New Notes Workshop, Galway

This video of the working process of the New Notes Workshop in Galway, Ireland features works by Rhona Clarke and Gráinne Mulvey in collaboration with the ConTempo quartet. No need to say more, it's all in the video's excellent notes:



Be sure to also check out the YouTube channel and Twitter page of the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland.

Shannon Mercer Sings Suo Gan with the Skye Consort

Earlier today I had the pleasure of playing for soprano Shannon Mercer at an audition in Toronto. Here's Shannon singing the Welsh folk song Suo Gan from her recent recording with the Skye Consort on Analekta:


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Alissa Rose and Jennifer Peterson at Brooklyn's South Oxford Space This Sunday

At 7pm on Sunday, March 1 in the Great Room of the South Oxford Space in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, soprano Alissa Rose and pianist Jennifer Peterson will be performing It's my song that's flown..., a recital of new American art song as part of the American Opera Projects season.

Admission is by donation ($10 suggested), with a reception to follow. The South Oxford Space is located at 138 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY. 

Here is the program for the concert, with embedded Google Map following:

John Levey - "The Rain Was Ending" (Laurence Binyon)

Gregory Spears - "The Black Riders" (Stephen Crane)

Tim Sullivan - Songs for a Dead Bird - "Dirge for a Pet Sparrow" (Catullus), "From a Letter from Lesbia" (Dorothy Parker), "A Sparrow has Died" (Suchoon Mo), "Obituary" (Weldon Kees)

Kristin Kuster - "Soon" (Sappho)

intermission

Stephen Andrew Taylor - "The Orchestra" (Kim Stanley Robinson)

Tom Cipullo - Late Summer - "Crickets" (William Heyen), "...Summer into Autumn Slips" (Emily Dickinson), "Touch Me" (Stanley Kunitz)

Renée Favand-See - Lonesome Songs - "River" (Denise Levertov), "Driving a Highway in Eastern Washington" (Molly See), "Laurels" (Corin See)

Raymond Lustig - "the silvery round moon" (Walt Whitman)

View Larger Map

Call for Singers: Blake Seeks Crossover Vocalist

I have just received word from the TCB Group that the English vocal group Blake is looking for a new male vocalist. Applicants will need to be conversant in the classical crossover style, and for more information please contact Jodi Mitzman at jodi [at] tcbgroup dot co dot uk. For a quick intro to Blake's work, here's a video of them singing Yo te voy a amar on YouTube:



More Blake links:

Official site

Facebook page

Twitter page

Update: Looks like they found someone.

The Ensemble That Plays Together...

In that critical first rehearsal, nothing can make or break quality of ensemble quite like how performers interact in keeping a steady beat. Alex Thio's Pulse or Bust: The Importance of Pulse in Collaborative Arts looks at musical pulse as something that performers can actually feel, especially through the aid of a metronome:

Why is pulse important in collaborating with another musicians? Because it SECURES alignment. Without a common pulse between solo performer and collaborative pianist, you can be sure that alignment is going to be a nightmare. And that’s an understatement.

It is one thing to FEEL a pulse within oneself: it is another to depend on the mechanical, stalwart beat of the metronome.

I agree completely, although I work with my own students to help them physicalize the beat at the same time that they check it with a metronome. After all, we're only a few millenia removed from our cave-dwelling ancestors who probably started the musical impulse in the first place by discovering the primal sensation of beating on a drum. 

I also keep a pair of bongos in my home studio (brought back from Jibacoa, Cuba) for pianists and singers to use in order to learn rhythms independently of their instruments. Another useful exercise is for the singer or instrumentalist to drum their solo line while I play the piano part. Once they separate the rhythm from the rest of the playing process it's much easier to keep the pulse when returning to their instrument.

How do you engage with ensemble partners in order to develop a common sense of pulse?

