Student of the Month Archives
Each month, Oak Valley Music Academy instructors choose an outstanding student to feature as “Student of the Month.” We not only look at the student's practice record and ability to play or sing well, but their attitude and willingness to follow direction and try new things. Some “Students of the Month” have been studying for years while others have been studying for much less time. Having great or perfect lessons also factors in to becoming Oak Valley's “Student of the Month.”
October 2011
Congratulations Christine Pike!
I studied piano as a child and returned to it later in life quite by accident. My husband, Dennis, came home one day and said that he′d found a piano for sale at the very reasonable price, of $ 250.00. We purchased it, had it tuned and I started taking lessons again. It was wonderful to get back to playing this beautiful instrument. We came to the pass area in 2006 and found Greg Shultz to tune the piano. At that time Greg also sold them. Wandering around his space and looking at the selection of pianos he had on the floor was a treat for me. When he had a sale on Kawai′s, I treated myself to a brand new piano.. In addition, Greg also helped me to find my first piano teacher out here, Heidi Atherton, who now lives in Texas. I found Willi Rose through Heidi and have been taking piano with Willi for the last two years. This past year when I am not practicing piano or voice, I am in my office in Beaumont. I am a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in working with special needs children and their families. In my practice I have used music with autistic spectrum disordered children to illustrate different feelings that people can have.
Enjoy listening to Christine
June 2011
Congratulations Hannah!
My name is Hannah Hampton. I will be 13 on May 29th and I have been playing piano from Ms. Willi for three years. My favorite sport is soccer. I′m in the 7th grade and homeschooled.
“Music of the Night” is from Phantom of the Opera. It is a duet with her teacher, Willi Rose.
Enjoy listening to Hannah
March 2011
Congratulations Giovanni!
Giovanni is 11 years old and in the 5th grade. He is homeschooled.
He′s been taking guitar lessons for about a year and studying ukulele on his own.
His favorite sport is baseball.
Enjoy listening to Giovanni
February 2011
Congratulations Jennifer!
Hi, my name is Jennifer Watkins and I am 9 years old. I′m in the 4th grade at Redlands Adventist Academy. I′ve been taking piano lessons since September 2007.
My favorite sports are tennis and karate. My favorite thing to do is go outside and jump on my trampoline.
I have two pets, a dog and a cat. The cat's name is Shadow and the dog′s name is Bella. Shadow is three years old and Bella is almost two.
Favorite Type of Music:Christian Praise
Favorite Piano Piece: Pachelbel Canon
Favorite Animal: Snowy Cloud Leopard
Favorite Mythical Creature: Phsybird
Enjoy listening to Jennifer
January 2011
Congratulations Alyssa!
Alyssa Saenz is 15 years old and in the 10th grade. She lives in Redlands.
She′s been playing guitar for seven years and writes her own music.
Her cousin wrote the song heard here called “My Heaven Song.”
Alyssa plays in the band called “Unity.” She′s been playing with the band for three years.
Enjoy listening to Alyssa
December 2010
Congratulations Jillian!
Jillian Rojas is 9 years old and in 4th Grade at Redlands Adventist Academy. She has one older brother who started piano lessons at the same time. Jillian has been learning how to play piano for 7 months now. During her free time, Jillian loves to play with her 2 dogs, Zoey and Kai. She also loves to play with her brother, hang out with her friends, read, cook, and bake!! Most of all, she loves to sing and be happy!! Her favorite color is light blue & her favorite food is rice...of ALL kinds!! Jillian is especially fond of getting perfect lessons.
Enjoy listening to Jillian
November 2010
Congratulations William!
My name is William Au and I′m 13 years old. I have been taking lessons from Ms.Willi Rose for over 5 years now. I love to play Football, Tennis, Basketball, Baseball, and Volleyball. I home school and go to Mesa Grande Academy for P.E.
Enjoy listening to William
October 2010
Congratulations Brennan!
My name is Brennan Bartley and I′m 12 years old. I was born in Kansas. I′m in the 7th grade at Moore Middle School. I′ve played piano for almost two years. My favorite sports are soccer and basketball. My favorite foods must include chocolate or cheese (not necessarily together).
Enjoy listening to Brennan
September 2010
Congratulations Lauren!
Hi my name is Lauren. I′m 13 years old and enjoy playing the piano. I have been playing for six years now.
Some things I like to do in my free time are redecorating my room every now and then, organizing my things, and making old clothes into new. My top three desserts are chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and glazed doughnuts. My two favorite subjects in school are math and science. My friends would describe me as generous, loving, curious, and just plain out silly.
What I′ve learned from music is that you should have the will to work hard and always go the extra mile. If you want to succeed, you really have to try. Practice does not make perfect but perfect practice will always lead to perfect.
Enjoy listening to Lauren
March 2010
Congratulations Marilyn Newell!
Marilyn was raised learning to play the piano and singing in church from an early age. As a senior in highschool she has been the student president of the YHS Choral Department, the Editor in Chief of the school magazine, as well as a member of the Student Council and student School Board Representative. In her spare time she arranges and learns music for a barbershop quartet that she formed with her twin sister and two close friends, known as “The Buttonettes”. She plans to continue her studies at California State University , Fullerton in the fall as a Music Education major in order to become a choir director and teacher.
Enjoy listening to Marilyn
January 2010
Congratulations Kathleen Au!
