Being the change we want to see in the world
To say that this is not your *normal* piano studio would be something of an understatement!
Read on to learn about some of the major endeavors we have created together, from feature-length original movies and musical puppet shows to climate activism and unusually fun community service.
Read on to learn about some of the major endeavors we have created together, from feature-length original movies and musical puppet shows to climate activism and unusually fun community service.
Tiny Voices UNITE! Earth Day festival, April 2023
I was delighted to receive a 2022 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Community Engagement Grant to produce this festival of audience-interactive concerts & eco-themed workshops designed by the students of Jennifer Wright Piano Studio.
At once, we celebrated Earth Day AND wielded music and creativity as agents of positive social change!
The funds we raised enabled us to plant 1,600 trees through Trees For The Future!
(Check out their amazing work creating sustainable forest gardens in sub-Saharan Africa at trees.org!)
I was delighted to receive a 2022 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Community Engagement Grant to produce this festival of audience-interactive concerts & eco-themed workshops designed by the students of Jennifer Wright Piano Studio.
At once, we celebrated Earth Day AND wielded music and creativity as agents of positive social change!
The funds we raised enabled us to plant 1,600 trees through Trees For The Future!
(Check out their amazing work creating sustainable forest gardens in sub-Saharan Africa at trees.org!)
The Phoenix Project: Art in the Time of Climate Emergency *
2 shows on November 14, 2021 at BodyVox Theater
Our piano studio was fortunate to be awarded grants from the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) and the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) to support this epic project!
This professional, evening-length production featured the world premieres of three new compositions for my experimental instrument "Chimaera" and the Skeleton Piano, the world premiere of our second mini-documentary film The Phoenix Project: The Making of The Transmogrified Instruments, and the world premiere of The Battle Cry of the Phoenix for Skeleton Piano and an army of Transmogrified Instruments: 15 larger-than-life playable trash sound sculptures designed, created & played by the students of Jennifer Wright Piano Studio!
The multi-generational cast of The Phoenix Project with their Transmogrified Instruments: human-sized sound sculptures made entirely of trash
Halloween Spooftacular Movie! 2020
Every year at Halloween time, students of Jennifer Wright Piano Studio have an opportunity to volunteer to perform at a local retirement center in Portland, Oregon. Costumed to the hilt and chattily introducing themselves as the characters they are dressed up as, Jennifer and her students love to make the most of this chance to be silly, entertaining, and very, very punny!
However, All Hallow's Eve of 2020 was quite a different story: with Covid-19 still spreading and retirement centers off-limits, the JWPS students decided to create a different type of Halloween entertainment: a concert in the form of a spoof-tacular send-up of classic black and white horror films! Enjoy!
Every year at Halloween time, students of Jennifer Wright Piano Studio have an opportunity to volunteer to perform at a local retirement center in Portland, Oregon. Costumed to the hilt and chattily introducing themselves as the characters they are dressed up as, Jennifer and her students love to make the most of this chance to be silly, entertaining, and very, very punny!
However, All Hallow's Eve of 2020 was quite a different story: with Covid-19 still spreading and retirement centers off-limits, the JWPS students decided to create a different type of Halloween entertainment: a concert in the form of a spoof-tacular send-up of classic black and white horror films! Enjoy!
World premiere of our climate-activism/artistry
mini-documentary film "ReFuse"
at the international New Music Gathering Festival! 2020
Everyone in the JWPS community was over the moon when we learned that our live show proposal was accepted into this prestigious, professional international festival of new art music!
Our live event was postponed due to COVID-19, but we created an inspiring sort documentary film to chronicle the amazing adventures of our Phoenix Project for NMG 2020's reboot as an online festival.
Watch the documentary below to see how we spent many months making massive sound-capable art sculptures out of trash and recycling in response to the global climate emergency!
mini-documentary film "ReFuse"
at the international New Music Gathering Festival! 2020
Everyone in the JWPS community was over the moon when we learned that our live show proposal was accepted into this prestigious, professional international festival of new art music!
Our live event was postponed due to COVID-19, but we created an inspiring sort documentary film to chronicle the amazing adventures of our Phoenix Project for NMG 2020's reboot as an online festival.
Watch the documentary below to see how we spent many months making massive sound-capable art sculptures out of trash and recycling in response to the global climate emergency!
World premiere screening of our original sci-fi film
VOX UNIVERSALIS at The Clinton Street Theater! 2019
Students spent an entire year creating a feature-length science fiction movie FROM SCRATCH: brainstorming the plot, inventing the characters, writing the screenplay, filming it, acting in it, creating futuristic costume, hair and makeup designs, building props (including a small army of glowing mini-robots), and composing the music soundtrack AND sound effects!
It was a HUGE day when we all got to see the finished, 75-minute movie on the big screen at The Clinton Street Theater on October 6th, 2019!
Here's the official trailer:
Watch the full movie here!
Here are the pictures of our triumphant premiere screening!
Our Original Puppet Show with live musical soundtrack! 2015
The entire studio worked together for almost a year to write an original script, create their own sets, and pick their favorite music to accompany the scenes.
Every student performed at least one puppet character, one puppet voice, AND one piece of live background music!
Spoiler alert: the pig can talk.
The entire studio worked together for almost a year to write an original script, create their own sets, and pick their favorite music to accompany the scenes.
Every student performed at least one puppet character, one puppet voice, AND one piece of live background music!
Spoiler alert: the pig can talk.
The Creation of "The Queen of the Night" 2012-2013
The making of a decorated piano from start to finish!
When this masterpiece was completed, we played its inaugural concert and donated it to the Boys and Girls Club of NE Portland for all to enjoy!
The making of a decorated piano from start to finish!
When this masterpiece was completed, we played its inaugural concert and donated it to the Boys and Girls Club of NE Portland for all to enjoy!