Classical Music's Encounter with Twitter

I wrote my latest article for Music Teachers Helper two nights ago, entitled 7 Ways to Maximize Communication with Parents and Students in Changing Times. I hope I'm not alone in noticing that the nature of how music professionals communicate with their clientele and with each other has been changing rather rapidly in the last year. It's already well known that collaborative pianists routinely get and refer engagements through Facebook. Twitter is a rather hot item in the arts this week (check out articles from Greg Sandow and Kim Witman), and numerous classical organizations and musicians are starting to jump on the Twitter bandwagon en masse.

All this in spite of the fact that classical musicians are only starting to figure out how to use the possibilities of this platform and are still making first steps. Might Twitter become classical music's killer app that combines messaging with easy microblogging and marketing, all from an extremely personal vantage point?

Think about email for a second.

Imagine it's 1989 and someone gets up at a music teachers' workshop and declares that in 15 years teachers will be organizing their studios via email. They probably would have been greeted with derision, since no one had really figured out what email could be used for and only a few people had it. However, once the technology had spread widely enough, people discovered what email could do and it now is an integral part of professional life.

I know a clarinetist who, at the dawn of widely available email in the early 1990's, emailed all the arts organizations he could find who had recently adopted the new technology. The arts groups had never yet received an emailed concert proposal before, so naturally they took a second look at this performer's materials. And this was how he got his start on the concert stage.

Is Twitter another example of a new technology that hasn't found its true legs yet? Here are some possibilities for how Twitter could conceivably be used by those in the classical music field:

• advertising concerts
• pointing to new recordings
• 140-character vignettes about life in classical music
• meeting others in the profession
• talking about what you're working on
• tweeting links to classical music stories in traditional media
• breaking news about competitions
• discussing approaches and materials with other teachers
• finding a pianist in another city
• referring a soloist to a pianist in another city
• retweeting announcements by other users
  

The list goes on and on. So what would you call a collaborative pianist that uses Twitter? A twitterlaborative pianist? A collaboratwive pianist? A twaccompanist? Update: We're twittists! (via Jennifer Peterson)

And by the way, you can follow my Twitter updates (including notifications of my new articles on both the Collaborative Piano Blog and Music Teacher's Helper) here.

Elena Obraztsova Sings Acerba Voluttà

From a Soviet television broadcast in the early 80's, here is Elena Obraztsova singing Acerba Voluttà from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur in Tokyo. I hope you agree with me that this is a truly mind-blowing performance. Be sure to listen to the applause afterwards--it's extremely rare for a Japanese audience to show that kind of enthusiasm.



(Thanks, Wendy! Can't wait to hear you do this aria with orchestra...)

[Update: A query regarding how old Obraztsova was when she sang this aria (1980) yielded the following age based on the birthdate from her Wikipedia listing (1939): she would have been ~41.]

MIA Pianists?

All the more reason for accomp--er, I mean, accomplished pianists to show up on time for engagements these days--if you don't, you might get outed on Twitter:

Late pianist #1

Late pianist #2

Late pianist #3 , and a few minutes later (uh oh). Fortunately all ended well.

Helping Your Helper?

On a recent search for more collaborative pianist-related stuff, this interesting resource turned up in Google Book Search--a short section of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Singing on how to work with a pianist, entitled Helping Your Helper: Working with an Accompanist. In spite of the title, which would probably offend most pianists working in the collaborative arts these days, the three paragraphs on the subject are mostly useful. Here is an excerpt, with my commentary in square parentheses:

When you find a wonderful accompanist, treat them like royalty [Agreed]. Meet and try to exceed their requests for monetary compensation, if you can [Hint: they like chocolate. Expensive chocolate]. Acknowledge them after a performance with a simple and discreet nod or hand gesture [I disagree. These days it's best to coordinate bows]. Don't assume that practice time with them comes free [Amen]. And when it comes to practice time, don't expect the accompanist to teach you the song; you should have a clear concept of delivery and style beforehand and should be able to communicate all that to the accompanist before you start to work on a number [Agreed, with one addition--we have ideas too and enjoy dialogue rather than orders].

