May, 2026 Newsletter

Just the other day, Sue and I were talking about how fast the weeks fly by now. Between teaching and our personal life, I’m finding the weeks and months are now coming and going faster than ever. This time last year, I was eagerly awaiting to see my first live performance of Beethoven’s 9th after so many years, and after it being a somewhat dissapointing performance, when the Toronto Symphony Orchestra announced last July that they were doing the 9th this year, I did not hesitate to get my tickets one year in advance. And now, here I am a year later, and a little over a week away from seeing the TSO perform it on June 13th, which I know will not disappoint me and I’ll finally be able to say, “I’ve seen my 9th”. The month of May flew by really quick due to lots of exciting things. Professionally, we announced our 2nd annual student recital date at the start of the month, our student registration increased yet again (somehow I figured out where to put our new students even with being full already…lol), and of course the big news of us winning business awards for the 2026 CommunityVotes awards. Personally, it was the start of gardening and planting vegetables together with Sue, Mother’s Day for both of our Mom’s, my mother’s birthday, a surprise celebration dinner from Sue for my award wins, and cheering on our Montreal Canadiens. I’ve included some photos in the Coda section below. Here’s what we have for our May, 2026 newsletter…..

2026 CommunityVotes Awards Win
REMINDER – 2026 Annual Alexander Doan School of Music Student Recital Announcement
Summer Schedule
Student Awards and Achievements
Student Of The Month

2026 CommunityVotes Awards Win

If you missed the announcement in your emails, or you are just joining us as new students, or I forgot to mention it in lessons, (yeah we know that didn’t happen..LOL) in May I announced that we were selected as winners for the 2026 CommunityVotes Niagara Region business awards!! This was a great way to kick off 2026 and came right on the heels of our Reader’s Choice Awards wins in December. Winning in all 3 categories that the school was nominated in, we received the following awards: Youth Music Lessons (Platinum), Music Lessons (Gold) and Performing Arts (Gold). I’ll be receiving the physical glass statue and awards within the next 6 weeks once they are designed. These awards would not have happened without your amazing support and your votes. Thank you again to everyone who voted.

REMINDER – 2026 Annual Alexander Doan School of Music Student Recital Announcement

Here’s a reminder for our Annual Student Recital that was announced at the start of May, including the FAQ’s that were answered…..

Event: 2026 Annual Alexander Doan School of Music Student Recital
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2026
Time: 1pm-3pm
Where: St. Andrew’s United Church, 5645 Morrison Street, Niagara Falls

F.A.Q.’s

Is it mandatory that I, or my child(ren), perform at the recital? No, it is not mandatory, however, it is strongly encouraged. I’m very proud of each of my students and it’s important to showcase what the students have been working on and let’s be honest, parents love to take pictures! And for my adult and retired students, I encourage you to perform as well. Many of my young students are always surprised to find out that an adult takes music lessons with me. Many of them are surprised and think only kids do. I think it would be great for them to see you perform as well. It can be very inspiring to a young musician.

Why October? As we did last year, the decision was made for our annual recitals to take place in October. The sanctuary at the church, where the recital is being held, does not have air conditioning. I didn’t want everyone to have to deal with the heat at the end of June, so I picked a time that would be more pleasant and before the winter weather hits. Also, it gives me more time with each student to prepare music over the summer months to perform, especially for those whom have just recently started studying with me. I’ll start focusing on recital pieces with students towards the end of June/beginning of July.

Why Niagara Falls? The school is an officially registered Niagara Falls business, so it makes sense. Also, Niagara Falls is more centered on tourism, so having an event like this, even though its only for us, I feel can contribute to the arts here somehow.

Do the piano students need to bring a keyboard, or are you providing a rental? Neither. This was the icing on the cake. The church is once again allowing us full use of their beautiful Grand Piano!! I’m so excited that our piano students are going to have this opportunity again!

Are you still planning on doing a Toy Drive? Yes. Last year we filled two donation bins and I have no doubt that we can do that again this year. The church takes donations for slightly used or new toys and the church will be providing the donation bins again. They do sell the toys (at a very low cost) at their events, but all of the proceeds go to charitable causes and not for profit. They did assure me of this last year and it will be no different this year.

Are you affiliated with the church? I am not. When I was first planning our annual recitals I had a list of items that were important to me for picking a venue. Safety, good acoustics, a place we can return to for future recitals and for me to build a business relationship with, resonable associated costs, etc. These were just a few on my wish list. Having a piano was never a major concern as I was planning on renting an 88-key digital keyboard for us. I was so happy about the use of the grand piano and with all the other wish list items being met, it was pretty obvious where we were going and were going to continue to go. I also used to compete at the church as a clarinet soloist in regional competitions when I was in highschool, so I was somewhat familiar with the location and remembered that they rented spaces for music events.

How many songs am I allowed to perform? At the moment, students can only select one song to perform. I have over 30 students. During the summer months, as students choose the songs they want to perform, I might be able to allow the combination of two short pieces into one, but I won’t know that until I know the timing of each piece selected. I’m expecting some overlapping of song choices with some students, however I promise I’m going to make sure we don’t end up with everyone playing the same song and have variety, just as we had last year.

I’m one of your clarinet or saxophone students. Will I need a piano player to accompany me? No.

I’ve never performed in front of people. I’m scared to do it or to make a mistake. It’s ok to be nervous. I still get nervous at times when I’ve performed. Just like last year, I will be right beside you if you want me to be, and it’s ok to make a mistake. You see me do it sometimes when I’m demonstrating a new song for you. And I’ll let you in on a secret…Nobody in the audience will know. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

Summer Schedule

It’s close to that time of the year again, when school comes to an end and the kids are home for summer break. As always, I’m still busy teaching during the summer months since it’s my job, and like previous years, my schedule allows for lessons to be moved from evening timeslots to daytime times. If you would like to move your lessons to earlier in the day, or another day, please let me know right away. Some of you have already talked to me about daytime lessons and I’ll be speaking to more parents/students this week. Please note that moving to daytime lesson times is on a first come, first served basis, and I do know that some parents are still waiting to hear about daytime camp schedules.

Student Awards and Achievements

As always, I love showcasing our student’s achievements outside of the music school. This past month we have a few to highlight. Ari received 2nd place in his school’s robotics compeition, Bence got an A- on a geometry test, and Elora won track and field awards in multiple events!! Here’s some pictures of each with their awards. Congrats to all of you!!!!

Ari with his Robotics Award

Bence with his A- in Geometry

Elora with her Track and Field awards

Student Of The Month

David – Student Of The Month – May, 2026.

Our Student Of The Month for May, 2026 is, David!!!

David is one of my many piano students and has been working out of the Faber Piano Adventures Level 1 Book, after completing the Primer Level book. David loves Super Mario, so when I first started teaching him, I taught him how to play first part of the Super Mario Bros. theme and he was so excited!! Naturally, David chooses the Mario stickers each week when he completes a song. Every week I’m greeted at the door with a hug from both David and his younger sister, Victoria.

David received his 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, David!!

Coda

And just like the month of May, this month’s newsletter has come and gone. Please don’t forget to speak with me about moving lessons to daytime time slots if you wish, and as mentioned, here’s some photos of some of the personal events on my end that helped pass the month of May so quickly. See you in your lessons!