Jon Schmidt is an Amazing Motivator for Teenage Pianists

Last night I took two of my kids, T-Rex and Bluejay, to a fund-raising concert at a local junior high school. It featured Jon Schmidt (pianist) and Steven Sharp Nelson (cellist). They were amazing. The facilities were not so great - not enough microphones or best sound system, and the piano was extraordinarily out of tune (cringe). Still, they moved along and made the best of it. Jon took requests from the kids (the audience was largely families), and he and Steve, with a great sense of humor, played and hammed it up together. We bought one of Jon's piano books and T-Rex and Bluejay were first in line afterward to have him sign it. Steve was really enjoyable on the cello too, I wish he'd had some CD's there for sale. This event wasn't very well advertised, and I think a little more planning would have made this a sold-out event. Jon is doing two concerts this weekend and they are both sold out. I know, I tried to get tickets. Jon has tons of free downloads on his website both teaching information as well as sheet music and MP3 files. Check it out.