I’m excited to announce that registration is now open for the 2nd season of the Piano Pantry Retreat!
You might be surprised to hear this is the “2nd season” because I never announced the 1st season here on the blog!
The reason is that the first year was a bit of an experiment. 🙂
Not only was hosting an in-home retreat something that’s not seen much (thanks to Joy Morin for being the first I know of!), but I was doing it alongside a personal productivity topic, not a piano pedagogy topic.
Would people be interested?
I was also intentionally keeping space very limited since I was (1) cooking meals for everyone as well as doing the coaching, (2) letting people stay in our home, and (3) I wanted to ensure I could give undivided attention and support to attendees during our work sessions.
So, I tested the waters by emailing a small group of teachers I knew well to see if there was any interest. There was – (yea!).
Here’s what attendees from the 2022 retreats had to say:
What a treat it was to receive Amy’s hospitality while also having the luxury of uninterrupted time to spend organizing and developing strategies for my digital tools! Amy’s guidance in organizing files, etc. were just what I needed, and I feel that I have clarity for these projects now on a weekly basis, as well as access to my organized digital resources. If you want to see your desktop again, come to this retreat! -Abby Maser
The Piano Pantry Retreat was such food for my soul. I enjoyed organizing my digital workspace, networking with other teachers and being pampered with Amy’s delicious dishes! I highly recommend this retreat! -Laura Harding
I am guilty of holding on to way too many files and emails, and I knew I needed to really get to the heart of what’s working and what’s not. The fact that we were in a relaxing place while thinking through systems and making decisions about digital management made it a lot less overwhelming. -Nicole Douglas
Dates, Details, and More Information
If you want to learn more about this getaway for piano teachers, including dates for the summer of 2023, cost, location, and more, visit the retreat page.
Amy’s retreat was one of the most engaging and fun piano events I’ve ever attended… It was a perfect balance of work and fun!
-Emily Susko
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
By the way, I have to give credit where credit is due in three places for this event getting started.
The first, I already mentioned. Joy Morin first had the idea to host an in-home teacher retreat in 2018 (which I cater). The two biggest differences between our retreats are that she can host many more teachers and focuses on pedagogical topics – choosing a different theme each time.
The second person I need to give credit to is one of the attendees, Laurie Bender. A teacher from Chicago, Laurie, reached out to me and mentioned how she would love to see me host a retreat like Joy’s but to do it focused on getting help cleaning up and learning how to utilize her digital workspace better (see…not my idea! Ha!)
Third is my three piano teacher friends who hunkered down with me at my house for the 2021 MTNA conference online. The fact that I loved hosting and cooking for my friends so much, combined with Laurie’s comment above, was all I needed to give it a shot.
Check out all the details here. I would love to have you there!
I would highly recommend this retreat to any piano teacher who wants to grow professionally and re-energize/relax personally. It is exactly what my soul, mind, and body needed. It exceeded my expectations and was worth every penny. I would love to become a regular attendee at future retreats. It was a delightful escape from my regular routine & an absolute joy on all levels!
-Laurie Bender
Join The Email List
As I mentioned earlier in this post, due to the very small group nature of this retreat, you can sign up to be part of the first group of teachers to be notified and given the opportunity to sign up before it is open to the public. If you would like to be part of that list for future retreats, you can sign up here
