2021 Winter Recital

In December SOUNDS Academy hosted 8 Student Recitals featuring nearly 150 SOUNDS Academy students. For many of the students, this was their first live performance in over 2 years.

SOUNDS Academy has hosted their Annual Winter Recitals since 2014, when they were founded. It is during these concerts where audience members are able to see all of the character values that SOUNDS Academy teaches on full display. Beyond student performances, other great aspects of the recitals include students getting a platform to build their confidence, get to know one another, and for everyone to celebrate the amazing teachers of SOUNDS Academy. Although some students were a little nervous, they all did a pretty good job. Especially the younger students who where performing in a recital for the first time.

In 2021 concerts were hosted at The Phoenix Zoo, Estrella Mountain Community College, Phoenix Advantage Charter School, and Brookdale Senior Living. All of the recitals were livestreamed so that others that did not feel comfortable in group settings were able to view the concerts and hear the students play.

SOUNDS was able to partner with The Phoenix Zoo to have our students play in the Doornbos Discovery Amphitheater. The Amphitheater has been in the works since 2012 but they officially started construction in 2018. They finished building in October of 2019, right before the pandemic started. The students played for an hour with performances on piano, violin, viola, cello, and flute.

Despite the pandemic, one could really see the growth of the talents and stage presence of the students that were on the stage. Some of our guitar students got to expand their musical horizons by playing some rock hits like Nirvana’s, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and alternative tunes like Kaleo’s “Way Down We Go”. We also had a beginning guitar trio of elementary aged students play “Spanish Theme” with their teacher Miss Laura. Last year we introduced woodwinds and this year we heard pieces played on the saxophone, flute, and clarinet by composers such as A. Gretchaninov, Nilo W. Hovey, and W.A. Mozart.

The last recital was a Community Service Performance during a Holiday Dinner at Brookdale Senior Living in Mesa. The residents of Brookdale were so impressed that they gave several standing ovations. One of their residents said “I used to be a music teacher and this was truly amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this before”. SOUNDS Academy prides itself on using the community as the stage to provide joy for families, friends, as well as the greater community.

Programs, pictures and recordings of the performances are available HERE.