Dicey Topics for Singers

Elizabeth Prescott's website offers some fascinating articles about singing, on topics that are generally difficult to answer. Here are some of them:

What do I do with my hands?
Voice Teacher vs. Vocal Coach
How young is too young to study?
How long does it take?
What to take and not take when ill

But the most useful article I found was What they didn't tell you about your singing audition..., difficult advice, and useful for both musical theater and opera singers, who must brave much more rejection than acceptance before getting hired. Also take a look at breakdowns of several musicals for role and skill info.

Leslie Kinton w/ The Madawaska Quartet August 2nd at Festival of the Sound

Those of you able to get to Parry Sound this week might be interested in seeing pianist Leslie Kinton perform the Dvorak Piano Quintet with the Madawaska Quartet noon Thursday in the Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts as part of this summer's Festival of the Sound. The Madawaska Quartet are: Sarah Fraser Raff, violin, Rebecca van der Post, violin, Anna Redekop, viola, and Amy Laing, cello. Also on the noon program is the Martinu Trio in F major with Suzanne Shulman, flute, Anssi Karttunen, cello, and Glen Montgomery, piano. Tickets are $19/16.

And that's not even Leslie Kinton's first performance of the day--at 10:30am he appears with fellow pianist James Anagnoson in a program of duo piano works by Dvorak and Martinu. Tickets are $15/12.

Kinton and the Madawaska Quartet will also be performing the Dvorak Quintet in Toronto at the RCM Great Artists series on Sept. 28.

More upcoming Madawaska Quartet events:

Aug. 11
Children's concert at Franklin Children's Garden, Toronto Centre Island.
11a.m. Free

Aug. 17
Summer concert series at St.Andrew-by-the-lake, Toronto Island.
7p.m. $15/$13 Janacek, Ives, Linda Smith

Gyorgy Kurtag's Glissando-only Perpetuum Mobile

Gyorgy Kurtag's Perpetuum Mobile from his Games for Piano series (played by the composer on this video) initially looks simple, but in fact requires a great deal of accuracy in finding the top and bottom of each glissando, as well as a sensitivity to hand distribution, velocity, and pedal sonorities. What many pianists would find most difficult about playing this piece is not the start and end note accuracy, but the wear and tear on the backs of the fingers, which could end up torn and bleeding without proper glissando techniques. Take a careful look at Kurtag's playing and you'll find that he uses several contact points that enable him to get through unscathed:

1) fingernails, but only on the nail and not as far as the tender cuticle skin
2) the side of the 5th finger, including the outer side of the hand
3) the fronts of the fingers on the opposite side to the fingernail

Make sure you watch the ending!

Speedlinking - 29 July 2007

Want to do some genuine good in the blogosphere? Support Glenda Watson Hyatt, activist for the disabled and author of the Do it Myself Blog in her quest to Blog for a Year and spread awareness of resources and options for the disabled, their parents, and caregivers.

Today's Star takes a look at what Toronto might look like 500 years after humans disappear.

Michelle Bennett and her colleagues in Zwingenberg come up with a list of just how complex a profession classical singing is.

Fans of David Allen's Getting Things Done might be interested in Keith Robinson's article on how to apply GTD to the creative process.

And in the intense world of the arts, Patty offers some wisdom on how you are not what you do.

YouTube of Amy Briggs Dissanayake Playing David Rakowski's Schnozzage

This video filmed in Brandeis University's Slosberg Hall features Amy Briggs Dissanayake playing David Rakowski's 23rd Etude, "Schnozzage". A lot of us may have at one time tried playing with the nose as a "third hand" (I once tried it for adding voices to orchestral reductions but got a sore schnozz), but David Rakowski integrates the technique seamlessly and with eloquence into this meditative etude, played without a hint of irony by Dissanayake.

Piano Events at the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival

For those of you in the Toronto area looking for some chamber music and art song without leaving the city, the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music is hosting the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival, running from July 23-August 19.

Here is a brief run-down of some of the piano events coming up in the next few weeks:

Passionate String Music
Leipzig String Quartet with Menacham Pressler, piano

L. van Beethoven: Quartet in F minor, op.95
F. Mendelssohn: Quartet in A minor, op.13J.
Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, op.34

Saturday, July 28
Lecture 6:45pm, Room 330, Edward Johnson Building
Concert 8:00pm, MacMillan Theatre
Adults $35, Seniors/Students $25

German Songs and Letters Lorna Macdonald, soprano, Cameron Stowe, piano, with Barry Macgregor, narrator

Songs of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Strauss

Tuesday, July 31 at 8:00pm
Walter Hall
Adults $35, Seniors/Students $25

In a French Atmosphere Karina Gauvin, soprano, Michael McMahon, piano

Songs by Fauré, Debussy, Duparc, and Poulenc

Thursday, August 2
Lecture 6:45pm, Room 330, Edward Johnson Building
Concert 8:00pm, Walter Hall
Adults $35, Seniors/Students $25

A Celebration of Pianistic Masterpieces Andre Laplante, piano

J.S. Bach: Adagio in A minor, BWV 564
J. Haydn: Variations in F minor
L. van Beethoven: Sonata in C major, op.53 “Waldstein”
F. Schubert: Three Moments musicaux D.780
F. Chopin: Sonata in B-flat minor, op. 35 “Funeral March”

Thursday, August 9 at 8:00pm
MacMillan Theatre
Adults $35, Seniors/Students $25

Bohemian Treasures The Gryphon Trio (Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin, Roman Boris, cello, James Parker, piano)

A. Dvorak: Piano Trio in E minor, op. 90 “Dumky”
B. Smetana: Piano Trio in G minor, B.104, op. 15

Tuesday, August 14
Lecture 6:45pm, Room 330, Edward Johnson Building
Concert 8:00pm Walter Hall
Adults $35, Seniors/Students $25

The festival's finale will be two performances of Rossini's The Barber of Seville, directed by Michael Albano with musical director (and festival artistic director) Agnes Grossman.

