Keiichiro Kubota
229 West 109th Street Apt. 42
New York, NY 10025
Tel/Fax: 212-866-2131
E-mail: kk8@verizon.net
August 24, 2005
Dear Sir/Madam:
It is our pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Mr. Richard Campbell, as the most excellent piano teacher we have ever met. Our daughter Nanami has been taking his lessons for 2 years and 8 months now.
We suggested Nanami to start practicing piano at her age of 4. Then our intention as parents was just that we would like her to know joy of playing music, which would definitely enrich her life, standing by her both in good times and bad times. There, we believed that choice of the teacher is quite essential, because we have seen many kids losing their interests and giving it up before they know how fun and creative it is. So, we set two conditions for Nanami?s teacher, which we thought were critical for her to continue practicing until she finds music within her. One is that the teacher is able to create a relaxing atmosphere in lessons, and the other is that his/her knowledge and taste is not limited to classical music. That was exactly the reason why we asked Rich to start lesson for our daughter. We know that Rich is really friendly to kids, and that he is an excellent professional keyboard player.
The consequence has proved to be far beyond our expectation. Before we saw Rich, we had tried to teach her by ourselves only to find that it was too difficult for us. Teaching music to a little kid requires extraordinary tolerance and patience. Rich has not only both of them, but also a sense of discipline, here in the best sense of the word. It looked like a magic to us when we found Nanami voluntarily practicing basics at home, understanding that it is important for her enjoying music further. We assume that these competences of Mr. Campbell as a teacher are largely based on his study on music education in his college.
In June, Nanami joined the New York State School Music Association Festival, which is a serious event for children who learn music. Participants are required to perform scales, play a repertoire, and demonstrate sight reading in front of a judge, who evaluates them for a certificate of each level they try. It was by Rich?s suggestion that we decided to take part in the event, for honestly we never even imagined our daughter to be among serious music students. However, she successfully passed the exam for Level 1. We were really proud of her, and so happy to see a sure progress within her.
Now, she really loves to play piano, which means our initial aim is already achieved. Sometimes she amuses us playing pop songs like John Lennon?s ?Imagine?. We heartily wish she keep deepen her interest and talent with Mr. Campbell from now onward. And a few months ago, we asked him to start having lessons for our younger daughter Mari, too.
Sincerely,
Keiichiro and Kazumi Kubota