I am a 17 year old senior at Mesa Grande Academy , but I also have been taking Crafton Hills College courses for almost two years now. My first instrument was the flute, which I began playing when I was eight. I stuck with that for about four years, and then decided to try something new. I′ve been playing piano for about three years now, and I love playing a large variety of songs. I don′t practice quite as much as I should because of my schedule (or maybe not...) but when I actually sit down and begin playing, I find that it can be a really good stress-reliever for me. I′m excited for the day when I can consider myself a pianist, instead of simply a piano player. I′m definitely going to stick with piano for the rest of my life.
Enjoy listening to Kathleen
December 2009
Congratulations Regan Quinto!
Regan is ten years old and has been taking violin lessons with Miss Gretchen since May of this year. She is homeschooled and enjoys soccer and horseback riding.
Enjoy listening to Regan
November 2009
Congratulations Mary Ribaya!
I started liking music when I was in 5th grade. I'm now in 7th grade and I play flute in my school band. I'm in Parkview Middle School . I've been playing the flute two years now. Besides the flute, I also play the piano and saxophone. When I grow up I would like to assist my brother, Anthony, in any music he's doing. I love geology too and may possibly make it a career choice or I may teach and play flute. I chose the flute because it was challenging.
Enjoy listening to Mary
September 2009
Congratulations Janice Gibbs!
My name is Janice Gibbs. I have had the privilege of being one of Willi's Senior Adult students for the past five months.
I have enjoyed singing in choirs all my life but have not had the opportunity of studying piano until now. It's been a wonderful experience and I recommend it for anyone my age (over 55). It's an excellent thing for any senior to do. It's so good for your brain and such a pleasure.
Enjoy listening to Janice
August 2009
Congratulations Ryan Odle!
I am 16 years old and am going to be in the 11th grade at Beaumont High School . I have been playing the piano for 9 years and I like to listen to and play all types of music, except country. I compose a little of my own music and have recorded a couple of times. I enjoy to play jazz music and improvise with other musicians. Pretty much my only other hobby is mountain biking. I race cross country mountain biking, which is a long endurance type of racing. I really enjoy the piano because you are able to put a lot of emotion in the songs you play. Some piano songs make you sad and others make you happy or inspire you. I don't know where I will go with piano but I hope to be good enough one day to challenge any song there is out there.
Listen to Ryan
July 2009
Congratulations Kelli Schall!
Hi, I'm Kelli Schall. I have been taking guitar lessons with Billy for about three months. I'm currently in my second year at UC Riverside, majoring in Biochemistry. Besides guitar, I love to play soccer in my free time.
Listen to Kelli
June 2009
Congratulations Basheer Afaneh!
Basheer Afaneh is ranked No. 2 in his graduating class of 601 with a 4.36 GPA. He is a member of the California Scholarship Federation and the National Honor Society. He was also a junior usher − and honor bestowed upon the top 40 juniors in his class. He scored 1970 on the SAT, and took 8 AP classes over the course of his high school career. He is an active member of the Yucaipa High Speech and Debate team, Chess club, and community service club. He went to Mexico to help with the installation of a loft house built in November. He is a volunteer at the Loma Linda Broadcasting Network. He performed a 5-piece movement in a concert hall with a 100-member choir in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. He will attend University of California, Irvine in the field of engineering and will never stop playing the piano, in styles such as jazz, classical, worship, and modern.
Listen to Basheer
May 2009
Congratulations Tori Shultz!
Tori began piano lessons when she and her twin brother, Logan, were 6 years old. Her older sister, Tara, had already had a few years of lessons. By the time Tori was 9, she'd caught up to her sister. Tori's passions are the piano, Webkins and Teddy. If you've watched her grow up in recitals, Teddy is the little stuffed bear that sits by her every time she plays. If you see Tori out and about in Yucaipa or Redlands, she'll probably have Teddy with her.
Tori will be 10 years old next month and her fingers are small. Still she is in advanced piano books that require octave jumps (that's eight-note jumps). Tori practices so much, she manages to make those jumps and make them sound effortless.
Tori's dad is Greg Shultz, owner of Oak Valley Piano and Shultz's Piano Tuning.
Listen to Tori
April 2009
Anthony Ribaya
I was a few days old when first introduced to classical music. My grandfather used to rock me to sleep and calm me down when colicky while a classical music played in the background. When I was a toddler, I played with my mom's mixing bowls, pretended they were drums. Besides watching Barney and Sesame Street, I also loved to watch Yanni's and John Tesh's concerts in PBS. I was given my first real Yamaha keyboard when I was 3 years old, and I banged on it while watching Yanni.
I received my first formal music training when I was in third grade, and experienced my first recital right after. The first instrument that I've learned to play is the piano, followed by the trumpet and violin.
I played in Yokosuka Middle School Symphonic Band in Japan; was a member of Parkview Middle School Symphonic and Jazz Band. I played in the San Bernardino County Honor Band for the years 2008 and 2009. I also play in the YHS Symphonic Band and the YHS Thunderbird Marching Regiment. I will be playing the piano for the YHS theater play “You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.”
Listen to Anthony
March 2009
Caroline Lambson
Caroline is nine years old and has been a student at Oak Valley Music Academy for a year and three months. For completing the most practice hours in January, she earned the distinction of being the student of the month. For the last seven years, she has attended Montessori School in Redlands. Some of her other activities include playing with her 2 cats, reading and has recently joined the Y Circus in Redlands.
You can watch Caroline and her brother Nicholas playing Chemical Explosion on YouTube. Congratulations, Caroline!