What are your thoughts on the three paragraphs of this section of the book?

Steinway Square Piano from 1877

It's rare. It's square. And this 1877 Steinway was one of the few made from marble rosewood.

(Via ronvintagepiano's photostream on Flickr--you can check out Ron's website here)

Kurt Weill News and Events

Some recent news from the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music:

• Zaubernacht, Weill's first work for the stage, is now available again after being re-discovered in a basement at Yale University.
  
• The Firebrand of Florence, which Weill co-wrote with lyricist Ira Gershwin, is being performed on March 12 at 7pm in Alice Tully Hall.
• A recent recording of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by the LA Opera won two Grammy awards.

For more performances and events featuring the work of Kurt Weill, check out the KWF's fairly lengthy performance calendar.

Searching for Accompanists on Twitter

My on-again, off-again fascination with Twitter is now on-again, and I've been noticing that a lot of folks in the classical music scene are slowly but surely joining this enigmatic but addictive messaging service. One of the cool things about Twitter is its search function. I entered "accompanist" in the search field to see what people are saying about people that do this sort of work. The results are here, with some of the often hilarious results captured in the screenshot at left.

If you haven't already done so, check out my Twitter page. I'm currently assembling a large list of music-related users (via TweetDeck) so I can better follow industry-relevant stuff.

Search for "accompanist" on Twitter

Another great find

Search for "collaborative piano" 

Search for "collaborative pianist"

A Social Network for Music Professionals

Angela Bowles has just created The Piano Staff, a social network on Ning dedicated to music professionals. Members can share notes, photos and videos, create or join groups, write blogs and chat. Although still at an early stage, The Piano Staff has the potential to become a vibrant community of music pros and is worth checking out and joining. I'm a member there too.

More social networks on Ning that are worth joining:

Classroom 2.0

New Music in New Places

NetNewMusic

YouTube Symphony Piano Audition Videos Part 2

Voting is underway at the YouTube Symphony Orchestra page and runs until February 22nd, after which the winners will be announced on March 2.  Just click on the "Vote" dialog button when you get to the main page, select the instrument you would like to vote on, then go to the videos and vote thumbs up or down. What I find odd is that for the instruments I checked, there were only a handful of available videos. Is Google randomizing the test groups so that only a handful of videos show up for each individual user? Or have these videos already passed a pre-screening process?

Below are three Waldsteins that I came across on the voting page.

Sera:



Harvest Zhang:



Yes, all you Eastman aficionados, Harvest was playing in Howard Hanson Hall.

Tino Balsamello:

Previously on the Collaborative Piano Blog:

YouTube Symphony Piano Audition Videos Part 1

The LSO's John Alley on the Tan Dun Symphony Piano Reduction

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Alltop's New Classical Music News Page

The popular news aggregator Alltop has just added a classical music page with feeds from nearly 50 classical music news sources, including many of established as well as up-and-coming classical music blogs. The Collaborative Piano Blog also made the list, and you can see the top articles from the feed about three quarters of the way down the page. I haven't seen any incoming traffic from the page yet, but if you're following the classical scene this might be an excellent way to keep updated with everything at one glance.

Alltop - Top Classical Music News

(Thanks, Catherine!)

