Encourage students to create a story for a piece of music enable them to feel and connect the emotion that the music portrays. It also inspires creativity, imagination, and deepen their musical expression. Musical expression is the art of playing with a personal response to the music. This means making appropriate use of dynamic, phrasing, timbre and articulation to bring the music to life.

Truly amaze to see students' creativity and imagination. They were smart enough to know there are three chapters / parts in this music and created a story for each chapter instantly. There are no right or wrong answers. Just simply allow your creativity and imagination to go where it wants.

There are three chapters in Spooks composed by Clifford Poole.

Chapter 1: Someone is knocking at the door of the house.

Chapter 2: The person in the house feels scared and worried.

Chapter 3: Someone is knocking again, but he is caught, it is a ghost! But it disappears!

Thank you Kate for writing a Spooky Story that everyone likes!

Listening activity will not only enhance students listening skills but also their attention skills. By guiding them to become more aware of the dynamic, phrasing, timbre and articulation, students will learn to really hear what the music is saying to them.

It's wonderful to have everyone engaged and have fun in this activity. We had a guess about which country does this piece belongs to. Everyone had a good time finding the best bet.

It wouldn't be too difficult if you know the word 'Toreador' from the title of this song. The Elegant Toreador was composed by Seymour Bernstein. Toreador is a bullfighter who fight with a bull and it's a Spanish sport. A successful toreador is the star of the show, dressed in the traditional costume of colorful silk pants, shiny black shoes, and a fitted satin jacket decorated with gold braid. The toreador also has a red cape that he waves at the bull, daring it to fight.

In this piece, the composer used the interval of a 2nd to imitate the sound of a tambourine which is commonly used in Spanish music. He also used repeated notes to show the bull is running towards the Toreador.

Thank you Edwin for showing us an Elegant Toreador!

Have you ever played a piece composed entirely of 6 notes? Sound strange isn't it?

Written by Dennis Alexander, The Rings of Saturn, is composed entirely of 6 notes beginning on C: C, D, E, F#, G# and A#. These notes are all whole tone in distance (a whole tone scale). This gives it a very distant feeling.

In a group discussion Sophie, one of the youngest students, shared what she had learned in lesson and played a whole tone scale without hesitation. Good job!

Thank you Shannon for bringing us to Saturn with a whole tone scale!

It's awesome to have all the audience, parents and students engaged in this activity. We are thrilled by your enthusiasm, it's overwhelming! :D

Through interactive activities: "Guess the Song Name" and "Matching Music with Pictures", students /audience see how the composer creates an amusing musical picture of penguins waddling about and sliding down snow banks. She uses sounds, just as artists use colors, to paint a picture of a scene or a story. Composers can choose among many different types of sounds - or notes, rhythm, and dynamic - to create many different colors. Different ways of playing these notes - such as legato or staccato - add more variety to a composers' palette.

Grateful to share this beautiful rhyme “Visiting Feelings" with students and parents in the Recital.

Lauren Rubenstein, the author, is a licensed clinical psychologist. She also teaches yoga and mindfulness to children and adolescents.

“Visiting Feelings” invites children to explore and observe the present moment by using their senses. It encourages children to recognize and befriend their feelings and emotions in a positive manner. By deepen the understanding of their inner world (inner voices), it cultivates and enhances their emotional intelligence.

Understand the range of feelings and emotions will definitely strengthen our musical interpretation skills. If we only focus on technique, theory, structure, historical background of the music but without any feelings and emotions towards it, we are not truly and fully experience the spirit, beauty, and the sensation of music.

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Visiting Feelings by Lauren Rubenstein

Narrated by: Noriaki Akiyama, Kate Chan

Music used in Visiting Feelings (in order of appearance)

    1. Noriaki Akiyama - Liebestraum (F.Liszt arr. by J.Bastien)

    2. Sophie Tsang - That’s a Fourth (W.A.Palmer)

    3. Charisse Cheng - What Will You Do? (W.A.Palmer)

    4. Charisse Cheng - Love Somebody (W.A.Palmer)

    5. Joshua Law and Janis Law - Yankee Doodle

    6. Kate Chan - Bagpipe Dance (F.L.Couppey)

    7. Chloe Luk - Willie & Tillie (W.A.Palmer)

    8. Noriaki Akiyama - Wading In The Water (C.Gurlitt)

I am very happy to share this true story “Biblioburro” (from Colombia) with my students in this year recital. We read the story along with music playing. Glad all of you enjoyed it. 
My son and I love this story very much. I particularly love the meaning behind it. 
“Luis understood the transformative power of reading because of his experiences as a schoolteacher. He wanted to share his collection of books with the children and adults in the isolated villages in the distant hills, where books were scarce. Most houses had none.”
I hope my little chat at the end of the recital will let my students understand more about Luis’s situation and his attitude when facing difficulties. And of course, the meaning behind this project.
“I love my job despite all the adversities and problems, and I always have a good disposition and attitude when facing the circumstances” – Luis

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Biblioburro by J. Winter

Story edited and arranged by: Ms. Aileen

Narrated by: Melanie Chu, Janis Law, Shannon Tan

Music used in Biblioburro (in order of appearance)

  1. Jaimie Hui - The Little Flower (N.Podgornov)

  2. Lam Wai - LØvet faller: from Barnebilder (K.Nystedt)

  3. Shannon Tan - A Hiding Game (W.A.Palmer)

  4. Athan Iu - Wading in the Water (C.Gurlitt)

  5. Oscar Wong - My Computer (W.A.Palmer)

  6. Janis Law - March of the Geese (B.Kaneda)

  7. Melanie Lam - Brave Knight (M.Vogel)

  8. Edwin Lee - The Fox Hunt (C.Gurlitt)

  9. Torres Lam, Debby Lam - Tongue-Twister (W.A.Palmer)

  10. Oscar Wong - Sailor’s Song (F.Swinstead)

  11. Carman Lam, Debby Lam - I Taut I Taw a Puddy-Tat (W.Foster)

  12. Janis Law - Hot Rolls: No.8 from The Windmill (L. Fly)

  13. Ryan Fung - Dance of the Hours, La Gioconda (arr. Bullard) (A.Ponchielli)

The Little Rabbit by J.Donaldson

Story edited and arranged by: Ms. Aileen

Narrated by: Alicia Suen

Music used in The Little Rabbit (in order of appearance) 

   1. Jaimie Hui - A Tender Flower (F.Swinstead)

   2. Ryan Fung - Indians (W.A.Palmer)

   3. Oscar Wong - Camptown Races (S.Foster)

   4. Edwin Lee - The Lonely Road (F.Swinstead)

   5. Sophie Lam - Cracker Jack! (W.A.Palmer)

   6. Melanie Chu - Knock! Knock! (W.A.Palmer)

   7. Athan Iu - Wiill you, Won't you? (L.Carroll)

   8. Janis Law - German Waltz (V.A.Duvernoy)

   9. Lam Wai - Moonlight (J.M.Estella)

   10. Shannon Tan - Anyone for Tick-Tac-Toe? (W.A.Palmer)

   11. Ashley Lam - Morning Wong, Op.32 No.1 (R.Fuchs)

   12. Hannah Cheng - La Lutine (J.P.Kirnberger)