STEP

Due to the pre-emption of "Musicraft" on CBC radio, Saturday, February 10, the broadcast of STEP's 25th anniversary concert featuring Mark Fewer, Bill Brennan and Jim Vivian) will be rescheduled to March 9. Francesca Swann, the producer says it will be a lovely show that includes interviews with the performers and evidence of the importance of STEP to this community. Be sure to listen to that program on CBC Radio 1 on March 9 at 4:35 pm.

There will also be a NATIONAL broadcast of the same concert, Sunday, February 17, in the second half hour of "Canada Live" (8:30-10:30 pm) on CBC Radio 2. "Canada Live" has been promoting the concert with these words:

Mark Fewer began his journey with the violin as one of the first students in St. John's, Newfoundland, to learn the instrument using the Suzuki method. This year he returned to St. John's and helped the Suzuki Talent Education Programme celebrate its 25th anniversary when he joined two fellow Newfoundlanders: pianist Bill Brennan and double-bass player Jim Vivian, for a jazz concert called "Continuum".
For the past 2 years Mark Fewer has been Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Now he's teaching violin and improvisation on the faculty at McGill. With uncanny ease, Mark's playing straddles the classical and jazz worlds and this meeting of three friends, whose roots reach deep into the St. John's community, resulted in an evening of musical magic. The next generation of Suzuki students was cheering from the front seats!

Labels: announcements, Community Events, concerts, people

Labels: Community Events, concerts, people

The annual Christmas Play-in is this Saturday, Dec. 1, at St Mark's
Church on Logy Bay Road.

9:30 tune up for a 10:00 start.

Santa hats are optional but please don't forget the eats! Some
people have asked for a change in the division of labour, so here is
your new assignment:

All those with names between A and M, bring a DESSERT.
All those with names between N and Z, bring SANDWICHES or a HOT DISH.
However, if you are just itching to make your specialty, ignore the
above suggestion and go for it.
Keep in mind though, we are often top-heavy on sweets and lacking in
main dish selections.

Also: we are selling Polaroid family pictures with Santa on a special
violin/cello Countdown to Christmas Calendar. This is a fund raiser
for the camp. Cost $5.00.

See you there!

Labels: concerts, fundraising, groupclass

This Sunday, November 25, STEP will occupy the Masonic Temple for 2
Fund Raising and Social Events:

1. Santa's String Cafe and STEP Open House 1 - 4 pm

2. Third Annual STEP Scuff 4 - 7 pm

Come One Come All
to whichever suits your schedule or fancy
and encourage friends to attend as well!

ELVES:

If your child would like to be an elf at Santa's String Cafe just
come along and join in.
There will be a Head Elf to guide you.
Elves can help by gift wrapping CDs, making tree ornaments (see
below), playing music, playing with children in attendance.
Santa will be there and loves to be surrounded by elves!

Santa's Workshop: Christmas Tree Ornamnent making

Colette will be teaching elves to crochet Christmas tree icicle
ornaments from wool so if you have any odds and ends of wool you'd
like to get rid of and/or a crochet hook please bring it along. We'll
be selling the ornaments as part of our fund raising efforts.

Elf Dress:

baggy shirt with biggest belt you can find but any belt will do
tights or leggings
slippers
an elfish hat if you have one
instrument (knock off your practice for the day at Santa's Cafe!)

COST:

There is no entry fee for the afternoon Cafe.
The Scuff is $5 at the door.
We are selling consumables; most things will be $1 or $2. Tea,
coffee, hot chocolate, juice, fruit, snacks.
These are fund raising events so bring extra change if you like for
consumables, 50:50 tickets, STEP Fiddler CDs ($15, a new run hot off
the press!).

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

STEP Dance Committee: Sharon Hewitt, Colette Phillips, Janet Russell

Labels: announcements, Community Events, concerts

Dear fellow STEP members,

Less than 12 hours after his performance for us at the D.F. Cook Hall, Mark Fewer wrote this:

Greetings from Montreal - it's hard to believe I'm already back in my studio here. The past week is still vibrating heavily....

Congrats on a great production last night, and for all the efforts you and all put into the Celebrations for year 25. It was a very fun night for all. I can't wait to hear the broadcast of the show, it was such fun.

Again, congratulations. And a big thanks for presenting my mom with those beautiful flowers. She (and I) was really touched. Mark Fewer

What a consummate, professional and truly generous man! Mark did a week of publicity for the STEP program, the Master Class and the concert free of charge.

He is so right to thank "all" for the efforts that made his visit here such a success. Before I fell asleep last night, and it took awhile, I mentally replayed the many ways that our STEP family pulled together to make this such a great success.

I have to start with the students. They all arrived beautifully dressed, many in black and white so they were identifiable as STEP students, enthusiastic and ready to play. Their concert manners couldn't have been better. When they weren't performing, they sat in the front rows listening to Mark, Bill and Jim with rapt attention. If their attention did wander, they sat patiently, not disturbing the people behind them. They played extremely well and I heard many positive comments from the public about their professionalism. We could not ask for better ambassadors for our program. Congratulations to the students. You were all so GOOD.