Thursday, August 16 - Saturday, August 18 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, August 19 at 2:00 pm
MacMillan Theatre
Adults $50, Seniors/Students $30


Update 3:33pm

Ken Winters reviews Anton Kuerti's Tuesday night recital in today's Globe and Mail.

The Canada Council's 50 for 50 Arts Challenge

How many arts-related activities can you do in one year? The Canada Council's 50 for 50 Arts Challenge is a bilingual social networking site built for the Canada Council for the Arts' 50th anniversary where you can track and share your arts-related activities over the course of the year. The project is "an opportunity for you to tell other Canadians about your 50 arts adventures in 2007. Serious, extraordinary, official, underground, ridiculous and sublime, your arts have a space online. Seek out arts experiences this year that will put you in closer touch with the life of your community."

YouTube of Marlyn Nonken Playing David Rakowski's Fists of Fury

One of the most talented pianists I knew at Eastman was Marilyn Nonken, who has since become one of the finest interpreters of contemporary music. Here she is playing David Rakowski's 25th Etude, "Fists of Fury".



(Via Sequenza21)

Musical How-to Lists

This how-to list thing is getting out of hand. Here are a few from eHow:

How to start a classical music collection
How to listen to classical music critically
How to listen to opera
How to attend a baroque music concert
How to attend a choral concert
How to attend a solo piano concert
How to attend an early music concert

These two are my favorites:

How to select music for a tupperware party
How to appreciate death metal

(Via oboeinsight)

Poll Results: Contact Preferences

I noticed an interesting phenomenon this spring. While I was getting a sizeable number of requests for various engagements and had turned down over 100 people (average for many Toronto collaborative pianists), my phone wasn't ringing. I wasn't glued to my cell phone the way I had been in previous years but glued to my computer, writing variations on "Thanks for asking, but I am already busy on that date. If you need any other names and numbers, please do not hesitate to contact me, etc.". Still, I found this a quicker and more efficient way to keep in contact with potential clients even though I'm reachable more often via cell than computer.

Wondering if others have noticed this, my latest poll featured the question "How do you prefer to contact or be contacted by people?" Here are the results from the 21 replies:

Email 13
Cell Phone 5
Facebook 2
Land Phone 1
SMS/IM 0

The land phone option proved to be less popular than I thought, as was SMS (text messaging for those of you who aren't up to snuff on their tech). Facebook received only two votes, but may just prove to be more popular as time goes on as a primary contact vehicle within the arts community.

Any more comments are welcome on the ongoing debate about contact methods.

Denyse Graves Sings Carmen to Elmo on Sesame Street

How's this for a lullaby--Denyse Graves singing the Habanera from Bizet's Carmen to Elmo, with animal chorus.

More Resources for Teaching and Learning Piano

Here's another great find from a little searching last week: A Rough and Ready Guide to Teaching the Piano by Alison Ruddock with a foreward by Melvyn Tan. All sorts of aspects of teaching are covered, including parents' expectatios, the interview, where to start, lesson and practice ideas, exams, and a discussion of why kids fail. The Rough and Ready Guide takes its place on the Offsite Resources list (see sidebar) as a permanent recommendation.

Alison Ruddick's guide is part of the Musicteachers.co.uk site, which is "a free service which aims to support musicians in every aspect of education and performance". Here are some other resources on the site:

Guidelines for Choosing a Teacher
Teacher and Accompanist Search (UK only)
Musical Offerings, a buy and sell service (UK only)
Educational Material, including Sight Reading-A Trying Time For Teacher and Pupil and Perfect your Practice

Speedlinking - 21 July 2007

While I've been learning mountains of repertoire here at Bowdoin, A Singer's Life is in rehearsal at Zwingenberg, waiting for her Harry Potter copy to arrive and Opera Chic travels to Santa Fe and is not unimpressed.

Trying to get more productive? Check out this huge productivity list at Mashable or apply the long-tail concept to get ahead at Personal Growth and Effectiveness.

Hitting the freelance market this September? Freelance Switch lists 10 ways to avoid freelance headaches.

Working on better accuracy in your practicing? Slow Leadership explains why perfection isn't a viable goal.

How's the reading this summer? Perhaps you should (or rather, could) join Rebecca at A Resonant Life in reading Proust.

And finally, Josh Nemith shares some thoughts on short chamber music recitals.

WGBH's New Hamburg Steinway

Edgar B. Herwick, Senior Marketing Coordinator of Boston's WGBH, sent me the following anecdote about the arrival of the venerable Boston classical radio station's new Hamburg Steinway:

A radio host, a classical pianist, and a highly trained instrument technician walk into an inconspicuous New York City warehouse, which just happens to be chock-full of prized Hamburg Steinway pianos, and begin taking one apart...

This was the scene when a small but remarkable faction of Boston's robust classical music set piled into a rental van and headed south to New York City. Their mission? To find the musical equivalent of a needle in a haystack: the perfect piano for WGBH 89.7's brand new state-of-the art performance studio. It had to be versatile: one that would sound dazzling to live audiences in the studio, brilliant when broadcast, and impeccable when recorded; an instrument that over the next decade and a half will be played by some of the world's finest musicians and heard by literally millions of people from Brighton, Masachusetts to Brighton, England.