Some Interesting Classical Music Facts Via Harper's Index

From a search for "classical music" on Harper's Index:

6/84 Annual earnings, including overtime, of a Carnegie Hall stagehand: $90,000

12/87 Donation required for the opportunity to name a “grand staircase” at Carnegie Hall: $500,000

Donation required to name the service elevator there: $250,000

7/97 Number of the four best-selling classical music albums of all time that are collections put out by Victoria’s Secret: 2

Open Comment Thread: What To Tell the Pianist in Musical Theater Auditions

I recently found an interesting ExpertVillage video by Athena Reich on how to talk to an accompanist at a musical theater audition. Here it is:

A question for both pianists and singers--How does Athena's tutorial stack up against what you have experienced and recommend as best practices in auditions? Bear in mind that this video is about the musical theater audition process and not opera, which can be quite different. I'll keep mum about my opinions for the moment and write them in the comments once the discussion has started.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Best wishes for a fun-filled Valentine's Day, filled with romance, great coffee (I've got my Zabar's Blue Moutain Blend right beside me as I type), fine wine of the most respectable vintage, and single-origin high-end chocolate. And what better song to celebrate the day than William Bolcom's Amor from his Cabaret Songs. Here is Melissa Fogarty and an unnamed pianist (Hive call: who is he/she?) in a 2007 performance of Amor:



[Update: the pianist is Jennifer Griesbach. Thanks for the info, Missy!]

Elizabeth Gilbert on the Creative Process

This lecture on creativity, artistry, and the muse by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) is worth every second of the 20 minutes you'll spend watching it.

(Via Smarterware)

Previously on the Collaborative Piano Blog:

Find Your Muse, Find Your Process

Find Your Repertoire

Steven Blier on the Future of American Popular Song

Accompanists on Accompanists

Thanks, to the new Gramophone Archive, there are a huge number of articles about the world of classical music that are now online and searchable. Here's one fascinating article from page 38 of the February 2006 issue--The Expert's Expert: Essential Accompanists, in which many of the world's top collaborative pianists talk about their own favorite collaborators. Here's Martin Katz's contribution:

My choice will come as no surprise. I considered nominating several others: I love Bengt Forsberg's partnering of anything Von Otter does; I admire Malcolm Martineau's work enormously; Benjamin Britten is as wonderful an accompanist as he is a composer; I adore the playing of Jacqueline Bonneau on early Souzay recordings. But I must stick to my very first thought: Gerald Moore. He is the master of tone-control, understatement, elegance, dexterity. Schubert's accompaniments, which can be so mechanical in lesser hands, turn into endlessly fascinating canvases in Moore's, and straddle that delicate balance of classic and romantic so perfectly.

Call for Participants: Collaborative Piano Retreat at the Vancouver International Song Institute from June 10-17

Now in its third year, the Vancouver International Song Institute is once again offering a varied lineup of programs for pianists and singers scheduled to take place at the UBC School of Music. This year also features the Collaborative Piano Retreat from June 10-17, a unique opportunity for both students and professionals to study and network with some of the top pianists in the profession. From the VISI website:

Student participants partner with professional singers and are coached by internationally renowned collaborative pianists. The retreat features classes with Juilliard Professor MARGO GARRETT, CAMERON STOWE, J J PENNA, KEN GRIFFITHS and other VISI visiting pianists and scholars.

The course also includes lectures about poetry and song analysis with renowned scholars SIMA GODFREY and KEVIN MCNEILLY, courses in dramatic recitation, creative recital presentation, collaborative interaction, business practices, and diction. A performance of student pianists and professional singers will complete the course.

Possible overlap with the Theatre of Art Song program will be considered.

Professionals are also welcome:

Professional Collaborative Pianists are warmly invited to attend all lectures, masterclasses, and conversations for the entire week or on a drop-in basis with a particular focus on the weekend of June 12-14 for a professional meeting and celebration.

The cost of the retreat for student pianists is $700, and a professional participant pass is $200 for the entire 8-day program [Update: Rena sends word that you can pay $10 for a morning session, $20 for an afternoon session, and $50 for a weekend pass]. In case you're interested in applying, an online application form will be on the VISI website by February 20. Application requirements are already listed on the Collaborative Piano Retreat page, and you can check out payment information here. If you need more info, send an email to info [at] songinstitute dot ca. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks...

Open Comment Thread: What Are the Worst Concerto Reductions of All Time?

