Page 14 - Senior Link Magazine Spring 2023 - Online Magazine

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Joy Moutos
“...an Inch Is a Cinch”
grew up in a family that places
a high value on music. My
I grandfather, Bob Holwerda, was
a self-taught pianist who loved Scott
Joplin and Chopin. He passed away
only a few months after I started
taking lessons at the age of five, but
my mom says that my preferences
in music and my mannerisms at
the piano remind her of him. My
grandmother actually gave me his
piano. Music is important to my
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Lubbock Senior Link
Senior
Senior
family and is a bridge that has built
connections across generations.
I am fortunate to have had the
opportunity to study with the same
piano teacher for the past 13 years
of my life. I have learned some of
the most important lessons in my
life from Joy Moutos, who was also
my mom’s piano teacher over 30
years ago. Mrs. Moutos has helped
to lay a solid musical foundation
by Carter Lewis
for me, but she has also
taught me many things
that I will take and
apply throughout my
life.
It is not uncommon
in the middle of a
piano lesson with Mrs.
Moutos that I will get a
mini life lesson. When
it is apparent that I
have not put in enough
practice, she will
lovingly tell me, “Just
Do It,” and remind me
that there are always
enough hours in the
week for the things that
are important to me.
When I am overwhelmed with the
complexity or magnitude of a new
piece of music, she gently reminds
me, “A mile is hard but an inch is
a cinch,” or politely recounts the
recipe for how to eat an elephant
(one bite at a time). I would much
rather spend time at the keyboard
than working on theory, but
Mrs. Moutos won’t let me do one
without the other. I have learned
that some of the most important