It was no small task. In tow were WGBH 89.7 Program Director Jon Solins, WGBH 89.7 Classical hosts Cathy Fuller and Richard Knisely, BSO piano guru Jon von Rohr, and two renowned local pianists: Marc-André Hamelin and Mihae Lee. From Von Rohr's a-hoc tutorial in the van to the moment when the final decision was made over a platter of kung pao chicken, it was a fascinating day.

They eventually settled on a Hamburg Steinway that the musicians described like this:

"From my first experience playing this piano, I was immediately drawn in to its robust sound and broad spectrum of color. These are the qualities that I always seek in a piano, but it is rare to find an instrument that contains such a range from raw power and brilliant clarity to exquisite delicacy and shadings as this piano has. I can't wait to play it as it is reaching its full potential in your beautiful new studio.
-- Mihae Lee, pianist

"As I played it, it acted as an extension of my heart and fingers. There were no barriers between what I imagined and what I could play. This is the highest praise I can give any piano."
-- Marc-André Hamelin, pianist

Last week the piano arrived at our new studios in Brighton, Massachusetts. You can see pictures of the warehouse, the piano, and its arrival in our new sudios on our flickr page at http://flickr.com/photos/wgbhradio/sets/72157600533780688/

Enjoy!

Thanks for the info, Edgar, and best of luck to the entire WGBH family, whose new Steinway will have a happy home in the station's new Fraser Performance Studio (pictured above).

WGBH Home Page
WGBH Radio Schedule and Webcasts

Vocal Coach vs. Voice Teacher

I recently discovered an article by David L. Jones entitled Taking a Professional Coaching and Protecting Your Voice, one of the many resources available on www.voiceteacher.com.

David's article takes a generally harsh at coaches and what they offer, and I think he is completely on the mark when he talks about numerous coaches that cross the line between vocal coach and wannabe voice teacher.

On the danger of the coach as teacher, David states:

The majority of coaches know little about vocal production. However, there are those who think because they have worked with lots of singers that they have the ability to offer technical advice. RUN from this red light! This is the ego interfering with the singer's process. Usually if a singer listens to the technical advice of a coach, that singer will undoubtedly end up in vocal trouble. Some coaches have played for many master classes and for many private studios. This coach may have heard lots of vocal concepts, however most of the time the knowledge-link of 'how to apply' the concept has NOT been achieved.

I agree. Singers have so many things to learn--drama, repertoire, language, stage deportment, poetry, not to mention the responsibility of growing and developing the voice that they are born with. The primary mentor for a young developing should be a voice teacher, period. A teacher's responsibility is to build the physical mechanism of the voice and integrate it with actions such as breathing and articulation. If a young singer works with a coach that respects these boundaries and chooses to work on issues such as ensemble, diction, style, and the like, great progress is generally made. However, the danger of working with both voice teacher and coach is that if the technical instruction a singer receives from the coach happens to be the slightest bit different (even identical instruction worded differently) confusion may result in a singer, with subsequent vocal damage even possible.

Which is why as a vocal coach I have always steered away from giving technical advice to singers. When I notice that something is awry, it is much better to diagnose the problem and send them back to their primary teacher to solve the problem much more efficiently than I ever could. In the case of professional singers (especially with master's degrees and above), I diagnose the problem and recommend they learn how to fix it themselves, which all career musicians eventually need to do anyway.

Nevertheless, there are a large number of coaches who set themselves up as technical authorities. David Jones is entirely correct in stating that it's difficult for singers to deal with coaches that overstep their bounds, especially when the coach has a great deal of power. His list of deflection (survival!) tactics for singers to use in dealing with ill-advised technical advice is useful. Differences of opinion in this regard are numerous between coaches, and I've taken a lot of flak over the years on my firm position about the separation of teacher and coach over vocal technique.

So what does enable a vocal coach to wear the badge of authority as a voice teacher?

One well-known voice teacher from Eastman suggested this litmus test: if the coach has had at least some experience on the opera stage as a professional singer, they have business giving out technical advice. Otherwise no.

As always, feel free to leave your comments below.

Update 2:35pm

I just came across this--a few days ago, Campbell Vertesi asked:

...a coach who tells the singer to come "off the voice" for a particular passage - whch the singer knows, will render the line inaudible beyond the third row, and toneless up till that point. Or a conductor who insists on real vowels through and above the vocal passaggi - which can damage a voice. Do you smile and nod in rehearsal, making a note to sing it properly onstage? Do you bring it up in discussion with the coach/conductor? Even if the person is a much more experienced musician?

Update 7/27/07

Here's another discussion of the topic from Elizabeth Prescott's website:

The voice teacher generally is, or has been, a singer themselves. At a lesson, they will typically lead a student through a series of vocal exercises, and possibly through songs, with a focus on vocal technique rather than interpretation of material.

A coach may also be a singer, but most coaches have a stronger accompanist background than voice teachers. Most of my voice teachers over the years were pretty rotten pianists, and it was fine. When I wanted an accompanist, I went to an accompanist. So many wonderful voice teachers have limited skills as pianists and performers. And many coaches steer clear of the controversial arena of vocal technique. A coach's focus is on repertoire, interpretation, performance preparation, and sometimes, but not always, acting. Most professional conductors and musical directors also coach privately, and they offer a unique perspective.

Calling All RCM Alumni

For those of you that have ever attended the Royal Conservatory of Music or participated in RCM Examinations...

The RCM website now has an Alumni section, with many chances to reconnect and stay in touch with the school.

The Slash Career: Do You Have One?