Thank-you so much to the teachers who were able to attend. You deserved to relax and simply enjoy the show but instead, you helped tune up the students' violins and guide them through their play-in. I saw Julia Bowdring there, Evelyn Osborne, Nancy Case-Oates and Heather Kao. Thanks to you and anyone I may have missed. I am delighted that we can share the concert with those unable to attend, through the magic of radio in the New Year. I'll let you all know when to expect the Musicraft broadcast.

Parents - dear and wonderful parents. Thank-you to Anne Marie Carew and Michelle Ploughman who helped sell tickets and take them in at the door. Thank-you to Alistair Bath and Colette Philips who coordinated the students' play-in and kept everything under control in the instrument room. Thank-you also Alistair for helping liaison with the performers. Thank-you Piotr Trela for taking pictures and helping with some of the heavy work. Thank-you Catherine Lawton and our former administrator, Hsu-Hao, for helping to serve the cake.

THE CAKES: On Friday night Graham Hunt was struck by a car. His parents, our chair Jennifer Budden and her husband Bill Hunt, insisted on following through with their commitment to order 4 large cakes, with the STEP logo, and pick them up at Costco over the weekend, despite being in shock about their son's near fatal accident. I'm happy to report that Graham escaped without serious injury but was kept overnight in hospital as a precaution. In true STEP form, he attended the concert Sunday night with his parents!

Thank-you Kristina Szutor for hosting the event. You did so with such grace and elegance. I'm sure the low-lighting made it difficult to read your notes, although the audience would never know. And you never complained, although you had every right to, about some last minute changes to the program.

Thanks always to Valerie Howe, our volunteer treasurer, for handling the budget for this event, and to Heather Patey, our webmaster, for keeping us all so well informed.

Thanks also to Janet Russell who had the foresight to set up a table to sell STEP fiddle CDs, hand out brochures about our program (that she made herself), and ensure that our partnership with REAL, the city's program that enables students who could not otherwise afford the program, to do so.

To that end, I'd like to remind everyone of the fabulous event Janet has planned to raise money for the REAL STEP scholarship. On Sunday, even if the Santa Claus parade doesn't go ahead, we're all invited, with friends and family, to the Masonic Temple where Stan Pickett and Jane Rutherford will be teaching Newfoundland traditional dances. This is great exercise and great fun if you've not seen them in action before. Hot chocolate, chili and many other treats will be available. The event starts at 4 pm and concludes around 7 pm. It's just $5 at the door.

If you can help Janet with this event, please call her at 334-1054 (to bring cookies or help set up/ clean up). While it's important to get our children practicing at home, take them to their lessons; it's a great bonus if we can keep the program's Big Picture in mind (recruitment, community profile, charitable outreach) and this is a way to do that. Janet has ensured that we'll all have a great time on Sunday doing so.

cheers,

Marie Wadden

Labels: announcements, concerts

There's a wonderful story on us in The Telegram today, on the front of the Arts & Entertainment section...full page. Read and be proud.

And don't forget to tune in to CBC radio one for Weekend Arts Magazine, to hear Mark Fewer and his mother talk about those early practice sessions. Mark was one of the first students in the programs 25 years ago and says he wouldn't be where he is today without STEP and his mom.

See you all at group class on Saturday morning and at the concert Sunday night. Discounted tickets will be available this Saturday morning. Get them quick... we may be sold out at the door.

25th anniversary committee

Labels: announcements, concerts, fundraising

On Sunday evening, Nov. 18, 7:30 PM, at the D.F. Cook Recital Hall, we're going to be serving cake and punch to celebrate STEP's 25th birthday. Be part of the celebrations!

If you are a student and would like to play (as people arrive for the Mark Fewer concert and during intermission), you can attend the concert for FREE. We're reserving front row seats for our students. Teachers will be there for tune-up and direction. (ADDENDUM: Please come at 7:00 to tune up!) We'd like you to wear black pants or skirt and a white shirt, so you'll stand out in the crowd. (Younger students may want to leave at intermission, after we've served cake, since it is a school night.)

Teachers are invited to the concert free of charge since this is a celebration of their hard work.

(Parents and partners, however, will be asked to support the event by buying a ticket. If you missed the chance to buy discounted tickets at the last group class, you'll be given another opportunity at the November 17 class. We can only accept cash or cheques. $15 or $12 for students and seniors. Regular priced tickets are available at Freds, Auntie Craes and Bennington Gate.)

This will be a gala evening and our children will get the privilege of hearing from Mark in person how his years in the program have given him a fabulous career, as a performer, concert master for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and now, as a teacher at McGill University. We'll find an opportunity during the evening to honour his mom who was an early parent in the program.

Please support this important anniversary for our program.

thanks, 25th anniversary committee

Labels: announcements, Community Events, concerts, fundraising