Breth Piano Studio

Approach to teaching>> Notes from students

“[B]ecause Mrs. Breth required that I sight-read every day for the seven years that I have been with her, I was one of the best sight-readers [at music camp].”  Read more

“[M]emorizing all those piano pieces drilled fast memorization into my brain…. It’s really helped in academics [at Duke University].”  Read more

My Summer Experience at Point CounterPoint

By Valerie

This past summer was my first time away from home at a music camp. My parents heard about Point CounterPoint, a chamber music camp in Vermont, from Mrs. Breth and decided that the camp might be a good experience for me. When I looked at the camp website, I was hooked. I sent in an audition CD and, after being accepted, signed up for the second three-week session of the summer from July 13th through August 2nd.

I flew up on July 13th to Burlington and was picked up at the airport by Steve Beck, the husband of Jenny Beck, the owner of the camp. As he drove me to the camp, which is located on Lake Dunmore in Leicester, Steve kept a good conversation flowing and instantly put me at ease. When we arrived at camp, I was shown to my cabin, Big Red, by my counselor, Lizzy. After I unpacked I met a few of the thirteen girls with whom I shared my cabin. At first, I wondered how well our cabin would bond because there were so many girls; however, by the end of camp every girl in our cabin was incredibly close. After some introductory games, a great dinner and explanations of camp rules, including what our daily jobs were, we were sent back to our cabins for lights out.

The first full day was quite busy. We had auditions all morning so the five music teachers could place us in chamber groups. After lunch we took a simple theory exam to place us in the correct theory level for the classes that took place twice a week. During the afternoon and evening we did various activities and got ready for our first day of regular scheduling.

A regular day at the camp goes as follows: First, we were woken up by the bell at 7:30. At 8:00 the bell rang again for breakfast where, like at all meals, we sang a song before eating. Oh, and the food at camp is great! After breakfast, some announcements were usually made and then we all headed back to our cabins to get ready for the first music period of the day at 9:00. Throughout each day, with a few exceptions, we had five music periods; the first four took place in the morning before lunch, the fifth before dinner. We would spend one period rehearsing with each of our two music groups, and have two periods of practicing on our own. The first period of each day was either filled by a theory class or a music studies class. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, days that we would go on trips to places off campus, first period would be replaced by fifth period, so we could have a completely free afternoon. After lunch we would have an hour of rest in our cabins, and then we would have activities, such as Ultimate Frisbee, kickball, soccer, basketball, crafts, swimming, boating and much more. After dinner we would also have activities such as capture the flag, improv games, Pictionary or master classes. Some nights we would go back to our cabins earlier than usual so we could bond with our cabin mates. Every Friday night we had a campfire at which each cabin would have to perform a skit and every Saturday night we would have a themed dance that we would dress up for. Both nights were a lot of fun and some of my favorite memories are from those nights.

At Point CounterPoint, a music staff of five directed the music program. Anne Tyson was the music director at camp and taught piano, David Lamse and Julia Cash both taught violin, Miho Zaitsu taught cello, and Alexander Vavilov taught viola. All five gave private lessons twice a week and coached the chamber groups. I actually found it quite inspiring to be around the music coaches and attend their public concerts, because I saw that it is possible to have a career in music—something that seemed unattainable before.

The camp was definitely a positive experience for me. Words on paper cannot describe how great it felt to get away from the outside world and escape to a world of music, nature and fun. Point CounterPoint is the perfect balance between music and fun, and never before have I been to a place as beautiful and peaceful as Vermont. The whole staff was very friendly, I made friends easily, and I never felt a moment of homesickness.

This camp was my first experience with chamber music because I had only done solo piano work. From now on I definitely will look for any opportunity to play more chamber music. The music coaches and the music I played challenged me to play to the best of my ability and, as a result, my groups and I achieved beautiful music performances. I found that my sight-reading skills as a pianist were extremely helpful and important when playing with other instruments, and because Mrs. Breth required that I sight-read every day for the seven years that I have been with her, I was one of the best sight-readers there.

I actually gained a lot of confidence in my piano skills as a result of attending this camp. I recommend that every musician who plays the piano or a stringed instrument spend part of their summer at Point CounterPoint. I know that I will definitely do everything I can to return next summer.

Letter from college

From Cheng Cheng

I’m currently getting ready for my junior (gasp) year at Duke. I declared my bio major with music and chem minors last semester, and I feel like I’m getting along with them fairly well.

I’m currently working at a neurology lab at Duke that concentrates on zebra finches. I dissect a lot of bird brains and look at a lot of slides under the microscope until my eyes go woozy. The number one boring thing in our lab is waiting for birds to sing. Our lab is looking for a genetic difference between songbirds (those that learn song) and those that do not. For example, zebra finches or parrots versus, say, doves or quails. While there are areas that we know are specifically dedicated to sound production, our lab is looking mostly into DNA or protein differences. We need the birds to sing so specific genes will be activated and can be isolated after dissection.

My life is pretty busy still. I spent most of my summer working at my lab and gaining a lot of experience in that respect. In the week that I’ve been home, I’ve also taken up kickboxing at our local karate school.

When I get back to school, I plan on being extremely busy. I’m working closely on a freshman project this year with our school’s Asian Student Association, so my first two weeks will be filled with that as well as rush for my sorority. Afterwards I have school (of course) and MCATs to worry about (those are coming up in January). I’m still extremely involved with the Chinese Folk Dance group on campus and was in 3 dances in last year’s Lunar New Year show, and I hope to be in as many this year. I’m also volunteering at the Duke Hospital with a program called Rainbow Volunteers, in which I work with young children going through marrow and stem-cell transplants. I can’t say that it’s a lot of work (I play a lot of Wii and watch a lot of Mary Poppins), but it’s really fulfilling knowing that you’re relieving parents of some of the strain so they can also take some time away from their child (or children).

I’m still involved with piano lessons as well and hope to give a full-length concert my fall semester of my senior year. I really think memorizing all those piano pieces drilled fast memorization into my brain (I remember you were always upset at my last-minute comebacks — ha ha!). It’s really helped in academics. Last semester, I was able to manage a 3.8 GPA! One week I had 3 tests a paper AND the concerto concert! I’m really happy I was able to make it through.

I love and adore Duke, and I’m SO glad that I’m there, and I think it’s really helped me get my priorities straight and become much more determined in reaching my goals. My competitive spirit has a lot of things to challenge itself with.