In the musical field, those that are successful often choose or are forced to pursue more than one type of activity in order to make a living. An article today in Web Worker Daily highlights the current trend toward slash careers--listing the activities you do and adding a slash between them to highlight your multiple career paths. The advantages of such a desgnation:

Creating a slash career allows you to personalize your work to your skills and interests, explore different facets of your personality with lowered risk to your wallet, and take advantage of today’s increasingly flexible and fluid workplace.

My previous posting on Career Options in Collaborative Piano lists some of the multiple career tracks that are possible by those who pursue careers in piano. How would you characterize your slash career?

(Image by Spojeni)

30+1 Ways To Help You Memorize Music Flawlessly

As performance dates approach, one of the things that worries many musicians is the process of committing the work they have already done to memory. While the traditional way to memorize music is to practice a piece until you're blue in the face and then hope and pray it translates to memory, there are a number of musical preparation techniques that can help your memorized performance survive and even excel as you take the stage. These ideas are mostly intended for pianists (with a small section for singers), but can be used by players of all instruments.


1. Learn the music properly first. Pay attention to all the elements including notes, rhythm, dynamics, fingerings, and phrasing and let the score be your guide to the interpretation of the piece.

The Piano Student's Guide to Effective Practicing By Nancy O'neill Breth. Educational Piano Library. Book only. 6 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (296450) See more info...

2. Run the piece from memory, mistakes and all, keeping track of all the slips. Then go back and play the music with the score, correcting the mistakes. Now play the piece through again and repeat the process.

3. Work on the momorization trouble spots. Forget running the piece for the time being, but work only on the passages that give you grief.

Visual Work

4. When playing from memory, try to remember the way the music looks on the page. This is the most common method of memorizing for many pianists and one that can get you into trouble when used to the exclusion of all else.

5. Be aware of when you need to look at your hands when playing the work. Is this a crutch to compensate for tension, incorrect learning, or unsure gauging of distances? When playing from memory, decide if you can get around the need to look at your hands or if it is something that is necessary.

Auditory Work

6. Listen to every single sound you make. If you make a mistake, go over the passage again and listen for what you missed. This is perhaps the single most important advice about memorization.

(Aside: David Burge once mentioned to me in a lesson that if one were to really listen to every single last detail of the piece in great detail, one would never make a single mistake from memory! An ideal, but a noble one.)

7. Hear the work away from the instrument. Can you hear the work the way you want to play it?

Kinesthetic Work

8. Turn the lights out and play the piece in the dark. Can you get through? Consider Stars Wars Episode IV--the scene where Obi-Wan made Luke Skywalker track the probes in his lightsaber training with the helmet over his face not being able to see them. Why did Obi-Wan do this? To teach Luke to trust his instincts and his physicality rather than vision alone. Use the force. Trust your instincts.

9. Play from memory with only one hand. Then switch.

Intellectual Work

10. Analyze the piece. Take apart its harmonic, melodic, and formal structure and really get a sense of how the work is put together.

11. Memorize the dynamics. It's not just about playing the notes, but about the musical colors that go along with them. A good start in this direction is dynamic detail.

12. Memorize the articulations. Another good way to create coloristic delineation is knowing where staccato, legato, and everything in between are located in the score and how to create them. Again, pick up on visual, auditory, and kinesthetic cues to think, hear, and feel the colors the articulations can create.

13. Memorize the work away from the piano. Who ever said you needed to actually play when doing your musical preparation? Unlock your creative ideas by considering the music unfettered by your need to play it all the time.

Ideas for Singers

In addition to memorizing music, singers also need to memorize a song or aria's text, often in a language other than English.

14. Memorize the text away from the music. For texts not in English, this includes knowing the text in the original language and its English translation.

15. On a blank piece of paper, write out the text including all repetitions of phrases and words. It's difficult, but if you can do this you'll really have a solid grasp of your material.

16. On staff paper, write out the vocal line from memory. Even trickier, but very useful.

17. Memorize the interludes in the piano or orchestra. In addition to memorizing the bars and beats between singing entries, put in thoughts that go in the rests so that they will be imbued with meaning and motivation, and give you further security in performance.

Some Helpful Links and Further Reading

18. Read Philip Johnston's article Why Memorize? on PracticeSpot.

19. Read Martha Beth Lewis' Memory Methods.

20. Read the Playing From Memory FAQ page.

21. The Young Composers Forum has a useful article on integrating memorization into the process of learning a piece.

22. For some ideas from the horn player's perspective, read some thoughts on memorization from Hornplayer.net.

23. Read Robert T. Kelley's Tips on How to Memorize Music.

24. Try out The Violin Site's Shadow Practicing Method.

25. Read Jamey Andreas' On Memorizing.

26. Read the Wikipedia article on Memory.

27. Read Virginia Houser's Memorization--An Integral Part of Musicianship at Every Level.

Putting it all Together

28. Perfect the beginning of the piece so that if you suffer from nerves, you can rely on rock-solid preparation for the opening.

29. Perfect the ending of the piece--it's what the audience will walk away with.

30. Do enough preparation so that you can trust your abilities and the work you have put into the piece, regardless of what anyone in the audience might think.

And finally...

31. Make the piece your own. Play with the conviction that comes from a deep knowledge of the music and meticulous preparation. Only then will you be able to say that you are making music from a place of deep confidence and artistic integrity.

Memorization in Piano Music By Stewart Gordon. For Piano. Textbook - Keyboard (DVD). 0. DVD. Published by Alfred Publishing. (22559) See more info...

Steinway's Double-Keyboard Piano

Watch it in action on this New York Times video clip. In case you're thinking of buying one, you won't get a chance, since it was built as a one-of-a-kind instrument. You can read more about the instrument and its history at Fortifi@.

(Via the well tempered blog)

Update 7/18/07: A review of Christopher Taylor's double-keyboard performance of the Goldberg Variations at the Caramoor Festival can be found in today's NY Times.

