Nuvo Instrumental and Slippery Rock University are hosting a FREE online event as part of Make Music Day on Monday June 21st from 10AM-4PM EST. We hope that you will consider joining us and tell your friends!
Activities will alternate between general music experiences and an introduction to NUVO instruments.
All ages are welcome and you can join this interactive virtual event at any time.
Make Music is a free celebration of music around the world on June 21st. Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, it is now held on the same day in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.
Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music is open to anyone who wants to take part. Every kind of musician — young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion — pours onto streets, parks, plazas, and porches to share their music with friends, neighbors, and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public.
This was what Ananda heard from her mother when she first begged to play the flute when she was only three years old, “you will have to wait.” Even though she was enthusiastic to learn, traditional metal flutes are too heavy and large for young children. Therefore, her mother began giving piano lessons to Ananda at the age of four to fulfill her eagerness to make music.
When Ananda was 5 years old, she discovered the NUVO Toot and was thrilled and exclaimed, “it was so, so, so cool!” The NUVO Toot allowed Ananda to begin learning flute fingerings as it was light and with keys that are easy to reach. The Toot also features a Firstnote lip plate which is a unique, recorder-like mouthpiece developed by NUVO, allowing Ananda to make a sound immediately! Building upon the musical foundation Ananda developed in piano lessons, she quickly learned to play “Hot Cross Buns,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” on the NUVO mini flute.
Ananda could soon play the C scale and various articulations so she quickly stepped up to the NUVO jFlute. She learned to play the entire range of the flute in just a month. With the shortened Donut headjoint and again with the Firstnote lip plate, Ananda was able to get a beautiful sound right away and she was able to focus on her fingerings. As she grew, she progressed from the Donut to the straight headjoint. With the straight headjoint and C foot joint attached, the jFlute measures the same length as a student flute, yet it is much lighter than a standard metal flute because it is made of plastic. Ananda does not have to worry about straining her arms and can continue to focus on learning new music. When she is ready, she will start learning the flute embouchure by swapping out the Firstnote lip plate to a standard flute lip plate.
Ananda’s mother said “we are grateful to NUVO for the wonderful products that allowed Ananda to begin the flute at an early age and have a great start.” Indeed, she has had a brilliant start and in less than a year has already received numerous national and international awards. Her latest accomplishment is winning the London Young Musician Fans’ Favorite Award in the Talent Category. In late 2020, NUVO appointed Ananda as one of their youngest ambassadors.
As Ananda continues to grow, she will soon progress to a silver flute. At that time, she will have already learned correct fingerings, breathing and posture using the jFlute and those skills will directly transfer to the silver flute. We hope Ananda’s story is an inspiration for other young children who are eager to learn an instrument but are limited because of the size and weight of traditional instruments. To date, Ananda has already placed in 16 international competitions on the jFlute. We look forward to watching Ananda continue to grow as a musician. Take a moment and watch Ananda performing Paul-Agricole Génin’s Theme and Variation No. 5 from “The Carnival of Venice”.
Follow Ananda’s musical journey on her mother’s Instagram:
In view of the recent situation with COVID-19 and school closures, WindStars launches free “Play Along” online lessons to offer parents a virtual music class for their children. The lessons are based on the WindStars music curriculum, an award-winning, pre-band music program with books. It is a simple, effective, and affordable way for elementary school kids to experience the joy of playing music together. The lessons start in WindStars 1,”Sound Before Sight” and will progress through the other two levels.
WindStars uses Nuvo instruments that are inexpensive, lightweight, durable and easy to maintain. The instruments are musically authentic and are designed to teach skills that help children quickly transfer to beginning band instruments when they are ready. Nuvo instruments are 100% waterproof so they can be easily sanitized in hot soapy water.
Click here to watch WIndStars Play Along lessons.
Be sure to subscribe to the WindStars Education YouTube channel and get notified as soon as new lessons are released.
Luna is just 5 years old and immediately produced some impressive low notes!
The jHorn is the latest addition to Nuvo’s expanding range of innovative pre-band instruments. Designed specifically to suit young students trying out brass for the first time, the jHorn is compact, lightweight and durable.
With standard horn fingerings, the jHorn plays the same register as a baritone horn or euphonium but has a unique multi-cup mouthpiece to allow students to experiment with low, middle and high brass embouchures. It can also be played with a standard trumpet, alto horn or small bore trombone mouthpiece.
Another innovative feature is the valve system. With piston-type actuators, the patented rotary face valves are low maintenance and require no valve oil. The whole instrument can be flushed out frequently and quickly with hot soapy water. The jHorn is tuned in the key of Bb but has a set of C tuning slides. This means it can be converted to play in concert pitch to play along with the other instruments in Nuvo’s pre-band program, WindStars. As well as being perfect for kids, the jHorn is proving popular as a fun travel instrument for adult amateur brass players looking for a lightweight alternative for a quick practice on the go.
Nuvo continues to innovate to bring more kids into music at an earlier age, bridging the gap between recorders and beginning band.
At Winter NAMM 2019, we were thrilled and honored to have Windstars winning the Best in Show award. It was selected by George Quinlin of Quinlin & Fabish, Illinois.
“Nuvo has developed a line of pre-band instruments, and they perform much like traditional band instruments. They require a certain amount of air to get them to play, and it’s not designed to replace what’s already happening to recruit kids into music programs. And it’s not designed to replace traditional flutes and clarinets and brass instruments, either. It’s really something that’s totally new and in-between. It has a purpose simply to get kids excited about playing wind instruments.”
Music Inc. Magazine’s article on Best in Show highlights: http://www.musicincmag.com/News/2019/013119/013119_BIS.html
Full award ceremony available on NAMM’s website. Skip to 1:04:40 to watch Nuvo WindStars addressed by George Quinlin: https://www.namm.org/nammu/best-show-6
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