Jingle All the Way to 2003

Last weekend I made my way to the very back of our closet to dig out the Christmas decoration box. Many of my favorite ornaments were given to me by  students and it's fun to think about those children (now adults) as I find a special spot for each angel and snowman.

To my delight I also found a stack of old Christmas CDs recorded by my students in 2003, 2004 and 2005. It's been fun listening to the "Jingle Bells" and "Winnie the Poohs" of seven year olds who are now driving to piano lessons. Let's not even talk about the fact that my very first studio Christmas recordings were on cassette tapes!

I feel sad that CDs are longer special projects. Who even uses those shiny discs anymore? My young students have CDs with their method books and half of them can't figure out how to play them at home. Still, I get a kick out of sitting down with the CD liner notes, which lists the students' names, ages and pieces they played.

Next week, my younger students will begin videotaping their favorite pieces. Huge job! But it is a delight to find out they have shared their music with friends and family all over the world. I just wonder if I'll be able to watch those videos ten years from now? How quickly technology changes!