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Last Saturday, I had the privilege of adjudicating for a piano competition about a 90 minute drive from here. The format was pretty much what you would expect: four divisions from elementary to advanced repertoire and 1st, 2nd, & 3rd prizes. The competition was open format with the pianists sitting together with the audience. But . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Competition With A Twist  “What’s up with this memory thing?”, asked one of my new transfer students. We talked about different levels of knowing and understanding and the fact that committing something to memory allows us to interact with it on a deeper level. “You don’t necessarily have to perform it from memory”, I said, “but you need the . . . → Read More: What’s Up With This Memory Thing? I’ll admit it. I’m a complete nerd for certain kinds of music. A while back, I was listening to a new album by Nils Anders Mortensen (look for more on this in an upcoming review). All the works on the CD are tied together by their connections to the outdoors. And yes, outdoor music would . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang: A Little Night Music There was a situation during the rehearsal for our EAC keyboard recital last Tuesday. We were premiering our new harpsichord in its solo capacity and so had both the concert grand and the harpsichord ready to rock and roll. I run open rehearsals so that the students can drop in for 30-45 minutes as their . . . → Read More: Duo for Harpsichord and Jackhammer Last night on The Next Food Network Star, Alton Brown asked several contestants about the worst thing that could possibly happen during their demo. The answers were predictable- the equipment could fail, the oil might not come to temperature, the mic might not work, there might be a knife incident involving blood, etc. He shook . . . → Read More: Uh… Last week, I found myself in a heated discussion with a colleague over his perception that there was no one worth performing for or teaching any longer. In his view, everyone out there had completely forgotten how or did not care to behave as he thought they should. Those who advocate healthy eating, talk a . . . → Read More: Respect Adam Gyorgy grinned as we began our Skyping. I could imagine that he had just bounded into the room. “ I’m sorry we are late. [we weren’t] I was at Carnegie Hall doing some pre-recording. We comb our hair, we look in the mirror. We want to adjust our playing we listen to ourselves. . . . → Read More: Artist Portrait: Adam Gyorgy Saturday January 8, 2011 was a sad day in Tucson and for the country. The massacre took place at the Safeway where my family shopped for many years. One of my fellow piano teachers and her husband were there when the shots rang out. Our Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and despite . . . → Read More: One Year Later: What’s Your Policy? Whew! All the end of term and holiday recital craziness is past us. Years ago I read a group of entertaining rules of performance etiquette in the style of Jolly Olde England. I have no idea what the original source was at this point. (Someone once told me that after 5 years of using an . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Ye Olde Rules It’s that time of year again—time for the college fall recital. We always try to do something unique and different (put on a show) so that the audience is glad they came and the performers have something to focus on besides just getting the notes right. In the past, our programs have included dueling piano . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Sound Images I have always secretly had it in for Clara Schumann. There was that Trio that I was forced to work on for an entire semester and then there is the fact that Clara was performing concerts from memory at the ripe old age of 9, the first person ever to do so. Later, she was . . . → Read More: Playing With Wolfgang 1.1: Clara & Robert Sitting In A Tree At dinner the other night, my friend Ann told me how impressed she had been with her Granddaughter’s piano hands during a Skype call that morning. Later in the day, when a young student’s technique was all over the place, Ann asked, “Gee, would you like to meet another pianist your age?” They Skyped her . . . → Read More: PA Shorts: Body of Work I have posted a lot about filling in what is missing from our student’s backgrounds, but, this week I got to thinking about our own gaps, crevices, and canyons. We all have them whether we want to admit it or not. As a clinician, I often have teachers proudly tell me, “I only teach up . . . → Read More: Gaps, Crevices, & Canyons Saturday January 8, 2011 was a sad day in Tucson and for the country. The massacre took place at the Safeway where my family shopped for many years. Our Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and is fighting for her life. 19 others were wounded. Six people are dead including a nine year . . . → Read More: Delighting in Mozart There has been much ado lately in the media and on social networking sites over house concerts. This week Chris Foley of The Collaborative Piano Blog wrote a great post on the subject including links and resources. More than a few of my colleagues have been involved locally in organizing and/or playing house concerts over . . . → Read More: The House Concert: A New Career Facet?  |
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