Young people in Queenstown and the Wakatipu Basin haven’t wasted time during lockdown. Together with local piano teacher, Kinga Krupa, they’ve been practicing hard to put on one of the piano concerts the school’s fast becoming ‘Queenstown-famous’ for.

But how to put on a concert when there’s a global pandemic? When we can’t squeeze into the Queenstown Contemporary art gallery, or another favourite venue, to gather around the piano?

Clever Kinga already had the solution. She held her first virtual concert via video conferencing app Zoom on Sunday 3rdMay. There was classical music, a fab rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ and even a jazzy improvisation. After each solo, the audience was ‘unmuted’ and we’d all clap enthusiastically. It was heart-warming to watch and, after many weeks of listening to Spotify playlists alone, it was thrilling to be part of a live audience, watching live music played by talented youngsters in the region.

I got in contact with Kinga to find out where the idea came from and how teaching online piano lessons have been going.

Lots of families tuned in for the online piano concert

1/ What gave you the idea to teach via Zoom and how has this gone? Any challenges?

The idea for online teaching actually started late last year when two of the students and their beautiful family decided to move to Australia but wanted to continue their piano lessons, so together we decided to set up and try online lessons using Zoom.

After a little bit of work and tweaks, the two boys seemed to really enjoy the online lessons and I was very happy that the quality of tuition was not being compromised so it worked very well.

When Covid-19 and the lockdown came upon us I was worried that it would be a challenge for the families and students to trust me to provide online lessons and that would be as valuable and effective as traditional lessons. After investing in some great equipment, with the families’ belief in me, it seems to have worked out great for us all.

2/ How have the children responded to learning during lockdown?

The children students have been great with the changes. They have adapted so well! I do have to say that the parents have been really amazing though. They have been so supportive and positive, despite the bit of extra work required in the beginning with getting Zoom and a camera set up for the students, particularly the younger children.

It has actually been really special to see the students and parents interact and spend time together during the lessons too, often the parents are working and don't get to share in the learning experience so that has been great to witness too. It has really made our community stronger and I am very grateful for all they support and trust they have shown during this time.

Excited for her first concert performance!

3/ Is learning music a good tonic during troublesome times? Why?

This may be a biased answer but I truly believe that music, and the arts in general are very undervalued in our modern society.

It seems we don't have enough time for music or art during our normal life schedule but this lockdown has certainly given us all time to think about what is really important in life, what do we enjoy, what brings us lasting joy and I hope that music, art and hobbies, that we can work on and share with others become more of a priority for us all.

Since the lockdown I have had a Dad message me looking to learn piano with his kids which is absolutely wonderful to hear. Hopefully, we will have many more stories like that in the months and years ahead.

4/ How do you think your first virtual concert went?

Our first online concert was great, I think everyone enjoyed it. A lot of the students were nervous, particularly those who never performed live before but when you see the smiles of joy (and maybe relief) when they finish makes it all worth while!

It can be hard to push yourself outside your comfort zone as we all know, but that is where the real growth is. For a lot of the children, the younger they can do this the better it is for their self-esteem and confidence which is so important. We also had families and relatives from other parts of New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Scotland and England watching live, cheering their little piano starts on, so I think it was really great for all those families too.

5/ What’s next for you and your students?

The next event for us will probably be a more traditional concert on a grand piano when things are back to normal.

We will probably record or live stream this for all those family members abroad again which would be nice I think now that we have the resources. Many of the older generations really appreciate music and love seeing their little grandchildren/relatives learning and growing so hopefully we can make that work for them all.

We are also looking forward to getting back to the Bupa Care Home at Frankton later this year hopefully and play some music and sing some songs for the residents there. It is a special place and great for both the children and the residents of the Care Home.

If you’re interested in learning piano, check out Kinga’s website. She’s played piano professionally all over the world and holds a BA (Hons) of Music in Piano Performance and Teaching.

Q&A: Kinga Krupa’s virtual piano concert