New April Store Update - Educational Avatars!

Happy April! We’re happy to announce that the new avatars and backgrounds update are uploaded into the Practice Space shop for the month of April.

We love updating the Practice Space shop monthly so that your students can be motivated with fun new store items frequently! Our main goal is always to liven the platform with both engaging and educational features.

Here’s how it works: Your students can add avatars and backgrounds to their inventory to keep their home screen new and improved. Students can only purchase from the Practice Space shop after completing their practice goal for the day! (This is a great motivator, of course!)

You can find the new April composer update below! We’ve put together a fabulous group of composers who were all born in the month of April. We also have a special addition to the composer avatars this month! We’ve added a living composer, Adolphus Hailstork, to April’s avatar collection.

Each avatar comes with their own quotes so the historical individual can tell us about their life and musical career. Below you will find the five composers for this month and the facts they’ll share on the app. We’ve also included a little biography for each composer as well as a link to a famous work for you to share with your students!

Sergio Prokofiev (April 23, 1891 - March 5, 1953) grew up in Russia, listening to his mother play Beethoven and Chopin.

Facts in app:

  1. I wrote my first piece at the age of 5 and my first opera by the time I was 9.

  2. I was a chess master, as well as being a proficient musician.

  3. I was only 14 years old when I entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

  4. I was very annoying to my much older classmates, because I kept records of their mistakes.

  5. Check out this recording of Peter and the Wolf:
    Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev - Academy of London Orchestra - Narrated by John Gielgud

Ethel Smyth (April 22, 1858 - May 8, 1944) was a child prodigy from England who composed her first hymn at the age of 10.

Facts in app:

  1. I started piano lessons at the age of 12.

  2. I later studied at the Leipsig Conservatory and met Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Grieg, there.

  3. In my youth I enjoyed horseback riding, tennis, and golf.

  4. I mostly wrote orchestral, chamber and choral pieces.

  5. Check out this recording of The Wreckers: Overture:
    The Wreckers: Overture

Alberto Ginastera (April 11, 1916 - June 25, 1983) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but studied with Aaron Copland when he visited the United States from 1945-47.

Facts in app:

  1. When I was 5, I got very upset when I couldn't play the National Anthem on my toy flute, because it's range of notes was too limited.

  2. My father was Spanish and my mother was Italian.

  3. I wrote many different types of pieces, including piano pieces, orchestral pieces, operas, ballets and concerti.

  4. I taught at several music schools.

  5. Check out this recording of my Violin Concerto, Op. 30: Illa. Scherzo pianissimi
    Hilary Hahn, Andrés Orozco-Estrada – Ginastera: Violin Concerto, Op. 30: IIIa. Scherzo pianissimo

Adolphus Hailstork (April 17, 1941 - Living Composer) is a living composer, residing in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Facts in app:

  1. I was in a boy's choir when I was young. My music is influenced by this, as well as gospel, jazz and blues styles.

  2. I enjoy writing music from life experiences and am always looking to express the deeper meaning.

  3. I studied composition in France, with the famous teacher, Nadia Boulenger.

  4. I have taught at Michigan State and several other universities.

  5. Check out this recording of I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes
    Aldolphus Hailstork's I will Lift Up Mine Eyes

Sergei Rachmoninov (April 1, 1873 - March 28, 1943) was a Russian Composer who recorded much of his own music, so you can actually hear him play his pieces!

Facts in app:

  1. I could easily hear a piece and play it right away, and even remember it years later.

  2. I studied piano with a teacher who expected me to practice 16 hours a day!

  3. When I went to the Moscow Conservatory, I won the Great Gold Medal in 1892.

  4. As an adult I moved to the United States, touring often, performing and conducting.

  5. Check out this this recording of my Piano Concerto no.2, op.18
    Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto no.2 op.18 - Anna Fedorova - Complete Live Concert - HD

Background Update

Some other fun additions
These all cheer the student on but also talk about tempo and other musical terms!

Practice Space Team