Why should children participate in concerts, music camps, masterclasses, or competitions when they could simply attend weekly lessons, sit a piano exam once a year, and enjoy a more relaxed musical journey?
After all, learning extra pieces requires more work. Performing on stage can be nerve-racking. Some children worry about making mistakes in front of others. Nowadays, even piano exams can be submitted through recordings, allowing multiple attempts before sending in the final version. It is understandable why many students — and even adults — naturally prefer the easier and safer pathway.
But this “comfortable” pathway is often the very reason many children gradually lose passion and momentum in their instrumental learning.
As human beings, we naturally avoid discomfort and challenges. Children are no different. Left entirely to themselves, most children would choose not to perform, not to compete, and not to stretch themselves beyond weekly lessons. Teachers are human too. In fact, teachers do not get paid more for preparing students for concerts, competitions, camps, or festivals. Quite the opposite — it requires much more time, planning, encouragement, and hard work from the teacher.
Yet we continue to encourage these opportunities because we know how important they are for a child’s growth.
At Dorayme, we have created many initiatives to motivate students consistently — such as our “4 in a Pack” performances, House Points System, Music Learning Planner, camps, workshops, and recitals. However, one of the most powerful forms of motivation comes from giving children opportunities beyond the four walls of a weekly lesson.
External platforms such as concerts, competitions, music camps, masterclasses, and festivals create something extremely important:
MOMENTUM.
These experiences stretch a child’s ability. They push students out of their comfort zone. They make them nervous, excited, challenged, and inspired all at once. Most importantly, they give children a purpose to work towards.
Weekly lessons alone can only provide limited momentum. Real growth often happens when students are preparing for something meaningful outside their regular lesson routine.
Children who regularly face healthy challenges learn perseverance, courage, discipline, resilience, and confidence. These are life skills that extend far beyond music.
No child naturally wishes to work harder. Most children would prefer not to perform because performing requires extra practice, preparation, and courage. But as parents, we often understand what is beneficial for our children long before they understand it themselves.
The valuable experiences gained through concerts, camps, and performances can never be fully replaced by weekly lessons alone. At the same time, we also understand that some families may not be in a financial position to provide additional music activities for their children. For some households, weekly piano lessons already require significant commitment and sacrifice.
We deeply value these families, and we do not want financial limitations to prevent children from experiencing opportunities that could greatly impact their musical journey.
Therefore, for the 2026 Dorayme Music Camp, we would like to offer selected families a special instalment payment package, allowing the camp fees to be divided into three separate monthly payments according to individual circumstances – just tick the instalment bracket when enrolling online.
While we are unable to provide similar arrangements for external events such as the IRMTNZ Performance Festival (as these are organized externally), this is one small way we hope to support families who genuinely wish for their children to participate but may be facing financial challenges.
As teachers, we work every week to keep your child’s musical momentum moving forward consistently. However, involvement in external music activities can elevate that momentum to an entirely different level.
Sometimes the greatest growth happens when children are gently encouraged beyond what feels comfortable.
To enrol and select your concert session/sections, please complete the form below: