Logo

Fall 2024 Celebrations!

  Saturday, January 18, 2025 by Judith Owens | Uncategorized


I want to give a great shout out to all the wonderful things our students have accomplished since the beginning of the school year in September!! Lots of progress has been made and I'm so proud of each student!!


We are almost halfway through our ANTHEM superhero practice challenge and here's a list of the students and the number of missions they have completed so far.

ANTHEM Missions Completed:

Debi Abera 2
Libby Catlett 2
Leo Doody 2
Hannah Esbrandt 1
Sophie Esbrandt 1
Abigail Esch 3
Olivia Freeman 2
Wesley Freeman 2
Katie Girdler 1
Bekah Girdler 1
Anna Holmes 2
Asher Kim 5
Isaiah Kim 5
Kelsey Korotka 2
Lindsey Korotka 1
Ivana Lau 4
Ben Miller 1
Diana Raabe 2
Leo Raabe 4
Joshua Sulistiono 2
Ada Tse 4
Hannah Vaughan 3
Reagan Vaughan 3
Noah Wiegand 4

We also have some students who have passed different levels of their piano olympics belts:

White
Lindsey Korotka 

Red
Ada Tse
Olivia Freeman 
Wesley Freeman

Blue
Katelyn Girdler 

Purple
Asher Kim

Silver
Hannah Vaughan
Reagan Vaughan

The following are students who have completed extra challenges:

Chord Challenge Enthusiast- 
         Katie Girdler

60-second Challenge Apprentice 
         Ada Tse
         Debi Abera
         Joshua Sulistiono

60-second Challenge Sage  
        Isaiah Kim

Minterval Challenge
         Apprentice     Ada Tse
         Sage             Ada Tse
         Zen Master   Sophie Esbrandt 

Congrats to everyone!


New Year Yahoos!

  Saturday, February 3, 2024 by Judith Owens | Awards


It's been a few months since I've recognized all the students who have been doing amazing things with piano!  So proud of you all!


Congratulations to all who have achieved 30 Bullseyes so far in our  
30-Bullseye Practice Challenge:

  Abigail Esch     Hannah Vaughan    Olivia Freeman      Ivana Lau
  Asher Kim        Reagan Vaughan    Wesley Freeman   Ben Miller     
  Isaiah Kim        Kelsey Korotka        Diana Raabe        Vera Doody
  Anna Holmes    Lindsey Korotka      Leo Raabe           Leo Doody
               

Other Winners since November:

Chord Challenge Enthusiast:  Anna Holmes
60-Second Challenge Apprentice:  Olivia Freeman

Practice Champions:
    Abigail Esch
    Ivana Lau

Piano Olympics:
    Green Belt:  Asher Kim
    Purple Belt:  Anna Holmes


And a VERY special shout out to senior,Jordan Brungard, who has been working extremely hard preparing for auditions for college music programs!  Congratulations for being immediately accepted into Duquesne University's music program for piano performance!  Plus, she just finished an audition today for Towson University! We are so proud of all of your accomplishments!  


September/October Wows!!

  Friday, November 3, 2023 by Judith Owens | Awards



Our students have hit the ground running this new school year! We all have been working hard on our practice targets, earning lots of bullseyes and having great fun making music! Here are some more great things they have accomplished the past 2 months:


Orange Belt:   Isaiah Kim

                     Estelle Catlett


Yellow Belt:    Asher Kim


Blue Belt:       Ivana Lau

                     Anna Holmes


Black Belt:      Hannah Vaughan

                     Reagan Vaughan


Practice Champion:

          Hannah Vaughan

          Reagan Vaughan

          Asher Kim

          Abigail Esch


Chord Challenge Apprentice:

          Anna Holmes

          Asher Kim


Chord Challenge Enthusiast:

          Asher Kim


60-Second Challenge Apprentice:

          Kelsey Korotka

          Veronica Doody


Congratulations Everyone!  Keep up the great work!!

May Magnificence!

  Saturday, June 3, 2023 by Judith Owens | Uncategorized

Congratulations to all of the following students and their accomplishments in May:


Practice Champions:

     Asher Kim

     Anna Holmes

     Abigail Esch

     Olivia Freeman

     Isaiah Kim


30-Piece Challenge Winners:

    Anna Holmes

    Jordan Brungard


May Student of the Month:  Wesley Freeman

    Wesley has only been taking lessons for a few months now.  He has been a flurry of enthusiasm as he comes to every lesson having figured out a new favorite song on the piano and is zooming forward in learning to read music as well. Congrats, Wesley!



April Acclamations!!

  Friday, April 28, 2023 by Judith Owens | Awards

Congratulations to following students for their wonderful accomplishments this month!!


Isaiah Kim    Piano Olympics Red Belt


Hannah Esbrandt     Pentascale Star


Jordan Brungard received the Award for Excellence in the Arts (AEA) from the Washington D.C. chapter of the National Society for Arts & Letters for Damascus High School. Each year, high school faculty nominate junior-year students who excel in any of six artistic disciplines. They collaborate to select one Award for Excellence honoree from each school. Each year, the AEA program recognizes juniors from some 30 high schools in the DC metro area. This year the awards ceremony will take place at National Presbysterian Church on May 23.


Jordan is very involved in the music program at Damascus High School. She plays French horn in the band and piano in the jazz band & pit orchestra for 2 musicals each year and is taking AP Music Theory.  Jordan is the Tri-M Music Honor Society president and has performed in their annual recitals.  This year on May 10, she has the distinct honor to perform Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with the band accompanying her!





Abigail Esch- April Student of the Month!!! 


Abigail receives this award not only for her ambition, but also her follow through in achieving her goals.  In September, she made an ambitious goal of preparing a 10-piece guild program. She has stuck to her long-term practice plan with determination, persistence, and consistency and is finding herself very well-prepared with everything in order! Furthermore, Abigail is always looking for as many opportunities to perform as she can, and has just recently taken the initiative to enter a competition in June.