MusicLink is fully in the swing of getting back to normal - recitals, playathons, summer camps, instruments for students, and lessons in person! In addition, the MusicLink Foundation is celebrating its 30th anniversary with videos of teachers, students, and alumni sharing their ideas about MusicLink online through words and music. This issue applauds the return of the Minnesota MusicLink Playathon, a wonderful event for students, teachers and the public bringing musical performances to the Mall of America. We recognize several MusicLink regional coordinators and highlight a few of our MusicLink teacher online-links.

30th Year Celebration
Goal = 200 Students in 2022

We thank all our donors who continue to support our mission to bring long term lessons to students in need with 30 years of success! Our goal is to reach a total of 8,000 students by the end of 2022 and we are edging close to our goal with fewer than 200 students to go. We encourage any teacher who is offering discount lessons to a student or students (50% or less of their normal fee) to register these students on our website and join MusicLink to benefit from teacher reimbursements, grass roots grants, summer camp scholarships, and business discounts. Link here to help us reach our goal:

MusicLink wants to celebrate this anniversary by sending out videos that feature teachers, students and alumni explaining what MusicLink means to them. The first videos feature Joanne Haroutounian explaining how MusicLink began and a special performance by Justin Kauflin, a MusicLink alumni who is a professional jazz pianist. Feel free to send a short video for this project to:

Our 30th Anniversary Celebration Videos:

MusicLink's 30th Anniversary

Justin Kauflin Performance

MusicLink Legacy Partners

MusicLink thanks Louise P. Zanar Fund
for many years of support.

The MusicLink Foundation has been fortunate to have ongoing support from our Legacy Partners who provide annual donations from $5000 to $10,000 to insure a financial base for the organization. We have enjoyed eight years of support from the Louise P. Zanar Fund, first recognized as a Legacy Partner in our February 2019 issue of the eLink. Before closing their fund this year, the MusicLink Foundation received a final donation of $5,000. We thank them for their many years of support. More information about how to become a Legacy Partner can be found at www.fundmusiclink.com.

MusicLink Online Lessons

When the pandemic forced teachers to learn how to teach students online, MusicLink teachers embraced the challenge and as a result we were able to link teachers with students living across the country. This learning curve actually provided more opportunities for MusicLink to reach students who did not have a teacher near them. Several teachers share different experiences teaching MusicLink students online.

Hudson Lin

Jeremiah Wilmer

I must admit, when I first agreed to teach piano lessons over Zoom, I doubted my ability to hold productive lessons through a screen. After all, having taught beginner students before, I understood the steep learning curve in the first couple of months, where the student learns new notes, rhythms, dynamics, good posture, and a host of basic skills. To teach these fundamentals over Zoom, all while inspiring a love of music and reinforcing good practice habits, seemed like an insurmountable task.

Teaching an energetic eight-year-old on Zoom did prove nearly impossible at first - I struggled to keep Jeremiah focused and could not orient his fingers on the keyboard or point to notes and symbols on his sheet music. Yet, after devising some strategies to improve our lessons, Jeremiah started improving every week. By using my phone as a second camera on Zoom, I was able to show my keyboard and demonstrate proper starting position and hand placement. By adding fun activities like Kahoot, I could keep Jeremiah engaged and teach important concepts. Within a couple of months, Jeremiah progressed to reading sheet music and playing with both hands together

Through nine months of Zoom lessons, I have found the experience to be incredibly rewarding. Watching Jeremiah perform for his grandmother, I felt gratified that my teaching could impact the life of someone living hundreds of miles away. While remote lessons can only approximate the merits of in-person lessons, I have learned that they can certainly be productive with enough persistence and creativity.

A Dream Family Continues

Over ten years ago I taught a "dream family" of students who practiced regularly and came to lessons prepared. The family had circumstances that hindered lessons, so I reached out to MusicLink to continue lessons. However, in 2019 they moved several hundred miles away.

I always say they taught me how to teach in the pandemic. We connected on FaceTime. At first, I propped my phone at the edge of my keyboard. There were more than a few times the phone would fall over during the lesson. Eventually I bought a $20 tripod that held the phone steady. The students used an iPad. In the rural parts of our state, their internet connection was not great, and we learned that as we neared recital time, it was good to share video recordings of the performances. We could fine tune dynamics much better that way.

In March of 2020 when my entire studio went virtual, I was so grateful for the experience I had with this family. I knew how I needed to prepare for online lessons, with the music scores available, and the routine I had worked out for sending emails with lesson assignments each week. Because of this family, I had worked out the logistics of online lessons and was able to pivot my entire studio in the span of one week.

Whenever this family comes back to visit grandparents who live in my area, we arrange an in-person lesson. They also came for an outdoor, backyard recital in the summer of 2020. The students continue to progress. I am so grateful to them.

A Baby Grand Donation for MusicLink

Merle Greene and Anmy Paulino Collado

Merle Greene of New York City generously donated a baby grand piano to the MusicLink Foundation. The piano, a beautiful George Steck baby grand, which had been the donor’s childhood instrument, is now in the home of longtime MusicLink student, Anmy Paulino Collado, age 15. Anmy, a student of NYC Coordinator Julie Wegener, emailed MusicLink personally at age 8, to request piano lessons, and has been a valued and accomplished student ever since.

Prior to the donation, Anmy and her mom, Andolina Collado, met Merle Greene and Anmy was given an opportunity to play the piano. A warm bond has formed between donor and recipient. On the day of the move, the two spoke by phone, and Anmy played the piano for Merle to hear. Thrilled and grateful, Anmy texted: "The piano sounds and feels amazing!!"

The MusicLink Foundation expresses its deepest gratitude to Merle Greene for her generosity. Special thanks also to Debi Yanover, a local piano teacher who connected Merle Greene to the MusicLink Foundation and the Christoff Endowment fund for paying for the piano delivery.

Minnesota MusicLink
Raises $10,000 at the
Mall of America Playathon

The Minnesota MusicLink Playathon returned this year after missing last year due to the pandemic. It was great to be back and making music in person again. The playathon featured 154 performances with 27 teachers represented. The numbers were a little lower than in previous years, but it still raised over $10,000. The three top fundraising studios this year were from Kathryn Karg, ($3,666) Sara Diedrich ($1,500) and Sue Wege ($605). Top individual fundraisers were Ivy Williams and Avery Lerch who both raised $500! The top family fundraiser was the Houghton family with $750.

Students received a pen, pin or flashlight for $25, a tote or backpack for $50, their photo in the newsletter for $100 and a $50 Target gift card for $250. All prizes were cumulative.

A special thanks goes to Kathryn Karg for all her help in coordinating the emcees and also the livestreaming of the event which was new this year. Kudos to the Minnesota Music Teachers Association member volunteers and to Sue Wege for organizing this exciting event. Thanks also to Gary Wege for the photos.

Students Who Collected $250 Or More
For the Minnesota MusicLink Playathon

Berkley Boardman		Anna Dahlin
Alexis Evers		Boede Halvorson
Alaina Hearne
Island, Sage, and Story Houghton
Lillie Imm		Avery Lerch
Jishnu Raman		Michelle Rose
Rory Thompson		Ivy Williams

Students Who Collected $100 Or More
For the Minnesota MusicLink Playathon

Izzy Brand		Evelyn Scully Bindman
Alexis Cox		Lauren Harris
Sage Kuphal		Rachel Luchsinger
Ryan Mitchell		Milena Moraru
Brynlee Opland		Maya Remer
Noah Remer		Marah Roloff
Isaac Soerens		Leila Stitzel
Charlotte Stone		Vishnu and Vikram Sulibhavi
Amelia Urtel

New MusicLink Business Partner

Piano Cycle, St. Paul, MN

New Alliance Partner

PAC Presentation Arts Center, St, Louis, MO

New MusicLink Teachers

FL: Hannah Flook; GA: Corina Brito; IL: Gregory Comonal; IN: Carol Phipps; MN: Anna Jeanne Flesner (returning), Brian Van Stavern, Michael Wolter; OR: Suzanne Hryniw, Stephan Nance; UT: Alissa Dorman; VA: Paul Jung; WA: Jessica A. Kelly, Barbara Oakley.