Readers' Poll: Contact Preferences

An article in Web Worker Daily examines the changing ways that many of us desire to be contacted. I've noticed many changes in the last 20 years in musical life, from the move to cell phones and email in the mid-90's, to many people's fondness for SMS in the last five years, to the arts community's stampede to Facebook in the last few months.

How do you prefer to contact people or be contacted? Voting ends on July 23rd at 10pm. Register your vote on the sidebar and feel free to add any further comments below.

How Can Opera Singers Be Heard Above the Orchestra?

One of the most important abilities for a singer is to be heard singing above an orchestra. Wise voice teachers over the years have taught that the key to achieving this feat is not by singing louder, but with greater vocal resonance, meaning a more diverse signature of higher frequencies. This is the type of sound a singer makes that causes your ears to ring even though the singer is not necessarily singing loudly.

In a recent Scientific American, a reader asks the question "Why can an opera singer be heard above the much louder orchestra?". SA's answer provides a scientific basis for this vocal wisdom:

Usually, the fundamental frequency has the greatest acoustic power, but the very high harmonics, although less powerful, have the advantage of residing in a range above about 3,000 Hz, where the orchestral accompaniment provides less competition. Sopranos have an advantage over lower voices, such as the bass and tenor: Due to their higher range, the auditory frequency at which they sing, as represented by their f_o, lies in the neighborhood of frequencies to which the ear is most sensitive. In contrast, the lower fundamental frequencies of male voices cannot compete as easily with the power of an orchestra; male singers, therefore, must often rely on their higher harmonics in order to be heard.

Learning this concept requires more than simple understanding. Voice teachers have a host of exercises and concepts to teach the actual physicality of developing a sound with a wide resonance signature since the singer's voice must be actually built step-by-step (via correct daily practice) inside their body.

The parting words from the column give an evolutionary hint as to why we respond so viscerally to singing (italics are mine):

Furthermore, it is quite likely that there has been considerable selection pressure to pay attention to very loud sounds produced by people in any context, as such sounds can be a warning of impending danger.

If you're interested in reading more about the technical foundations of singing, I recommend Richard Miller's The Structure of Singing: System and Art of Vocal Technique.

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Laura Landauer on TV Guide's Look-A-Like

Bathroom Divas Season 2 finalist Laura Landauer gets a Celine Dion makeover on TV Guide's Look-A-Like. Laura's new one-woman play Celine Speaks ends its Toronto Fringe run tonight at 9:15 in the George Ignatieff Theatre.

Speedlinking - 14 July 2007

If you're a composer under 30, you have until September 15 to submit your scores to the ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation 2007 Song Cycle Competition.

Going on a long elevator ride? You might want to perform the premiere of Galen Brown's Elevator Music.

Still haven't been appointed to that tenure-track position? You might want to check out the 7 Habits of Highly Successful Freelancers at Designersmind.

Still behind schedule? Check out these time management skills at Jo's Blog.

If you're Canadian and upset about the spread between US and Canadian book prices (given that the currencies are nearly at par), this article might give you relief. Better yet, you might want to consider buying your scores online.

And be sure to check out Jamie at Urban Flute Project enjoying Palestrina on the beach (that picture in his post was taken from the grounds of the RCM's Mississauga Campus just outside Toronto).

Girl Devoured By Piano

This is without a doubt the weirdest video I've ever seen involving a piano.




(Thanks, well tempered blog!)

The Government of Ontario Launches Ontarioartist.ca

Whether or not you work in the arts in Ontario, you might want to avail yourself of the resources of the Government of Ontario's Ontarioartist.ca website. I'm not exactly sure if this site is recently launched (as an email this morning loudly trumpeted), redesigned, or graduated from beta, but it will prove to be an important resource for the arts community. Even though the site also has sections for Media Arts, Visual Arts, and Writing/Publishing, I couldn't help but take a good look at the Performing Arts section, which encompasses Theatre and Performing Arts, Music and Sound Recording, and Dance.

Among the various subsections of the Performing Arts section, a number of resource links stand out, among them the Al and Malka Green Artists' Health Centre at Toronto Western Hospital, the Toronto Musicians' Association Self Employed Tax Guide, the Canadian Arts Presenting Association, and Opera.ca. As long as the Ontario Ministry of Culture maintains and adds to the resources already listed over the coming months and years, this site should prove to be a first-rate clearing house for the many services available to those that work in this growing sector of the economy.

YouTube of Glenn Gould and Leonard Bernstein in 1960 Bach Performance

This excerpt shows legendary pianist Glenn Gould with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic in 1960 in the first movement of J. S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto in d minor BWV 1052.

Repertoire List For Weeks 1-3 at Bowdoin

Here is the repertoire I've been playing for the last 3 weeks at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. It might seem like a huge list for three weeks but in reality it's about average for what a staff pianist will play in three weeks of a summer music festival.

