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Via Adam Kalsey's Button Maker, my new Collaborative Piano Blog official blog badge is ready to go, so copy away and link to this site with your very own button.

Back to the studio

Today was the first day of the workshop for Brian Current's Airline Icarus, a collaboration between Opera Breve and Soundstreams Canada. The singers who will be performing selections from the one-act opera include Carla Houtanen, Zorana Sadiq, Lynne McMurtry, Deborah Overes, Keith Klassen, Stephen Erickson, Alex Dobson, and Philip Carmichael, conducted by Wayne Strongman with director/dramarturg Tom Diamond.

This week I am playing from the full score, although next week when we add the orchestra I will be plaing from only the piano part. The full score includes the following:

Flute
Clarinet
Vibraphone
Marimba
Piano
Voice Parts
Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Cello

Other works on the program for May 7:
Inventory by Brian Current (with soprano Patricia O'Callaghan)
Zeitfluren and Frankenstein by HK Gruber

Steinway vintages

Ever wondered about the exact age of your favorite Steinway piano? The Bluebook of Pianos has a page that correlates Steinway serial numbers with dates of construction from 1856 through 2000.

Link

Collaborative Piano at the RCM

I am very pleased to announce that I will be teaching a course in Collaborative Piano to be offered at the Royal Conservatory of Music Community School this September. A course proposal I submitted earlier this year has recently been approved and I am now in the process of submitting information for the course calendar. I'll post more info as it comes available, but at present I can say that the tentative time for the class will be Wednesday evenings at 7pm at the RCM main location at 90 Croatia Street in Toronto.

Airline Icarus

Tomorrow morning I'm back at the Tapestry/Nightwood New Work Studio as pianist and coach for a workshop of Airline Icarus by librettist Anton Piatogorsky and composer Brian Current, in preparation for Soundstreams' Cabaret Plus on Sunday May 7 at 8pm in the Glenn Gould Studio of CBC Toronto.

GTABlogger

The Collaborative Piano Blog is now a listed member of GTABloggers, a collective of bloggers from the Greater Toronto Area that has been in existence since early 2002. You'll see a maple leaf-encrusted permanent link at the bottom of the sidebar.

Bathroom Divas Season Two Press Release

The press release and call for singers for Bathroom Divas Season Two arrived in my mailbox this morning. Here it is:

BATHROOM DIVAS HITS HIGH NOTES WITH BRAVO!

Bravo! and Kaleidoscope Entertainment are pleased to announce an open
submission call for "Act Two" of
Bathroom Divas: So You Want To Be An Opera Star?

Photos: www.bravo.ca/media

(Toronto, ON - March 29, 2006)  It's time to put down the back
scrubber and trade it in for a microphone - are you ready to become
Canada's next opera star?  After a successful first season, Bravo!
and Kaleidoscope Entertainment are looking for aspiring singers who
want to vie for the chance to train with top-notch singing
professionals and battle to become the ultimate "bathroom diva."  Act
two of Bathroom Divas will air on Bravo! in January 2007.

The open submission call is targeted towards non-professional opera
singers from diverse musical, cultural and occupational backgrounds.
Prospective "bathroom divas" may vary in musical training and
experience.

The producers will be accepting submissions from now until May 12,
2006. Potential candidates should submit a CD or audio cassette
showcasing three of their contrasting operatic works clearly labeled
with their name and contact information.  The demo tapes or CDs
should not exceed 12 minutes and should be accompanied by a recent
photo and résumé including union affiliations, if any.  Potential
candidates must be 18 years of age or older and be a Canadian citizen
or permanent resident of Canada.  Submissions will not be returned.

Aspiring opera singers should send their submissions to: "Bathroom
Divas: So You Want To Be An Opera Star?," c/o 23 Lesmill Road, Suite
201, Toronto, ON, M3B 3P6.

For more information, please e-mail feedback@bathroomdivas.com or
visit www.bathroomdivas.com.

Whether you are nurse, truck driver or plumber, as long as you have a
passion to sing we are looking for you!

Bravo!, a division of CHUM Television, is a rest stop in the
television universe where viewers make a regular appointment with the
arts (www.bravo.ca).  A proud supporter of the Canadian independent
production community, Bravo! funds approximately 100 hours of
independently produced documentaries and performing arts specials a
year.  Bravo! has been a major contributor to such productions as
Godiva's, Detective Murdoch Mysteries and Gemini award-winning Camp
Hollywood.