You know them when you see them. These piano parts feature sections written at 160 bpm to the quarter, with 5 separate moving voices in sixteenths. Chords are laid out with no regard for the average hand span. Mysterious voices creep into the middle register of the staff while both hands are busy at opposite ends of the piano. You come to the swift realization that no human hands are capable of playing this monstrosity of a concerto reduction in front of you.

Ever experienced this? If so, you've been to concerto reduction purgatory. Fortunately, there are some who recognize the need for pianistic integrity and pragmatic editorial decisions in these works...

Jan Grimes, coordinator of collaborative activities at Louisiana State University School of Music, is compiling a list of piano reductions that are currently unplayable for the purpose of re-writing these reductions for publication. If you have any candidates for a complete piano reduction makeover, please leave a comment below and Jan will add the concerto to the list for future reworking.

Vocal Chamber Music...on a Train

Ever had the feeling that the world of train travel was a perfect venue for chamber music? Look no further...

On February 15 at the Rocky Mountaineer Train Station in Vancouver, Heather Pawsey and friends are presenting Sound-Tracks,  a concert of railway-themed chamber music featuring works by Michael Bushnell, Jocelyn Morlock, John Oliver, Sylvia Rickard, and Leslie Uyeda.  With performances by soprano Heather Pawsey, cellist Ariel Barnes, flautist Kathryn Cernauskas, clarinetist AK Coope, and pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, this concert takes place both inside three train carriages of the Rocky Mountaineer and in the station itself.

Sound-Tracks gets under way at 7pm on Sunday February 15 at the Vancouver Rocky Mountaineer terminal located at 1755 Cottrell Street just south of Terminal Avenue (across from Home Depot). Admission is free, but you'll need to book reservations at 604-606-7361 or concert [at] rockymountaineer dot com.

Here is the complete press release for Sound-Tracks:

All Aboard!! SOUND-TRACKS, a rollicking ride of contemporary classical Canadian music celebrating the mystery and romance of the rails, “hits the track” Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Rocky Mountaineer Train Station (1755 Cottrell Street, Vancouver). This event is part of the New Music in New Places concert series, presented by the Canadian Music Centre.

Board three stationary carriages of the Rocky Mountaineer and Whistler Mountaineer trains (including the gracious Glacier Dome car, and luxurious, bi-level GoldLeaf Dome Coach affording a spectacular view of downtown Vancouver by night) with critically acclaimed musicians Ariel Barnes, cello; Kathryn Cernauskas, flute; AK Coope, clarinet; and Heather Pawsey, soprano for short, intimate “mini-concerts”, and then move into the renovated vintage station itself to join pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa for a full ensemble finish.

Just as the railway united the vast borders of our country, music brings us closer together and sets us dreaming of journeys, explorations and new discoveries. From coast to coast, Canadian composers and authors have been fascinated with the legends and lore of our iconic railways. SOUND-TRACKS celebrates this robust legacy with works that include Violet Archer’s Train at Night; Paul McIntyre’s At the Railway Station; Elma Miller’s Windwalker; Marjan Mozetich’s Duet in Blue; Eldon Rathburn’s Ghost Train; Sid Robinovitch’s Three Winter Songs; and Norman Symond’s Deep Ground, Long Waters.

Works from British Columbia highlight Michael Bushnell’s On Track; Jocelyn Morlock's Train; John Oliver’s 3 Trains; Sylvia Rickard’s Songs of the Loon; Barry Truax’s Steam; and Leslie Uyeda’s Classical Escapade (world premiere), among others.

Admission to SOUND-TRACKS is free but reservations are required on a first-come, first-served basis. To book a space, please call the concert hotline at 604-606-7361 or email concert@rockymountaineer.com.

DRESS ADVISORY: As a portion of this concert will include moving from car to car along the platform, please dress appropriately for weather and wear footwear suitable for boarding railway carriages.