Bottesini Fantasy on "La Sonnambula" for Double Bass and Piano
Brahms Sonata for Violin and Piano Op. 108
Clarke Sonata for Viola and Piano 1st mov't
Dvorak Violin Concerto 1st mov't
Elgar Cello Concerto 3rd mov't
Hubay Hullamzo Ballaton
Kreisler Zigeunerweisen
Mozart Violin Concertos #3, 4, 5
Mozart Piano and Violin Sonata K. 305
Ravel Tzigane
Saint-Saens/Ysaye Valse Caprice
Saint-Saens Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
Schumann a- Sonata for Violin and Piano Op. 105
Shostakovich 1st Cello Concerto (1st and 2nd mov't)
Shostakovich Violin Concerto (3rd and 4th mov'ts)
Sibelius Concerto (entire)
Viextemps Elegy for Viola and Piano
Walton Viola Concerto 1st mov't
Wieniawski 2nd Violin Concerto 1st mov't

Introducing b5's The Good Musician

Among the 21 music blogs just launched by b5 media, one of them stands out already as one of the sites I'll be watching. The Good Musician by Arjun Muralidharan already has some interesting articles on the art of learning music well, including:

6 Ways to Prepare for a Concert
Increase your Practice Efficiency Tenfold with a Diary
The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Child a Musician
The 5 Pillars of a Good Musician

Although a little bit short on the details, Arjun's guides are a great route for further exploration. Which leads me to my main point...

I've recently been feeling that the music blogosphere has always been a bit heavy on concert events, news, and opinions and a bit lacking in information for the practicing musician, ie. how to practice, how to learn certain skills, how to deal with performance anxiety. The resource-oriented route to music blogging is one of the more positive ways spread the message of our art, and is what will drive people to learn instruments and grow the field in the long run.

Best of luck to Arjun, whose blog earns a spot on my sidebar's blogroll.

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Phillip Holmes in Bye Bye Bytown

Bathroom Divas Season 2 finalist Phillip Holmes is currently performing in the dancing on water theatre company's production of Bye Bye Bytown. Phillip sings the role of canal builder Lieutenant-Colonel John By in this musical about the early days of Canada's capital city. Bye Bye Bytown opened last night and runs through Saturday at the Ottawa Little Theatre. Tickets are $20/16/12. For more information call 1-888-222-6608.

Link to Ottawa Citizen article about the show

Martin Katz Interview in the San Francisco Chronicle

An article by Allan Ulrich in last Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle entitled The Diva Doctor Is In profiles legendary coach, pianist, and teacher Martin Katz, who will be conducting Rossini's La Cenerentola next weekend at the Cowell Theatre in San Francisco.

The 5 C's of Learning Piano Technique

One of the most difficult things for any piano teacher to impart is the necessity of learning technique properly and incorporating it into a daily practice routine. I have found that talking about how to practice technique, why it is important, and what it can instill in an individual's playing are essential to a piano student's continued development.

Here are five C-words that can help with this task.


1. Command. Scales, triads, chords, and arpeggios are not stand-alone exercises--they are building blocks for creating music, as any composer will tell you. Knowing how to play these musical building blocks will simplify the process of learning and understanding music you encounter. In addition, technique contains the seeds of piano playing's physicality such as finger strength, good fingering habits, finger crossing, arm weight, hand and arm stability, and the integration of these over time into an efficient playing setup. That scale passage in a Beethoven Sonata will be much easier to incorporate into your performance if you know you've already learned and mastered the relevant scale and its fingering.

The Brown Scale Book For Piano. Scales, Chords and Arpeggios for Piano. Technique. Elementary-Advanced. Level: Grades 1-10. Book. 46 pages. Published by The Frederick Harris Music Company. (HS1) See more info...

2. Clarity. Have you heard a perfectly executed 4-octave arpeggio lately? They are becoming rarer and rarer these days, to the chagrin of many an RCM examiner. Spending time on these technical exercises can teach you to listen to the details of playing necessary for developing an acute sense of awareness that can allow you to be in the moment in all your playing.

3. Comfort. Technique isn't just about the accuracy game, but about incorporating a large number of physical concepts into a whole. Are you comfortable when you play? Where is the tension? Does anything hurt? Working with your teacher in solving these problems through technique can create a basis for a stable and workable playing setup when playing repertoire.

4. Creativity. A common myth about technique is that is is boring. Part of a teacher's job is to make the daily dose into a fun and rewarding part of a student's practice day. Why not bundle basic technical exercises with the learning of musical concepts? Here are just a few ideas:

• Vary dynamics, pp to ff, play with crescendo and diminuendo
• Vary articulations--try playing scales with different articulations and combinations of articulations.
• Vary the order--Arrange the order of exercises by type (ie. octave scales, triads, etc.), key, play them all and note the problems, work only on problem patterns. Warm up with technique or cool down with it. Creating a new experience all the time can eliminate the boredom.
  

5. Confidence. It's performance night and you've waiting backstage. Have you done your work? If you haven't, you may experience the genuine fear associated with performance anxiety and it ain't fun. How to deal with performance anxiety? Do your preparation, both with the specific piece you're performing and the relevant technical requirements, so you can feel the deep confidence of both being able to play both musical works and your instrument with command, clarity, comfort, creativity, and confidence.

Piano Adventures Technique & Artistry Book, Level 1 By Randall Faber, Nancy Faber. For Piano. Piano Adventures. Level: Grade 1. Book. Published by The FJH Music Company, Inc. (FF1097) See more info...

Assorted Links for Tuesday

From ChoralNet, a number of people have contributed to a list of Qualities Expected in a Choral Accompanist.

In the February 2002 Creative Keyboard, Per Danielsson talks about Accompanying a Singer from the jazz pianist's perspective.

Vocal coaches don't just work in the classical field, they are also active in genres such as pop and country, with plenty of advice on how to succeed in American Idol and other reality TV competitions.

Don't like pop music? Read about Melissa Cross and her experience coaching death metal singers.

Times of India reports on the experiences of tabla and harmonium accompanists in India which seem strikingly similar to those of us in the West.

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Sonja Gustavson at the London Fringe

The London [Ontario] Fringe will be presenting its first ever opera this summer with Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium, directed and produced by Bathroom Divas Season 1 finalist Sonja Gustavson, who will also be starring in the role of Monica. Sonja is joined by Janet Loo, Alfred Stockwell, Rachel Huys, Jessica Sage, John Holland, and Tanya Ellis in 6 performances at the London Central Library's Wolf Performance Hall.

