Jennifer Wright Piano Studio

It has been a long-standing tradition of JWPS to present holiday-themed concerts - but NOT necessarily in any ways that you might expect!

Why? Holidays are important rituals with deep beginnings that shed light on what brings us together, how we share joy and meaning, and how music underpins every aspect of a wonderful life.

These themes give students a brief to go deep on an aspect of the celebration that speaks to them: combining researching, choosing repertoire, speechwriting, costume designing, music arranging and more in a fabulously holistic learning process that celebrates their individual journey.

We've never repeated a holiday theme, so after all these years things are getting more and more fun: in 2025 we featured GROUNDHOG DAY!

This show explores the origins, observances, facts, and quirks of this ancient celebration of seasons’ turning . . . AND the themes in the iconic 1993 movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell of the same name (which we all watched together), wherein hapless Pennsylvania TV weather forecaster Phil Connors gets stuck in an inexplicable time loop that causes February 2nd - Groundhog Day - to repeat over and over again, no matter what he does about it.

Thanks to all the students and families who made this event a huge treat!

At last, the pictures from another great JWPS event see the light of day: Our 2021 climate-change-themed "World Changing/Humans Changing" online concert that showcased our ongoing work in climate activism and helped sustain our sanity in dark times!

I shiver to remember how much we all were going through at that time and how awful it was not to be able to gather to share music and community in person, but these pictures remind me how much we all brought to the table to support each other and to keep creating hope and beauty in the midst of chaos. That work is not over.

This is my year of GETTING THINGS DONE! It feels really good to finally get around to finishing things that have been waiting for attention for a long time...like publishing the picture pages of the FABULOUS Halloween Spooftacular concert film we made during the pandemic!

My students couldn't share their music in person with our friends at our neighborhood retirement center, so instead we made them a black-and-white concert film full of Old Hollywood glam and schmaltz.

We refused to be deflated by bad news then, and we remain so now. Onwards and upwards!

In case you need a mega-cute antidote to reality right now, may I present: the picture pages from our most recent Halloween Costume Concert!

Sometimes I get super sweet fan art.

This one is by a young student of mine:

"Jennifer as a Lobster Playing the Piano With Student as a Shrimp", red pen on notebook paper, collection of the artist, 2024.

Due to high demand, we have added a surprise last Burned Piano Project concert this coming Sunday, June 23rd, from 2-3 pm!
You can RSVP here:

https://www.ojmche.org/events/the-burned-piano-project-concert-june-23/

Many of you are aware of The Burned Piano Project that I have been working on for two years, wherein I dismantled a Steinway grand piano that had been destroyed in a hate crime that targeted a Jewish family in Portland. From the remains of this cherished family heirloom, I created artworks and a very unusual new musical instrument, The Glass Piano.

These works currently are on display as part of an entire exhibit of remarkable artworks, each reinterpreting some part of the burned piano, that I curated at The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in downtown Portland through June 30th.

(Since the gallery space is limited, the RSVPs are capped at 30, but no one will be turned away if you show up without a reserved seat. The concert is free with museum admission: $10 adults, $5 students.)

These concerts are very fun since I cover a lot of ground - the surprising history of glass and glass instruments, how one goes about inventing and building a new, conceptual musical instrument, stories of the heart, beauty, and even humor that gradually unfolded from this unspeakable tragedy, all interspersed with a range of pieces I have composed for The Glass Piano that range from melancholy to whimsical (and the audience gets to play along on some of them!).

It would be amazing to see you there and to share this journey with you! If you aren't able to make the last concert, you can still tour the exhibit during museum open hours (Wed. - Sun. 11 am - 4 pm) through June 30th.

Out of the blue yesterday, I got a completely, exuberantly awesome handmade card from one of my most reticent young students.

My favorite part is the footnote, which I shall now put on my next business card iteration:

JENNIFER WRIGHT, piano
Great *

*and also the best

MORE PICTURES!!

The fab photos from our February 2022 concert "Celebrate Black History Month: Musical Heritage of the African Diaspora" are here!

Thanks to all the students who came up with moving, meaningful, entertaining, and downright hilarious song ideas from their favorite Black artists throughout history.

It was the kind of show we love best at Jennifer Wright pIano Studio: an amazing mix of styles, genres, time periods, and influences, with videos, projections, enlightening speeches, awesome cover versions, lots of piano-vocal action, and, of course, goodie bags with Oreos and treats!

We're baaaaaack! After a 2-year pandemic hiatus, it felt AWESOME to throw one of JWPS's fave piano parties in person again: our annual Halloween Costume Concert at The Courtyard at Mt. Tabor Retirement Center!

The residents loved it so much they asked if we could come back every month. Big thanks to all the students and families who volunteered their time and talents to make the day fun and fabulous!

Teachers, students, performers of all kinds: live shows for seniors are safe again, so let's get in there and bring them some much-needed joy and music again!

Today Jennifer Wright Piano Studio donated 400 trees to be planted in forest gardens in Africa, one tree for every member of cast, crew, and audience for our Phoenix Project shows in November 2021 (plus a few extra to make it a nice even number). Part of our commitment to this epic, climate-change-themed show was to offset its carbon footprint. Let's start making zero-carbon culture and living a reality!

Many thanks to the Regional Arts and Culture Council and Music Teachers National Association for supporting our vision and to all the audience members who came out in Covid Times to share this incredibly meaningful experience with us!

Donate to Trees for the Future I just gave to for the Future - a nonprofit that's planting trees and changing lives throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The make a big difference- join me in at trees.org/donate