New posture research

A CTV.ca story states that new evidence points toward the traditional straight-backed posture as a possible cause of back pain. However, the researchers' solution of a 135-degree seated position probably isn't that feasible for pianists.

Link

This Day in Music History

Thanks to DataDragon Information Services, you can visit the link below and see what has happened musically on every day of the year. And a fond happy birthday to Peter Hansel (born 1770) and Gaetano Donizetti (born 1797).

Link

Richter plays Chopin's Revolutionary Etude

Even though the camera is focused mainly on his head and upper body, this video of Sviatoslav Richter playing Chopin's Revolutionary Etude Opus 10 No. 12 nevertheless captures the essence of a fine performance. Take a look at the video's final shot, with Richter's hands leaving the camera view after he finishes and leaving us with only the empty keyboard.

Frederic Chopin: Etudes With a Critical Commentary. By Frederic Chopin. Edited by E. Zimmermann. Piano (Harpsichord), 2-hands. Pages: 135. Urtext edition-cloth bound. Published by G. Henle. (229) See more info...

A word on my email

My domain email has finally been fixed and I can now once more be emailed at chris at collaborative piano dot com after many delays on the part of my domain registrar in fixing their email system. You can also email me at collaborativepiano at gmail dot com, which is where mail from both accounts goes (since I'm now a dedicated gmail user).

GGS Concerto Competition Finalists

Today was a long day playing for several people in the first round of the Glenn Gould School's annual concerto competition. This evening the results came in and here are the finalists that will be appearing this Thursday afternoon in the concert hall:


12:35pm Alexander Serendenko, piano
1:15pm Liliana Piazza, soprano
1:30pm Olenka Slywynska, mezzo soprano


Intermission

2:15pm Emre Sagbas, flute
12:45pm Younggun Kim, piano
3:45pm Sonia Sielaff, clarinet
4:15pm Christine Kim, piano


The final round on Thursday, November 30 in the RCM Concert Hall is free and open to the public. I will be performing with Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death with Olenka Slywynska at 1:30pm.

Update 11/29/06 Please note the new times.

Adam Zinatelli and Morgan Gregory at the Con tomorrow

Here is the program for the concert I will be playing at the Royal Conservatory of Music tomorrow evening at 7:30pm in the Concert Hall. Admission is free.

Adam Zinatelli, trumpet
Morgan Gregory, french horn
Dominique Arseneau-Bruneau, trombone
Christopher Foley, piano

Intrada for trumpet and piano (Arthur Honegger)

Adagio and Allegro for horn and piano (Robert Schumann)

Espana for solo horn (Boyanovsky)

Trio for trumpet, french horn, and trombone (Francis Poulenc)

Albumblatt for cornet and piano (Alexander Glazunov)

Legend for trumpet and piano (Georges Enesco)

Gerald Moore video with Teresa Berganza

From YouTube, a fine performance of Manuel de Falla's Polo (from the Siete Canciones Espagnoles) with Teresa Berganza and Gerald Moore. The illustrious Mr. Moore would not doubt find mirth in that only his backside is featured on this historic clip, but hey, at least he gets plenty of camera time, which is more than most of us keyboard collaborators can say...

Trish O'Callaghan at Hugh's Room this Saturday

Patricia O'Callaghan (who recently played the role of Sophie in Nigredo Hotel) will be performing at Hugh's Room this Saturday at 8:30pm with Greg Oh on piano (of Toca Loca fame), Andrew Downing on bass, and John Gzowski on guitar. Tickets are $27.50/advance $25.

Link to Patricia O'Callaghan Online

Photo by Jim Nielson hosted by Onestep Studios

Borderless Song opens 2006-07 season this Saturday

Borderless Song is presenting a recital this Saturday at 7:30pm featuring Ye-Jin Han, violin and Christopher Burton, piano. The recital will be held at Forest Grove United Church at 43 Forest Grove Drive in North York, Ontario. The program includes works by Mozart, Morawetz, Ravel, Beethoven, Ra, and Ysaye. Admission is $20, with free admission for children under 12.

Jascha Heifetz and Brooks Smith on YouTube

From YouTube, a rare video of Jascha Heifetz and Brooks Smith playing a violin/piano transcription of Rachmaninoff's song "Daisies" from the Op. 38 song cycle.

Kim Witman's 2006 Aria Frequency List

Kim Witman, as she makes the rounds of the Wolf Trap Opera audition tour, has been faithfully recording the arias that singers have been offering each year, and here are the most popular arias of the 2006 version of the list:

Sopranos

Ach ich fuhl's (30x)

Mezzos

Sein wir wieder gut (19x each, tied)
Smanie implacabili
Va! laisse couler mes larmes

Countertenors

I know a bank (5x)

Tenors

Dies Bildnis (27x)

Baritones

Hai già vinta la causa (30x)

Basses/Bass-Baritones

Catalogue Aria (8x)


While reading the entire list won't tell you what the most successful singers are auditioning with, it will tell you what the overall trends are in terms of aria selection, as well as being a springboard to finding some new and ineresting audition-worthy material.

Also of interest on the Wolf Trap blog is the list of most popular opening arias.

Introducing Keywerx

The keyboard department of the Royal Conservatory of Music's Community School now has its own blog, on which members of the keyboard faculty will be posting information on lessons, classes, workshops, recitals, publications, and other events at Canada's top school of music.

Link

Lois Marshall and Glenn Gould on YouTube

This YouTube clip of Lois Marshall and Glenn Gould performing Richard Strauss's Caecilie in 1962 is a definite must-see. Comments on the clip's YouTube page are an interesting read, both pro and con.

Keyboard Institute highlights on WGBH

Classical radio station WGBH in Boston will be presenting highlights from the July 2006 Keyboard Institute and Festival from Mannes College in New York City every Tuesday morning at 10am in November and December. Here's the lineup:

November 21
Pianist Jeffrey Swann’s An Evening chez Mme. Verdurin—Music in the World of Marcel Proust

November 28
Pianist Leslie Howard's The Russian Romantic Piano Sonata–1848-1907

Decemeber 5
Beijing-born pianist Yuan Sheng

December 12
Venezuelan-American pianist Vanessa Perez

December 19
Japanese pianist Akiko Ebi

December 26
Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin

Link to WGBH webcasts (Thanks, Edgar)

Wendy to perform Mozart Requiem tomorrow

Wendy Hatala Foley will be joined by soloists Charlene Pauls, Keith Boldt, and Andrew Tees in a performance of Mozart's Requiem tomorrow afternoon at 3pm in the St. Matthew Parish with the Oakville Symphony and the Mississauga Choral Society, conducted by Roberto De Clara. Tickets are $22/$20/$14.

Link

Piano lid blues

Looking through my Sitemeter stats, I found a most interesting Google search term: "piano lid up or down while accompanying". Yes, that is the question...

In response to the kind Googler (Texan, no less) whom the search deposited onto my site (#10 on the first page, I may add and much more relevant than some of the higher-up results). Here is my opinion:

Try both short stick and full stick in rehearsal, preferably in the place where you'll be performing. If none of those work, try inserting a 400-500 page book (such as Grout's History of Western Music or Voices United) under the front of the lid as an alternative to playing with the lid all the way down, which can often muffle the sound on pianos such as Steinways, Bösendorfers, or Grotrians.

Stephen Chen's Demi-Monde this Friday

On Nov. 17 I will be performing with mezzo Stephen Chen in Demi-Monde, a recital of contemporary and not-so-contemporary art song, opera, and music theatre. Demi-Monde will be held this Friday at 8pm at the Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto.

Demi-Monde explores "the 'Half-world' of society through the interweaving of classical and contemporary repertoire such as Faure, Brahms, Rossini, Schumann, Lloyd Webber, and Yeston."

Whitehorse photos

After an all-day return trip from Whitehorse (via Vancouver and Edmonton), I finally arrived back in Toronto Monday evening completely exhausted but with artistic batteries recharged. Pictured on the left following the second Divas Over the Top show are, standing, Bathroom Divas cast members Sergio Restagno, Emilie Losier, Sonja Anderson, Gary Relyea, Sonja Gustavson, Tom Diamond, and Gail Malcolm. Seated, or should we say, reclined, is the author of this humble blog.

Although this trip featured many memorable things, including a traditional Danish dinner (punctuated by cries of "Skol!" after which the participants would imbibe generous amounts of aquavit), another dinner on the final evening featuring several varieties of game (caribou, bear, and moose), and the warmth and generosity of the families that billeted us, the highlight was for me the preparation and performances of the two Divas Over the Top shows featuring the Bathroom Divas Season 1 finalists (sans Elton, unfortunately) as well as cameo appearances by Mary Lou Fallis and Gary Relyea, presided over by emcee Tom Diamond.

And a heartfelt thanks to Sonja Anderson, Rachel Grantham, Roslyn Wilson, Barbara Chamberlin, and the Yukon Music Teachers' Association, who organized the events of the weekend as well as the funding for it.

This is the view from the green room of the Yukon Arts Centre on Sunday afternoon taken following my collaborative piano master class. It would be an understatement to say that not many arts facilities have this kind of view...

Outhouse Divas winners

Following yesterday evening's final performance of Divas Over the Top, the Outhouse Divas competition took place this afternoon in the Yukon Arts Centre. Several hundred enthusiastic audience members watched 10 Whitehorse singers perform for judges Tom Diamond, Gary Relyea, Gail Malcolm, Sergio Restagno, Sonja Gustafson, and myself in a mini-version of the process that launched Bathroom Divas to a wide audience earlier this year.

The eventual winners of the afternoon were:

Calvin LaVeck and Rosamund Pojar, tied for first place
Bret Harper, second place
Kyle MacDonald, third place

The weekend wraps up tomorrow with a series of workshops, including a collaborative piano master class I will be giving at 1pm in the Yukon Arts Centre.

Another degree program addition

One more addition to the list of Degree Programs in Collaborative Piano--Northern Arizona University, which offers a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Accompanying/Chamber Music.

More Career Options

I've added several items to the list of Career Options in Collaborative Piano. They are:

High School Music Teacher
Elementary Music Teacher
Early Childhood Music Educator
Piano Technician

Since the field of collaborative piano is a new and evolving field, the scope of our work is constantly changing. If you know of anyone that is doing anything inteeresting or out of the ordinary in this field, write a comment below and it can be added to the list.

Nov. 21 is No Music Day

I must admit that I was somewhat dismayed when I came across No Music Day, a site proposing Nov. 21 as a day on which:

Conductors will not take the podium.
Decks will not spin.
The needle will not drop.
The piano lid will not be lifted.
Films will have no soundtrack.
Jingles will not jangle.

Looking a bit further into the site, I came across an explanation of the site's reason for being:

No Music Day is an aspiration, an idea, an impossible dream, a nightmare.

There are as many reasons for marking No Music Day as there are people willing to observe it - or reject it.

No Music Day is on the 21st of November this and every year.
No Music Day is on the 21st of November because the 22nd of November is Saint Cecilia's day. Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of music. In many countries the 22nd of November was the day chosen to give thanks for and to celebrate the existence of music.

No Music Day has nothing to sell.
There is no mission statement.

Looking across the rather negative comments about the enterprise, I get the feeling that many readers aren't willing to give up their musical endeavors for the day.

At the risk of alienating my dear colleagues and readers, I think that No Music Day is a fantastic idea, if only in spirit rather than practice. Music has become commercialized, monetized, and ubiquitous and many of us have lost the sense of wonder that came with the musical impulse that must have mesmerized our prehistoric ancestors.

As a professional pianist and music educator, I won't be boycotting music on Nov. 21. Rather, No Music Day for me is a way of honoring the silence as I go about my musical activities for the day and realizing that music is not a mere commodity, but an art form that takes a lot of dedication and brings enjoyment to so many that listen and participate in it, is not a continuous soundtrack, but comes from a place of stillness so that we can genuinely learn to listen through our art.

There is no music without silence.

Friday morning in Whitehorse

The show opened last night and although the hall wasn't full, I can't remember an audience that laughed so hard at the comedic bits, especially Mary Lou Fallis and Gary Relyea's rendition of "La ci darem la mano", singing as themselves 20 years from now. Unfortunately, Mary Lou leaves today for points south, so the Don G duet won't be repeated on tonight's program.

For the first time here in Whitehorse, I seem to have the entire afternoon off, so after morning rehearsals it's off to downtown, as well as to the Yukon Artists at Work gallery that everyone has been recommending.

And many thanks to Didier Delahaye at the Yukon Arts Centre, who modded an existing B-Divas photo in order to create a new publicity shot for me that I was pleasantly surprised to see on last night's program. The photo now occupies pride of place on the sidebar profile.

Collaborative Piano Blog turns 1

This humble blog has just celebrated its first birthday.

That's just the way it $&#*&^% is

A musician in the orchestra for Nigredo Hotel recently introduced me to the legendary tape of Paul Anka giving his crew and band the third degree following a show. At last I understand the provenance of comments I've recently heard such as "Where's Joe?" and "The guys wear shirts".

On the road in Whitehorse

Yesterday's trip to the Divas reunion in Whitehorse started with a 10am check-in at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. I had fully prepared, or so I thought, for the new regulations regarding toiletries, and had packed everything in my checked luggage except for contact lens solution. Well, upon reaching security they promptly had me throw out my half-empty 349ml bottle of contact lens solution. The security officer's words: "Nothing larger than 100ml bottles" she said, holding up a 250ml bottle. "Not even if I dump out the contents so that only 100ml is left?" "NO." So I complied and chucked the offending and potentially lethal bottle of contact lens solution in the recycle bin next to the security desk and proceeded to my flight.

Our first flight of the day (with Bathroom Divas cast members Tom Diamond, Gary Relyea, Gail Malcolm, and Sergio Restagno with his wife and 3-month-old son) proceeded smoothly except for some turbulence coming to Vancouver.

Vancouver was a balmy 15 degrees Celsius, but Whitehorse when we arrived was slightly colder at -21. Sonja Anderson greeted all of us at the airport, and then we proceeded to our respective billets.

Today is the rehearsal day for all involved in Divas Over the Top, which opens tomorrow at the Yukon Arts Centre.

Divas Over the Top in Whitehorse

Next week in Whitehorse, Yukon, I'll be playing in Divas Over the Top, a reunion of (most of) the singers featured on Bathroom Divas Season 1, including Sonja Anderson, Sonja Gustavson, Emilie Losier, Sergio Restagno, and Gail Malcolm. I am looking forward to reconnecting with the Season 1 singers, catching up with their stories, and hearing their vocal progress in the nearly two years (!) since the filming of the initial Bathroom Divas season. Not to mention discovering the Yukon, a place I've always been intrigued about but never been.

And that's not all that will be happening that weekend. The Season 1 judges (Mary Lou Fallis, Gary Relyea, and Tom Diamond) will also be coming to Whitehorse for Outhouse Divas, a mini version of the process that became such a hit on B-Divas, but using singers from Whitehorse and the surrounding communities, and lasting only one afternoon.

On the road in the Soo

Yesterday's 8-hour trek from Toronto to Sault Ste. Marie involved driving through not one but two blizzards (the first in Parry Sound, the next just past Blind River), and we (stage management and orchestra in two minivans) arrived by dinnertime. After stuffing myself on some fine Mexican food washed down by some fine beer on tap, it was off to the pool for a late-night soak in the hotel's outdoor jacuzzi where watching the snow fall.

Calls today are 2:45 for a piano tech rehearsal and then a 7:30 dress rehearsal with full orchestra.

One of the things I have always enjoyed about being on the road is the fact that I have only one thing to do while out of town, as opposed to being in Toronto, where there are dozens of things that need to be done, a long commute, etc. On the road, it is actually much easier to focus on what needs to be done. Long tours, though detested by many, I tend to enjoy, as playing one or two programs night after night in town after town allows one to get inside a concert program in ways that are extremely difficult to do with only one performance.

Nigredo Hotel at the Algoma Festival

Tomorrow I'm off to Sault Ste. Marie for two performances of Anne-Marie Macdonald and Nic Gotham's Nigredo Hotel at the Algoma Festival's final weekend. The production is a remount of the 2005 Tapestry run at the Distillery, once again featuring Alex Dobson and Patricia O'Callaghan. The Algoma performance is in a unique venue: a former department store at a shopping mall. The 6 and 8pm shows on Saturday night will also feature a catered dinner for both audiences at 7pm.

At any rate, it's off to bed and an early start for the 8 hour drive leaving first thing in the morning...