Showtimes are July 27 at 7:30pm, July 29 at 4:30pm, July 31 at 8:15pm, August 2 and 5:30pm, August 4 at 10pm, and August 5 at 4pm. Call 519-434-0606 or visit the London Fringe website for more information. Admission is $9.

Update 7:45 7/9/07

Here is the full cast list:

Baba – Janet Loo
Monica – Sonja Gustafson
Toby – Alfred Stockwell
Mrs. Gobineau – Jessica Sage
Mr. Gobineau – John Holland
Mrs. Nolan – Rachel Huys

Collaborative Pianist – Tanya Ellis-Bludau

Director and Bathroom Divas judge Tom Diamond will be workshopping the production this weekend in preparation for its July 27th opening.

(Thanks, Sonja)

Poll Results: You're A What?

On many occasions, I've felt that doing what I do at the piano, while deeply satisfying, is not always respected or acknowledged properly by other musicians and the public at large. Hand-in-hand with this feeling is a realization that the term "accompanist" might be part of this condescension towards those of our profession.

This was the reasoning behind my poll with its three choices of 1) accompanist, the traditional label, 2) pianist, and 3) collaborative pianist, the up-and-coming term.

Here are the results of the poll.

Which term do you prefer to call pianists who choose to perform with others?

Accompanist	10 (21%)
Pianist	24 (51%)
Collaborative Pianist	13 (27%)

The results are clear: over 50% of those who responded favored calling those of our profession pianists, nothing more and nothing less. Thanks to everyone who participated in this poll--I really appreciate you taking the time make your voice heard, and further comments are welcome regarding the results.

YouTube Beethoven Faceoff: Myleene Klass vs. Wilhelm Kempff

Watch these two YouTube performances of the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata Op. 27 #2 ("Moonlight"), and see if you can spot the better pianist.

Myleene Klass:



Wilhelm Kempff:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Klaviersonaten - Band I (Piano Sonatas - Volume I) Fingered by Conrad Hansen, composed by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), edited by Bertha Antonia Wallner. Collection for solo piano. Series: Urtext Editions. Text language English, German and French. 286 pages. Published by G. Henle. (HE.32) See more info...

Erlkönig Reinvented: Rammstein's Dalai Lama

Franz Schubert's version of Erlkönig isn't the only setting of Goethe's dark poem. There are a number of other settings by composers such as Reichardt, Loewe, Wolf, and Zelter. More recently, the German band Rammstein has reinvented both Goethe's words and its musical setting in the song Dalai Lama, which takes place on an airline flight. For those of you that need an English translation of the German lyrics, you can find it here.

Huge List of Classical Music Exam Bloopers

Andrew Levin has compiled America's Favorite Classical Music Bloopers from papers, exams, and assignments handed in by his Music Appreciation students over the years at Clemson. Below I've included some lowlights highlights:

[Chopin] died at age 39 from tuberculosis, which was a popular disease in the nineteenth century.

Two musical innovations arose during [the Middle Ages]. Name one. [Answer:] Wheel barrow

How did audiences first react to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. [Answer:] They held a riot

The musicians instilled a suffering to the work that made you feel as if you were suffering yourself.

I also liked the surprise piece...I think the title was Burglar's Holiday.

It was a first for both of us to experience live jazz music. It was a family atmosphere with an exception of one naked drunk, but that's expected anywhere, right?

Anne Sofie von Otter Sings Erlkönig on YouTube

This performance of Franz Schubert's Erlkönig features Anne Sofie von Otter with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by Claudio Abbado. Those darned octaves are sooooo much easier on violin.



Previously on The Collaborative Piano Blog: Erlkönig Hacks for the Schubertian Pianist

Franz Schubert: Lieder (Songs), Volume 1 - 92 Songs Composed by Franz Schubert (1797-1828), edited by Max Friedlaender. Collection for high voice and piano. Text language German. 275 pages. Published by C.F. Peters. (PE.P00020A) See more info...

Speedlinking - 7 July 2007

Nolan writes about 7 Essential Tips to Improving Your Practice Sessions.

Pliable posts a user's guide to Classical Internet Radio.

Haven't got that tenure-track position yet? Leo lists 10 Essential Habits for Freelance Workers.

Michelle at A Singer's Life has been checking her incoming search terms, not without puzzlement.

Scott ponders contemporary music in the theory curriculum for undergraduates.

Don't like new music? Birds do.

Stressed out? Pare down your todo list, declutter your digital life, and stop worrying.

Yahoo News explains why meditation works.

Rebecca at A Resonant Life climbs a mountain and asks "If there was no risk of failure and if money and opportunity were not an issue, what do you long to create?"

Free Historic Lotte Lehmann Downloads

The Lotte Lehmann Foundation has recently offered a large number of historic recordings of Lehmann performing songs and arias, selected interviews in English and German, as well as a two-hour documentary on her life. The list of song recordings here is particularly impressive, containing the entire Winterreise cycle of Schubert as well as 53 other songs.

Wikipedia article on Lotte Lehmann

Trumpet Bloopers

Bill Blumberg has assembled a large compendium of horrific trumpet moments, including unfortunate moments in Petrouchka, the Haydn and Hummel concertos, the Polovetsian Dances, an Orlando Gibbons canon from hell, Mahler 7, Pictures, and more. He also includes the legendary performance of the Queen of the Night aria by Florence Foster Jenkins, with the Messiah organist on crack making a cameo. The clips are mostly in mp3 format.

