Program two
Mini Maestros
Students play for people who do not get out to hear music any more. Same residence, same students, month after month — until the residents know their names.
This is not a recital.
A recital is a performance for an audience of parents, and everyone in the room knows it is being judged. That is a fine thing, but it is not this.
Mini Maestros is playing for people who have been waiting all week for something to happen. There is no programme to get through and nothing to prove. A student sits down at the piano in the day room on a Sunday afternoon and plays for half an hour, and afterwards they talk to whoever wants to talk.
The part that makes it work is coming back. A one-off visit is a nice gesture. The fourth visit is a relationship — residents remember which student plays the Chopin, and the students stop being nervous and start looking forward to it.
What we ask of students
- Roughly a year of playing behind you. There is no audition.
- Around twenty minutes of material you can play comfortably. Comfortable matters more than difficult.
- A commitment to the same residence more than once — three visits over a few months is the shape.
What we ask of residences
- A room people already gather in, and a piano if you have one — we bring a keyboard if not.
- Thirty to forty minutes on a weekend afternoon.
- Someone on staff who can let us in and point us at the right room.
We handle transport, scheduling and the students. There is no cost.
For residences
Invite us to your residence.
Nursing homes, assisted living, memory care, senior centres, adult day programmes — anywhere there are people and a room. Tell us where you are and we will find a date.