CHUM Television is a division of CHUM Limited (TSX: CHM/CHM.NV.B,
www.chumlimited.com), one of Canada's leading media companies and
content providers which owns and operates radio stations, local
television stations, specialty channels and Internet properties.

KALEIDOSCOPE ENTERTAINMENT Inc. (KEI) is an established, diversified
and independent Canadian entertainment company, founded in 1982.
Over the years KEI has expanded from television program distribution
into other related areas including Morningstar Entertainment
(Video/DVD), Venture Licensing of Canada (Licensing/Merchandising)
and KEI Productions.

Good luck everyone!

NATSAA Round 2

Wendy is off to Albion College for the second round of the NATSAA. Alas, I've got too much going on this weekend in Toronto to go, so she'll be performing with pianist Michelle Beaton from the Albion faculty. Best of luck to Wendy!

One plus one equals......................one?

Via ArtsJournal...

An article by pianist Susan Tomes appeared in yesterday's Guardian on the difficulties faced by pianists in duo partnerships. A couple of quotes from the article:

The role of pianists working with singers is a special case. Here, pianists are almost always referred to as "accompanists", and many have made their peace with that word. Personally, I find it insufficient; "accompanist" does not indicate what instrument is being played. In this respect the label is probably unique in the world of music, where everyone else is a trumpeter, drummer, clarinettist, guitarist, whatever. "Accompanist" merely tells you that someone else is more important.

Thank you, Susan. Your voice will add steam to the movement afloat to do away with that word.

Americans now use the phrase "collaborative pianist" instead of "accompanist". It's a bit of a mouthful, but a step in the right direction - although why not simply pianist?

There will be plenty of music critics who are hearing the words "collaborative pianist" for the first time in this article. And yes, it's quite a mouthful. How about CP for short?

Proper and improper ways to label pianists in ensemble
What is Collaborative Piano?

Community School Showcase at the RCM

One of the more eclectic concerts I'll be playing at in the next while is the Community School Showcase at the Royal Conservatory at 4pm this Saturday. Tickets are $10/5/5.

Image hosted by the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Colors and Keys

Wikipedia describes synaesthesia as"a condition in which the stimulation of one sensory modality gives rise to an experience in another modality". In other words, there some of people who can "hear" colors or "see" sounds.

One of the more interesting nominees from the 2006 Webby Awards is a site called Color of Sound, where sounds such as animal noises, chords, and popular songs are played with a color chart shown from which you can select an appropriate color. From the site's front page:

When the two senses involved are sound and color, this phenomenon is no longer limited to synaesthetes: anyone, given a sound and time for contemplation, can ascribe color to that sound. Oftentimes, these choices will overlap from person to person.

The Color of Sound project will no doubt yield some interesting results.

Essential reading for synaesthetes: Christian Bök's Eunoia.
Another Eunoia site

London (Ont) and back

I headed over to London Friday to see Wendy perform the Beethoven Missa Solemnis with the Fanshawe Chorus & Co. under Gerald Fagan. Centennial Hall proved to be a much better hall than I expected--a cigarbox-shaped hall of late 60's vintage, the front row of the balcony proved to show off choir, orchestra, and soloists with both resonance and detail.

The only thing I dislike about sitting in the front row of a balcony is the terrible vertigo I experience upon standing for an ovation (as the audience did on Friday night), and the discomfort of having to lean backwards while heartily clapping (and cheering, etc.) while at the same time trying to master my fear of the orchestra level's yawning expanse right below me.

The concert was followed by an excellent Saturday morning at the breakfast room of the Idlewyld Inn, conversation with acquaintances new and old, as well as an excellent smoked salmon Eggs Benedict.

Addition to Skills List

Here is an addition to the list of Required and Preferred Skills for the Collaborative Pianist I posted a number of months ago:

under Personal Skills, halfway down

***Ability to remember faces and names from the entire extent of one's professional network (ie. usually about 100-200 people)

Note: This is not a skill that I claim to have yet mastered.

Sweatshops in Academia?

From Marusya Bociurkiw in Now magazine, an article on the growing trend toward sessional faculty in many universities, and the lack of renumeration, respect, and chances for career advancement for those that do the bulk of actual teaching at a university.

Because what the sleek, sexy new buildings at Ryerson and U of T don't reveal is that your average Canadian university has become a bit of a sweatshop. The professor many students see behind the lectern has six to eight years of professional training, has written books and published in peer journals – and has no hope of a teaching career.