Critically acclaimed musicians Ariel Barnes, cello; Kathryn Cernauskas, flute; AK Coope, clarinet; Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, piano; and Heather Pawsey, soprano are particularly noted for their fearless and innovative approaches to contemporary music. Collectively, they have premiered hundreds of new Canadian works, many written specifically for them, with performances spanning North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

The Rocky Mountaineer Station is located at 1755 Cottrell Street, Vancouver (east on Terminal Avenue, south on Cottrell Street, located beside the Home Depot) and parking is available. The vintage station is a renovated mid-1950s Canadian National Railways locomotive maintenance building with exposed timber and brick, 35 foot vaulted ceilings, and a full-length glass wall that provides a complete view of the track and rolling stock.

SOUND-TRACKS is part of the Canadian Music Centre’s "New Music in New Places" initiative to take Canadian music out of concert halls and in to alternative venues, and is made possible through the generous support and assistance of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations and Tom Lee Music. The Canadian Music Centre is an independent, not for profit, non-government agency that promotes and disseminates the music of Canadian composers. 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Music Centre, and SOUND-TRACKS is dedicated to the CMC in appreciation and celebration.

The Canadian Music Centre gratefully acknowledges the support of the SOCAN Foundation and the Government of Canada through the Canada Music Fund.

(Thanks, Heather!)

Anti-Quote of the Day

Being an accompanist is a behind-the-scenes kind of job, much like working stage crew for a theater show.

-from a Yahoo Answers thread on Why is it that the accompanist gets absolutely no credit?

20% Off All G. Henle Urtext Editions at Sheet Music Plus Until March 5

Walk through any music school on the planet and you'll spot them. These blue-grey Urtext editions lend a certain authority to anyone that uses them for practicing, studying, teaching, or performing. Their hefty, acid-free pages, clean layout, and authoritative sources make these editions some of the most sought-after in the music world and are put together with a level of quality that can remain in good shape for the duration of your career.

Yes, I'm talking about G. Henle Urtext editions. Go to most music retailers and they're almost always sold at full price. Until now...

Until March 5, Sheet Music Plus is offering 20% off all G. Henle Urtext editions. In case you've never used an Urtext edition, here is a quick rundown on what it is:

The word Urtext means original text. An Urtext then is closest to what the composer originally intended. Over the years, various editors have often made additions to compositions which have obscured the original purity of the composition. In creating an Urtext edition, musicologists strive to re-create the purest version of the composition.

Extensive research goes into creating an Urtext edition - scholars examine all available manuscripts, variances, copies and early editions of compositions available. Different Urtext editions are often available for a single composition because different musicologists reach different conclusions regarding a composer's intent. Almost all Urtext editions include editorial additions that aid in playing including fingerings and bowings that are clearly marked as such.

Sheet Music Plus is one of the most respected online retailers of music scores and offers fast and inexpensive international shipping, as well as a massive selection of music from dozens of publishers. In case you're interested in grabbing some Henle scores, here are links to several of them for piano, many of which grace the walls of my studio bookshelf:

Johann Sebastian Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier BWV 846-869, part I Without fingering - with Comments in English. By Johann Sebastian Bach. Edited by E.-G. Heinemann. For piano solo. This edition: HN256. Piano (Harpsichord), 2-hands. Henle Music Folios. Pages: VII and 128. Urtext edition without fingering-paper bound. 138 pages. Published by G. Henle. (51480256) See more info...

Klaviersonaten - Band II (Piano Sonatas - Volume II) (K. 330 (300h) - K. 576) Fingerings by Hans-Martin Theopold, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), edited by Ernst Herttrich. Collection (paper bound) for solo piano. Urtext edition. 157 pages. Published by G. Henle. (HL.51480002) See more info...

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. (HL.51480032) See more info...

Sonatas for Piano and Violin - Volume I By Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), edited by Sieghard Brandenburg. Collection and set of performance parts for Violin and piano. Urtext edition-paper bound. 159 pages. Published by G. Henle. (HL.51480007) See more info...