Essential Resources for Creativity

Lifehack.org has a huge list of Essential Resources for Creativity, with 163 different techniques (with links!), 30 tips, and a list of books to jumpstart your creative process and equip your cognitive toolbox.

Project Gutenberg: Mozart In His Own Words

Friedrich Kerst's Mozart: the man and the artist, as revealed in his own words by Mozart, translated by Henry Edward Krehbiel is available on Project Gutenberg for both viewing and download in various formats. Mozart's illuminating quotes are arranged by theme.

A few favorites come to mind--from the section entitled Concerning The Opera:

As to the matter of popularity, be unconcerned; there is music in my opera for all sorts of persons--but none for long ears.

From Musical Pedagogics:

Herr Stein is completely daft on the subject of his daughter. She is eight years old and learns everything by heart. Something may come of her for she has talent, but not if she goes on as she is doing now; she will never acquire velocity because she purposely makes her hand heavy. She will never learn the most necessary, most difficult and principal thing in music, that is time, because from childhood she has designedly cultivated the habit of ignoring the beat.

What a fine adjudicator Mozart would have been.

Nuked Piano Restored

A 1932 Nippon Gakki piano damaged in the 1945 Hiroshima atomic explosion has been lovingly restored by piano technician Mitsunori Yagawa.

Link to UPI news item

Audition Strategies for Singers

Another wonderful discovery this week was Boston Singers Resource, which contains an enormous amount of information both at the free and subscriber level. One of the articles on the site is Audition Strategies for Singers, a list of general audition guidelines compiled by Beth McLeod of Opera by the Bay, Scott Brummit of Longwood Opera, and BSR director Lynn Shane.

A few highlights of the list:

* DO NOT give a pianist unbound single pages.
* DO NOT give your pianist music that is wrapped in clear, shiny plastic. It often creates a glare from lighting.
* If repertoire is your choice, DO research the company and the upcoming works that you are auditioning for.

About that last one--when playing auditions for a certain company in Toronto a few months ago I was shocked at just how few people in two full days of auditions actually bothered to research the company and what they do. This is extremely important for smaller niche companies that have a specific mandate.

Pianistic Fireworks: Arcadi Volodos Plays Stars & Stripes Forever on YouTube

Look at that left hand go in this YouTube of Arcadi Volodos playing the Horowitz arrangement of John Philip Sousa's Starts and Stripes Forever. For added effect, get some of your friends together and do the wave when the B section returns for the final time.

Keeping Score with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

Ever wanted to go to a site where you could listen to music and read the score at the same time? Keeping Score: revolutions in music is a site where you can do this, as well as learn about orchestral masterpieces. Kudos to the SFSO for creating an educational site of this caliber that introduces the great orchestral works in such an intelligent and technically accomplished format. The first three installments of the series are Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, and Copland and the American Sound with more to come.

More About How To Be An Accompanist

Last week Michelle Bennett at A Singer's Life published an excellent list entitled What Do You Look For in an Accompanist?, which I responded to in this post. Now Mat has written a fine post about How to be an accompanist that also joins the list of must-read articles on the subject.

Only 4 days left to register your opinion about what to call these piano-playing, diversely-talented creatures that prefer to work with other humans in recital, as opposed to spending a life of ascetic solitude as a soloist. The poll is at the top of the left-hand sidebar--I'll publish the results when it's all over.

Free on Project Gutenberg: Lawrence Gilman's Book on Pelléas et Mélisande

While searching on Ma.gnolia (my current social bookmarking site of choice) this evening I happened upon a link to Lawrence Gilman's 1907 book Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande: A Guide to the Opera with Musical Examples from the Score, available on Project Gutenberg. You can view or download it in various formats. Enjoy--I'll post about more stuff from Project Gutenberg's rapidly growing database of public domain works as I discover things.

(Thanks, carla!)

CBC Radio 2 Offers Free Concerts On Demand Service

In case you missed that concert that you absolutely had to go see but were too busy or in the wrong city, CBC Radio 2 now offers Concerts On Demand on their website. This huge archive is searchable by event, artist, or genre and offers detailed information about performers along with photo galleries, related links, and track information.

Beverly Sills Remembered

Legendary soprano Beverly Sills has passed away at the age of 78. Following are some links about her long and illustrious career.

Anthony Tommasini's obituary in the New York Times
A huge amount of information on her life at beverlysillsonline.com
Wikipedia article
Jewish Virtual Library article
National Women's Hall of Fame article
Entries on the Internet Movie Database
Beverly Sills quotations

Her final performance, with pianist Charles Wadsworth:

Introducing the Classical Musician's Start Page on Netvibes

I have a confession--I'm a start page junkie. Since the early days of the web, I've always felt that where your browser starts can greatly enhance your internet experience. I'm also a big fan of Netvibes, which has an enormous amount of functionality for both productivity, feed reading, and entertainment.

In the last few days I've created The Classical Musician's Start Page, a tab for Netvibes containing some basic widgets, as well as some of my favorite classical music news sources and blog feeds (including this one). You can try out the tab and add content to it even if you're not a Netvibes member, but in order to save the page from visit to visit you'll need to register, which is free. Enjoy!

Speedlinking - 1 July 2007

Josh Nemith writes about Chunking Bach's Invention in C major.

The Music Teacher's Blog links to another study on the benefits of music education. Update: Read more on this story from Josh Nemith.

Leo Babauta has compiled a list of 10 essential steps to get to the top of your field.

The music video of the Indigo Girls' Least Complicated shows not only the lyrics, but real-time harmonic and structural analysis, listing the instruments in the orchestration as they appear and explaining relevant musical terms. How could classical music videos layer analysis into music video and be this cool?