PA Shorts: Onwards & Upwards
Recently, while in the preparation phase of a presentation, I asked what some of our college students wished they had known before coming to study at a more advanced level. Some of…
Artist Portrait: Nathan Williamson
Nathan Williamson is a pianist, composer and conductor with ties to both the UK and the US. We chatted via email about his musical growing up, his musical mentors, balancing…
PA Shorts: Finding Waldo
“You need to find Waldo,” I said. It was true. Maggie was working on polishing the Bartok Sonatina and it needed character, action, detail, and nuance to truly come to…
Taking My Own Medicine
Last Wednesday evening I played a recital with Soprano Cynthia Sanner. It was a privilege to play the repertoire she had chosen—some works were new to me and others I…
PA Shorts: On Forging A Personal Musical Connection
I'm always encouraging students to find something personal in their music—something from their own lives and experience. Often, they look at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my…
Resolutions: Salvage & Recycle
It happens to all of us. We set goals and start out with such good intentions. Then, the world gets in the way and, little by little, we lose our…
The Anti-Masterclass
Antimatter: Any substance that, when combined with an equal amount of matter, results in the complete and direct conversion of all substance to energy. () Anti-Masterclass: Any masterclass that, when…
Playing With Wolfgang: My Dog Ate My Minuet
The first time I ever worked on a Bach dance movement I felt like I had encountered an alien landscape. I had grown up on Bach chorales but somehow those…