Etuden (Etudes) Fingered by Hermann Keller, composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), edited by Ewald Zimmermann. Collection for solo piano. Series: Urtext Editions. Text language English, German and French. 127 pages. Published by G. Henle. (HL.51480124) See more info...

Piano pieces By Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), edited by Monica Steegmann. Urtext edition-paper bound for solo piano. 120 pages. Published by G. Henle. (HL.51480036) See more info...

Preludes, Premier Livre By Claude Debussy (1862-1918), edited by Ernst-Gunter Heinemann. Collection for solo piano. Urtext edition-paper bound. 61 pages. Published by G. Henle. (HL.51480383) See more info...

The Complete Haydn Piano Trios on WGBH

Boston's WGBH will be broadcasting the entire piano trios of Joseph Haydn over the next two months on Cathy Fuller's Classics in the Morning. Each weekday show will feature one piano trio as played by the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, consisting of pianist Harald Kosik, violinist Verena Stourzh, and cellist Hannes Gradwohl.

Classics in the Morning runs from 9AM to 12PM EST on WGBH 89.7 and 4-7PM on the WGBH All-Classical stream. You can grab the full range of links, streams, playlists, and podcasts at the WGBH Classical page.

(Thanks, Edgar!)

Spotted in London

Get yours here.

Call for Collaborative Pianists: The Professional Advantage at Mercatello sul Metauro

For those of you in the market for a summer training program, I've just received word that The Professional Advantage is looking for a few collaborative pianists at its program running from July 6 to August 1 at Mercatello sul Metauro. The pianists would be required to play for lessons, scenes rehearsals, and probably opera rehearsals as well. About The Professional Advantage:

This program provides a unique approach to European summer training programs, targeting participants with professional-level talent, who desire European performance experience and insight into the workings of the professional world. These skills will be taught by current and working professionals, who have experience at all levels of the operatic industry and are skilled communicators.

For more information regarding the program, applications, and costs, you can email Vernon Hartman and Amy Johnson at ProAdv2009 [at] aol dot com. 

Lang Lang Chopin Encore in Berlin

Here's Lang Lang performing the Chopin Etude Op. 10 #3 in E major as an encore at a recent Berlin Philharmonic Concert:

Opera To Go 2009 Workshop Pics

For the first two weeks of January, I was at Tapestry New Opera Works playing for the workshop of Opera To Go 2009. A workshop of a new operatic work is quite different from staging rehearsals, since the operatic works have not yet reached their final form. Much work is done with tweaking words and music so that when the work finally goes to production, it will have reached a high level of polish and a much more successful dramatic trajectory than a work hot off the press that hasn't had such a fine-tuning.

Deeply engaged in musical and dramatic thought in the picture at left are (clockwise from the piano) myself, Musical Director Wayne Strongman, Director/Dramaturge Tom Diamond, and Stage Manager Isolde Pleasants-Faulkner. You can see the entire slideshow of Opera To Go workshop action shots at Tapestry's Inside the New Works Studio blog.

The February 2009 Music Education Blog Carnival

Hello everyone and welcome to the February 2009 Music Education Blog Carnival. Below are links to a wide variety of articles from over two dozen bloggers on various subjects related to the field of music education. There's a huge variety of material here, so if you can't get through all 25 articles in one sitting, feel free to bookmark this page and make a return trip.

By Way of Introduction...

What better way to start the carnival than with a song--Rachel Rambach of Listen and Learn celebrates her 100th post with 2009 Is Here.

Join the discourse about contemporary issues in education and check out Kelly Sonora's list of the Top 50 Educational Policy Blogs at Online University Lowdown.

Can anything be done to save music in the public schools? Evan Tobias of Catalysts & Connections points us towards a Fascinating Arts Education Dialogue on ArtsJournal.

