing everybody with a PDF of how to use the features. I have no date as to when I will be launching it. I was hoping to begin work on it before my vacation, but my priority right now is any outstanding make-up lessons before I leave. I also want to make sure sufficient testing is done with the features and take my time with this to get it right and provide you with a ‘how to’ pdf. This will be a large project that needs time and attention and not be rushed. With that being said, there will be some great features not just for me on my end, but yours as well and I’m very excited about this.
2026 Community Votes Awards Nominations Reminder
At the start of the month I was very excited to announce that we are officially selected for the CommunityVotes Niagara Region 2026!!!! And, we are not only selected for one category, but THREE CATEGORIES!!!! The categories we are selected for are: ‘Music Lessons’, ‘Performing Arts’, and ‘Youth Music Lessons’. These ‘Best Of’ business awards are for the entire Niagara Region, unlike the previous awards that were only for Niagara Falls.
Similar to the previous awards, there is a voting process before the awards are handed out. This initial step is to secure enough votes for the official nominations. Once again, I’m asking for everyone’s support and help with these awards. All of the information is below on how to vote with short links and a QR code, and the deadline for voting. You can vote for all 3 categories that we are listed in by using the short url link or the QR code since they take you to my Community Votes Profile Page. You DO NOT need to create an account for this stage of voting.
In addition, please feel free to share the links with others. The more votes we get, the better chance we get for being chosen for the final voting process and since this is for the entire Niagara Region, we need all the votes we can get!!! Thank you once again for your continued suppport and thank you in advance for your votes!
How To Nominate Alexander Doan School Of Music:
- Clink on the image below OR scan the QR Code to be taken to our Community Votes Profile Page. Once there, click on the ‘Nominate’ buttons beside each of the categories we are listed for. That’s it!
ADSOM on Instagram
We are now on Instagram! Many of the students have been asking if I had an Instagram account for teaching and I finally decided to open one. The Instagram page will be for videos and photos highlighting many aspects of our students within the school and will also include the photo of our ‘Student Of The Month’ each month. Here’s the link if you would like to follow us on Instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/adoansom
Alex On Vacation Reminder
Here’s a final reminder about my upcoming vacation time in March……
- Vacation Dates: March 9 – March 25, 2026
- Last Day of Lessons before my vacation: Sunday, March 8th
- Lessons Resume: Thursday, March 26, 2026
- How Will Billing Work?: I will not be billing for lessons that would normally take place during my vacation time. March invoices will still be dated and due for March 1st, and will be sent out approximately 12-14 days prior, as per usual. Please plan accordingly. In addition, there will be a short turn around period for the April invoices to be due because of when I return so please be prepared for that.
I know this goes without saying, but I will not be answering emails, texts or phone calls regarding the school while I’m away. I’ll be enjoying the beach and sun in Florida with Sue!!
March Newsletter
Due to when my vacation begins and ends, there will be no newsletter in March. The newsletter will resume in April.
Alex’s New Car
This week has been very exciting for me as I bought a new car!! When you look out your living room window, you will no longer be seeing the Chevy Sonic. You will now be seeing my new Nissan Kicks SUV!! The Sonic was almost 15 years old and in addition to already having some issues this month with it, I was starting to have to put more money into it than I was wanting to for a car that was almost 15 years old, and with all the driving I do, I wanted to feel safe, so it was time. And yes, I will be adding the school logos onto it like I had on the Sonic. I just won’t be doing that until the Spring since it needs to be cleaned prior to them doing it, and there is no way I can keep it clean between the car wash and drving it to SignLink in St. Catharines due to the snow, mud and slush on the roads. Once the artwork is added to the new car, I’ll be updating the website car photo. Zoom zoom!!!!
Congratulations Ari and Remy
As always, I love to highlight student achievements outside of music or the music school. This month, Ari and Remy, my piano-brother-duo students, competed in a Taekwondo competition and both of them received Second Place!! At least I know that if I ever need protection, I know who I’m going to call!!
Congratulations, Ari and Remy!!!
Pet Corner
This year I started a new requested feature called, ‘Pet Corner’, to showcase some of the many family pets that I see weekly. This month, the feature returns with Lulu!!! Lulu belongs to, Clara, one of my piano students, and Lulu is always at the door to greet me every Friday. Lulu’s greeting ritual also includes a dance with me. Her long legs allow her to stand and place her front paws on my shoulders to dance, just don’t tell Sue! 😉 Lulu’s favourite spot to sit during lessons is on the couch right behind where Clara’s keyboard is and her fur is so soft that I always tell Clara that Lulu feels like a stuffed animal.
Student Of The Month
Our Student Of The Month for February, 2026 is, Jacqueline!!
Jacqueline is one of my piano students, as are both her Brother and Mom. Jacqueline is currently working from the Faber Piano Adventures Level 1 Lesson Book, and you may remember her from our recital this past October, performing an ‘Ode To Joy’ duet with Mom, Josie! Like her brother, Jacqueline has a very big interest in video gaming and one of her gifts she received at Christmas was a piano book of music from video games!
Jacqueline received her framed Student Of The Month certificate, and is featured in this months newsletter as well as on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, and on the school website when the newsletter is posted there.
Congrats, Jacqueline!!
Coda
I close out our newsletter this month with a couple of pictures from a recent concert that Sue and I attended. I took Sue to her first symphony performance and the feature piece that was performed was Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, ‘Eroica’. The Niagara Symphony Orchestra performed the ‘Eroica’ beautifully in the second half of the concert, and the first half of the concert included Wagner’s ‘Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Numberg’ and a trumpet concerto performed by Canadian trumpeter, William Leathers.
I will also leave you with a Beethoven related math riddle, so put on your thinking caps! Ready?
An orchestra of 120 players takes 65 minutes to perform Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. How long would it take for an orchestra of 60 players to play the symphony? Let P be the number of players and T the time playing.
Socials & Where To Find Us!
- Web: https://www.doansom.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ADOANSOM
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoansom
- Twitter (now ‘X’): https://twitter.com/alexander_doan
- Google Reviews if you would like to leave a review: https://g.page/r/CbNrxK_Veae6EB0/review
Alexander Doan School of Music 