Wendy to perform this Friday in London (Ont)

This Friday evening Wendy Hatala Foley will be performing as alto soloist in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Fanshawe Chorus London, the Gerald Fagan Singers, and the Concert Players Orchestra conducted by Gerald Fagan in London's Centennial Hall at 7pm. The other soloists are Barbara Livingston, soprano, Darryl Edwards, tenor, and Keith Miller, baritone.

I do enjoy the smell of new recital hall

Wendy and I trekked out to York University for our rehearsal for tomorrow's Ontario Round of the NATS Artist Auditions. The recital hall in York's new fine arts facility is entirely new and was only opened a few weeks ago.

The 325-seat recital hall is definitely on the resonant side when empty, although I trust the sound will even out tomorrow with an audience. There are also fabric curtains located behind the acoustic panels that can apparently be raised or lowered. The artist rendering at right gives only a hint of just how well color and light in the space work to make the room a first-rate space visually as well as acoustically.

Winners of tomorrow's Ontario Round will advance to the Great Lakes Regional Round in Michigan on April 22.

Image hosted by York University.

Tapestry's 2006 liblab

For interested composers and writers, the call for applications for the 2006 Tapestry New Opera Works Composer/Librettist Laboratory has just been released, with an application deadline of May 15, 2006. More from the Tapestry site on the laboratory:

The heart and soul of Tapestry’s new work creation programme is the Composer-Librettist Laboratory. After ten successive “Lib-Labs”, this programme has been carefully honed for composers and writers to test, exercise and develop their collaborative writing and composing skills in the music theatre/opera art form. For most composers and writers the artistic process is a solitary one. Tapestry provides development, guidance and financial support through the often lengthy, but ultimately rewarding, new work creation process.

Link
Call for applications on Acrobat PDF file

Definitely not the blogging high season (still cont.)

I can completely empathize with bloggers who feel the pressures of added scrutiny, time pressure, and the need to sometimes step back from the fray as their careers gain steam. Earlier this year, the blogosphere saw the departure of candienne, after several years of candid blogging. Now, Anne-Carolyn at the concert has also decided to go on hiatus, hopefully only for a short time.

One of the tougher things about blogging I have found is how satisfying the whole process is, but how darned difficult it is to keep up when the season is at its peak, ie. right now (not an apology). Many classical music blogs that usually feature regular updates slow down to a trickle at best at this time of the year.

Uh oh, Emma's woken up and crying again. She does like those late-night hugs...

Small World

So I'm reading blogs this evening, when I chance upon Adam Baratz on Form/Content posting about playing Joni Mitchell's Blue Motel Room, when it finally sinks in--wait a minute, I played at that concert. I saw that performance. I was standing right behind him in the main hall of Eastman while he ended the concert in fine fashion with Joni's masterpiece.

Therefore, in the grand tradition of bloggers doffing their hat to other bloggers when their paths intersect in real life, Adam, I salute you for an excellent performance.

CBC's top arts canblogs

Via Bookninja, an article by the CBC's Matthew McKinnon on Canada's top arts blogs. No dedicated classical music blogs on the list as of yet...

The Week in Review

Here's a recap of the past week:

Sunday afternoon (26th) Wendy and I drove to Rochester via the outlets in Lewiston, arrived in Rochester, where we had some rather indifferent Italian food in Pittsford, and called it a night.

Monday we performed at Women in Music at Eastman, then had some excellent Mediterranean food with Sylvie Beaudette, the festival's Artistic Director. Back to Oakville via the outlets in Lewiston.

Tuesday I gave a class on Clara Schumann for the Vocal Lit course I teach at the RCM. Numerous rehearsals.

Wednesday: a morning meeting, followed by numerous coachings and rehearsals.

Thursday I performed with flutist A. Emre Sagbas at the RCM. Music of Bach, Nielsen, and Bizet.

Friday: numerous coachings and rehearsals.

Saturday I performed with soprano Emily Ding at the Faculty. Music of Handel, Wolf, Chausson, Rachmaninoff, Messaien, and Coulthard.

Only a few rehearsals today in preparation for a slew of auditions to play at tomorrow. Wendy added the finishing touches to her new website. Numerous phone calls, emails, etc. Early to bed Must....get...to......sleep.

It's a business, all right

New from the Department of Canadian Heritage, a site entitled Music is my Business! whose launch is timed to coincide with tonight's Juno Awards in Halifax. Although still in a somewhat rudimentary layout, there is some interesting information here on the interaction between various levels between performer to consumer in the fields of recorded, live, printed, and commissioned music.

The numerous charts detailing the large number of parties involved in music's journey from artist to consumer are some very informative resources. Hopefully more content will be added over the next few weeks and months.

Image hosted by Music is my Business!