037: Helping Teens Work through Performance Anxiety with Sonia Poon

Performance anxiety is a significant hurdle for many young musicians, but Sonia Poon has mastered the art of helping students conquer it with grace. In this episode, we delve deep into effective strategies for teaching teens and tweens with the remarkable Sonia Poon, a dedicated piano teacher since high school and founder of Forte Music Studio. She shares her wealth of experience from decades of teaching, including her unique approaches to addressing performance anxiety, building student trust, and curating balanced repertoires that resonate with young musicians. We explore how Sonia utilizes technology, sets up ideal practice environments, and offers practical advice for both teachers and parents to support their children's musical journeys. Sonia’s engaging methods are shaped by her extensive background and passion for music education, making this episode a rich resource for anyone involved in teaching music.

• Sonia shared a brief overview of her teaching journey and her home studio.
• Teaching teens and tweens, their performance anxiety, and establishing a connection with this age group.
• Importance of eye contact, listening skills, and personalized communication to build trust.
• Why reading non-verbal cues and giving students the space to express their emotions during lessons is critical.
• Sonia stresses balance between necessary repertoire and pieces that resonate with students.
• How she uses video assignments to keep students accountable and help them get used to performing.
• Importance of setting up practice environment that is crucial for effective practice.
• Sonia advocates for a clear and structured approach to preparing for performances.
• Some tips and advice on handling performance anxiety.
• How group classes and overlapping lessons help students get comfortable in performing.
• Value of parental involvement by celebrating milestones.

Links Mentioned

• Forte Music Studio Website
• Forte Music Studio Instagram Page
• Download the latest issue of TopMusic Magazine here.

Today’s Guest

Sonia has been teaching passionately since she started high school. She specializes in intermediate/advanced private piano, and in contrast, also loves to work with her Music Explorers preschool programme.

At seven years old Sonia was accepted under the tutelage of Constance Kline with whom she completed her RCM examinations, receiving top provincial marks five times. During her years of study, she also garnered numerous honours and scholarships at the Kiwanis Music Festival. She competed in the Canadian Music Competition, where she was a semifinalist. At the University of Alberta Sonia studied with Marek Jablonski, Alexander Sandler and Jean-Paul Sevilla. After completing her Bachelor of Music, she went to Paris to continue her studies for piano solo, chamber music, and analysis. In 2001 Sonia founded Forte Music Studio, and currently serves as the Vice President of the Alberta Piano Teacher’s Association. She is also a standing member of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers Association and is a registered Royal Conservatory of Music teacher.

She has three wonderful children- Sascha, Luka, and Camila who play guitar, piano and violin. When possible Sonia also loves to play tennis, read and sleep in.

About Rachel Ehring

Dr. Rachel Ehring is a pianist, teacher, music administrator, and lover of piano teaching gadgets. She holds a DMA in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado Boulder and a MM in Accompanying from the University of Kansas. She currently serves as Director at St. John’s Conservatory of the Arts in Orange County, CA. Previously, she held positions at Concordia University Irvine and Henderson State University. Rachel is passionate about empowering music teachers to create engaging and exciting lessons for students of all ages. When she isn’t playing the piano, you might find Rachel reading books with her son or walking her beagle Frieda.

• Visit her website at https://rachelehring.com/
• Visit her Instagram page: @rachelehring
• Visit her Etsy shop at Dream Lavender Music

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