Music Pedagogy

So your students are doing well in classroom situations. But what do you do to transfer what students have learned into a regular practice routine? Thomas J. West looks at strategies for helping students become self-sufficient musicians with Technique Targeting: Becoming Your Own Music Teacher.

Adult students need to learn how to become independent musicians too, just in different ways. Leah Coutts talks about Self-Direction in Adult Students in the Music Teachers Helper Blog (hey--I write for that blog too!)

And a big welcome to everyone from the DePauw University Collegiate Chapter of MENC (MENC is the National Association of Music Education, whose home page can found here).

Being a singer requires a fair amount of keyboard proficiency, whether you're practicing, learning a role, or teaching a voice lesson. Elizabeth McDonald at From the voice of... writes about ways to quickly and painlessly acquire these skills in Keyboard Skills for Singers.

"Drill that section until it's easy to play" - Natalie Wickham at Music Matters Blog discusses how she leads her students toward mastery, step by step in Easy Phrases for Students.

Scott Ashby's Expectations looks at ways that parents can support their children's musical endeavors with an understanding of practicing, performing, and studio policy.

Music Performance

Doing a recital anytime soon? Get those programs sent in now. And I mean now. The bio too. Liz Parker of The Megaphone talks about the importance of early submission of concert materials as an integral part of the PR process in House Programmes: What Every Performer Needs To Know About Deadlines. And did I mention that you also need to send in the high-rez vertical head shot for the "outer"?

Brian Jay Stanley in Aphorisms and Paradoxes talks about the wonder and discovery of the concert life in Music Moves the Young and Old.

Do you need hands to play guitar? Not so, says audiofish.

Sometimes it's important to just show up, to be the last person left standing when in pursuit of a goal. Broderick Allen discusses Persistence.

Cary Stewart, author of Third-Stream Music Education, tackles the question of Timbre vs. Style? - Is There a Tradeoff? in a discussion on what priorities to establish when working with beginning bands.

...Okay, it's time for another song: Rachel Rambach's What Do You Do? is a useful song to teach physicalized actions and responses to kids for use in common social situations.

Music Technology

Microsoft Songsmith? Is it the real thing? Kyle Gardner asks the question of what kind of impact Songsmith might have on music educators (be sure to spot the cameo appearance in the comments from Microsoft's Dan Morris).

Is that Yamaha on sale really the best keyboard in its category? One Family looks at a feature-by-feature price comparison of Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, and Korg digital pianos.

Ever heard music for Dual-Resonant Solid State Tesla Coils? Sheila Scarborough at Perceptive Travel has, and she writes about her experience watching DRSSTC music in Austin, Texas.

Should you give away free downloads of your music? Yes, says Dan-O. Here's why.

If your musical activities lead you to create a working product, it might be a good idea to get ISO certification. In case you're confused about what this comprises, the ISO9001 Compliance Blog has an informative article about quality control, electrical, and environmental standards in ISO certification. 

More Stuff

In the market for an online college program? Check out the Nancy Miller's 2009 version of the Online Education Database's Online College Rankings.

Takeshi Koike of DPUtv writes about the joys of hearing music from other cultures in Music From Another World.

If you're looking for an interesting variety of education-related links, have a gander at Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day for inspiration.

Looking for a cheap way to turbocharge your teaching materials? Joseph Pisano leads us to Places to Find Free Music, Graphics, and Photo Art.

Same tune, but in a funky new context. Doruk Somunkiran gives a primer on Reharmonization Simplified at HarmonyCat.com.

Finally, I would like to offer a huge hand of thanks to Joseph Pisano for pioneering the ME100 project, which recently reached its goal of recruiting 100 blogs on the subject of music education. Thanks to all the bloggers for such a great bunch of submissions, and exactly one month from now be sure to go to Tanbur Music Education for the March 2009 Blog Carnival.

Still wondering what music for Tesla Coils sounds like? Here's ArcAttack at Austin Maker Faire 2008: