Simply Music trip 2007

What an amazing, thought-provoking, learning experience this trip was. The passion and energy surrounding Simply Music is just incredible. Here is a brief synopsis of our trip. Tuesday we headed over to Omaha to meet with the teachers there and and then later spend some time in a couple of their studios. Omaha has such a neat group of teachers. Although they each have their own separate studios, they work very closely together. They have a fantastic website (www.omahapiano.com) and a very giving, caring way about them. Last year one of the teachers was in a major car accident, and the other Omaha teachers stepped in and taught all her classes for several months until she could teach again! Wednesday morning we headed to the airport and made our way to the Bay area in beautiful central California. Wednesday afternoon/evening we spent some time at a very large studio run by our friend Jy in Marin county. We did more of the same on Thursday morning and then Thursday afternoon visited our friend Tommy in Mill Valley. Tommy is actually a former advertising executive who found out about Simply Music when his daughter started taking lessons at Jy's studio. Amazed at what he saw, Tommy opened up his studio not too long afterwards. Friday we made our way up to Sacramento for the conference. We had tentatively planned on doing some more observing Friday, but I am here to tell you that the traffic in California is a force to be reckoned with. We kept hearing horror stories about Friday night traffic to Sacramento so we decided not to risk it. Saturday was our big day with Neil. If Cali traffic is a force to be reckoned with, Neil is even more so. He is an amazing man. Don't let the sweater vests and accented 'be sure to keep your playlist alive', fool you. :o) He is a visionary who is passionate about providing the opportunity for everyone, everywhere to have the option/ability to play the piano. And just to have music in their lives. Below are some pics from the week....

This is Tommy

this is Neil with my mom and me:

dinner: