Speedlinking - 30 November 2008

Here are some useful articles and links from the last few weeks:

• If you blog about music education and you haven't yet joined Joseph Pisano's 100 Music Education Bloggers project, you haven't got much time left as there are only 5 spots remaining.
  
• If you're a music teacher looking to fill your studio, take a look at Paul Wolf's 5 Reasons Why You're in the Marketing - Not Music - Business.
• Anthony Tommasini has written an excellent primer on the Bel Canto style.
• There is lots of information on how to remain healthy during the cold and flu season, but only Lily Puns writes about how to get your musical competitors sick.
• Jon Dittert offers some advice on creating a practice handout for your students.
• Trying to find the perfect time to release your music on the internet? Andrew Dubber looks at some solutions in When should I put my music online?
• Facing the late-year creative blahs? Dumb Little Man has 10 Great Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity.
• And finally, here are some wonderful words on creativity, motivation, failure, risks, and money from legendary dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp:
  
  

Strange Piano Photo

Anyone know the location or identity of this mysterious and unique piano? Judging from the background, it appears to be in an art gallery of some sort.

(Via Franco Coluzzi on Flickr) 

Update:

It's a Danish PH grand of 1930's vintage, named after Poul Hennigsen. More pictures and history can be found here and here.  Huge round of thanks and applause to Linda for the info and be sure to check out her blog, Lindas Pianolog.

Gabrielle McLaughlin and I Furiosi Perform Handel's Piangero

Below is a beautifully performed (and filmed!) video of Piangero, la sorte mia from Handel's Giulio Cesare sung by soprano Gabrielle McLaughlin and I Furiosi, the early music ensemble that puts the badass back in Baroque.  Be sure to watch the rotating camera and altered frame speeds in the middle section starting at around 2:56.  The video's location is unique as well--the ZeroPak Arts and Culture Complex in Winchester, Virginia.

Broadcast Premiere of The Perfect Match Airs November 30 on Bravo!Canada

The wait is over!  Developed by Tapestry New Opera Works and produced by Bravo!Fact, Tom Diamond's debut film The Perfect Match (starring tenor Keith Klassen and bass-baritone Peter MacGillivray) has its broadcast premiere on Sunday, November 30 at 7:30pm EST on Bravo!Canada.  

From yesterday's Tapestry press release:

"Our first opera film, written by Krista Dalby and composed by Anthony Young, is having its television debut this Sunday with more broadcasts to follow over the next few weeks! Directed by Tom Diamond, the five-minute The Perfect Match has screened at festivals in St. Louis MO, Santa Barbara CA and Miami FL. Tune in to Bravo! Television to see the very first 'same-socks' opera and watch and listen as a chance encounter transforms two lives forever."

The Perfect Match will air on this Sunday's episode of Bravo!Fact Presents at 7:30pm on Bravo!Canada (viewers outside of Canada might be able to pick it up via satellite).  Reruns are also scheduled for the following times:

• Friday, December 5 at 8pm EST on Bravo!Canada
• Saturday, December 6 at 11pm PDT and Sunday, December 7 at 12:30pm PDT on "A" Channel British Columbia
• Friday, December 6 at 6:30pm EST on "A" Channel Ontario

If you're interested in the possibilities inherent in contemporary opera, this is a definite must-see.  I played piano in the orchestra and have already seen it several times during Opera To Go 2008.  And yes, McGregor Socks was indeed a corporate sponsor for the film...

Creating a Practice Plan With a Deck of Cards

Thanks to Natalie Wickham, I came across Scramble, an idea for a practice game on sfrack's Weblog that involves using a deck of cards as a practice tool. Basically, you assign each difficult section of a piece a playing card, then draw randomly and practice the section of the piece represented by the card. Brilliant--it turns practicing into a game (which children and adults of all ages love) and can be customized to suit different students, levels, and repertoire. You can also stick the Joker in the deck to make the parent play the piece through (or the teacher at the lesson).

Warning: Piano Lessons Scam Emails Are Circulating

This morning I got the following email in my inbox:

HELLO,

My name is chalse james ,i want my son Laurel to come to your place
for the piano lesson so i i want you to tell me the time you teach and
i will want her to stay in your place ,because am not in the state. i
am a bussiness man so her mother die last 2 years to this time so am
the one taking crae of her so let me know the total cost for the
accomodation and the lesson fees.So for me to know what will be the
next thing to do so am using this opportunity to tell you that i am
beging to help me to take care of her .So looking forward to read from
you very soon.

Best Regards
Chlase James .

Has anyone else received this email recently? It looked like the recipient and cc addresses (not quoted) on the email were teachers in the Ontario area--my address must have been on the bcc list. This appears to be a variation of the classic piano lessons scam letter and after a bit of digging I found some documentation here and here of how it operates.

Below is a quick rundown on how the fraud possibly works:

1. The perpetrator initially sends an email to the piano teacher asking for lessons for their son/daughter, a pressing family situation, a need to trust in God, etc., and a request to take care of their son/daughter and offer them a large number of regular lessons. The initial letter commonly has a fair number of mistakes in it, as you can see from the quoted text above.

2. If the recipient sends contact info of their own studio or their institution, the perpetrator will send a cheque far in excess of what the teacher or institution charges, and then ask for the excess portion of the payment back. Guess what? The initial cheque send by the perpetrator will bounce, and the victim unlucky enough to send a cheque for the excess amount will have been successfully hosed.

My understanding is that if you never respond to the initial email, the fraud attempt will go no farther. As soon as the perpetrator has a home or institutional address, then they can send a bogus cheque to it, and begin to extort money. Fortunately, the level of grammar and spelling is low enough to probably generate alarm bells in anyone who reads the message. However, teachers that reply to all requests as a matter of course may be putting themselves at risk by responding.

Has anyone else had any experiences with this type of email?

Rufus Wainwright Sings Le Spectre de la Rose at the 2008 Verbier Festival

Words completely fail me regarding this attempt by Rufus Wainwright to sing Berlioz's Le Spectre de la Rose at the 2008 Verbier Festival. Kudos to Hélène Grimaud for keeping a straight face during the torture she was forced to endure her fine playing.

(Via Roger Bourland)

3 Post-Doctoral Collaborative Piano Positions Offered at Indiana University

Although there is no shortage of master's and doctoral programs offered in collaborative piano (perhaps too many according to some), I haven't seen many post-doctoral positions around so far. All that is about to change: yesterday Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music posted three positions for Post-Doctoral Resident Scholars in Collaborative Piano, with one each in the string department, voice department, and woodwind deparment. Featuring two-year appointments and pay in the $40,000-50,000 range, these might be excellent alternatives for recent doctoral graduates just out of school and not yet in the running for the handful of North American tenure-track positions offered annually.

Collaborative Piano Studies at Bowling Green State University

The College of Music at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio offers a Master of Music degree in Music Performance with a specialization in Collaborative Piano. For the fall of 2009, a graduate assistantship in Studio Piano/Piano Accompanying will be offered. Those interested in receiving more information about this program can contact Bowling Green for complete program requirements and curriculum.

Complete list of Degree Programs in Collaborative Piano

Jacquelyn Familant and Hugh Sung Perform Rachmaninoff Songs in Ocean Park

Here's a recent video of soprano Jacquelyn Familant and pianist Hugh Sung performing two Rachmaninoff songs this last July in Ocean Park, New Jersey. Farewell page-turning woes--be sure to check out the tablet PC that Hugh is playing from...

The Perfect Match Screens Tomorrow Night at the Gladstone Hotel

For those of you who missed the short operatic film The Perfect Match at Opera To Go 2008 earlier this year, there will be a screening tomorrow night at the Gladstone Hotel. Krista Dalby and Anthony Young's The Perfect Match features the voices of tenor Keith Klassen and baritone Peter MacGillivray with a chamber orchestra (I'm on piano) in a heart-warming story of two sock puppets in love. Here's more information from the Tapestry press release earlier today:

Night at the Indies:
Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 8:00pm
The Gladstone Hotel – Melody Bar, 1214 Queen Street West

The Night at the Indies collective presents their 2nd anniversary celebration at the Gladstone Hotel's Melody Bar. The event will feature a screening of four Bravo!FACT-funded shorts: The Girlfriend Interviews, The Perfect Match, Sissy Boy Slap Party, and Auto Erotica.

For more information, please visit www.nightattheindies.com.

And you can check out opening night of next year's installment of Opera To Go at the Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre on March 27, 2009.

Isaac Shepard's Before Dawn is the Soundtrack of Music Catch

Other classical music blogs might have more inbound links and traffic, but the Collaborative Piano Blog without doubt has the most awesome and committed readers, capable of the most amazing feats of detective work...

Thanks to Trevor Hewer (who coincidentally lives only a few blocks from me in Oakville), I got a huge heads-up on the identity of the mystery music (featured in a previous posting) from the addictive music game Music Catch. The music for the game is called Before Dawn and is written by Isaac Shepard, who also created the game itself. Here is the game, playable here on the site for those with Flash:



If you liked the music, you can also download and print Before Dawn for free, and here is the embedded score:

Isaac Shepard - Before Dawn

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Religion Tutorial dawn Life

The music looks like it is at approximately the Grade 8 or 9 RCM level--the trickiest places are on the second page with the 16th-note passages and changes of tempo. Isaac Shepard's blog also links to a number of Before Dawn YouTube videos.

So relax and see if you can beat my current high score of 3,030,439, and then go spend a very pleasant hour or so learning the piece.

5 Musical Quizzes for Both Beginners and Pros

Here are some clever quiz games that are equally useful either as educational tools or as conversation pieces at parties:

• Name the musical symbols (easy)
• Name the composers of famous musical works (easy)
• Name all the orchestral instruments in six minutes (medium)
  
• Name the composers of 25 major operas (difficult)
• Name the nicknames of 30 major symphonies (difficult)

The Tanglewood 2009 Season

Now that midnight hour is struck, I can now safely post the Tanglewood 2009 season listings, which have been embargoed until November 21. Among the dozens of concerts, a number of programs look extremely interesting, among them Herbert Blomstedt's all-Sibelius program, the Christian Tetzlaff/Alexander Lonquich Beethoven cycle over three nights in July, Thomas Hampson's July 22nd concert with Craig Rutenberg, James Galway's July 30 concert with Philip Moll, and the Andre Previn/David Finck evening of jazz favorites for voice and piano on August 16. Here is the entire 2009 Tanglewood season, with apologies for the massive post:

Friday, June 26, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Emerson String Quartet
Paul Neubauer, viola
IVES Quartet No. 1
DVOŘÁK Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96, The American
BARBER Adagio, from Quartet, Op. 11
DVOŘÁK String Quintet No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 97, American

Saturday, June 27, 5:45 p.m. Shed
A Prairie Home Companion at Tanglewood
with Garrison Keillor
Live broadcast

Sunday, June 28, 2:30 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Juilliard String Quartet
ALL-HAYDN PROGRAM
Sun Quartets
Quartet No. 27 in D, Op. 20, No. 4
Quartet No. 26 in G minor, Op. 20, No. 3
Quartet No. 23 in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5
Quartet No. 25 in C, Op. 20, No. 2

Monday, June 29, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows
ALL-SIBELIUS PROGRAM
The Swan of Tuonela
Tapiola
Symphony No. 2

Thursday, July 2 , 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Stephen Kovacevich, piano
J.S. BACH Partita No. 4 in D, BWV 828
SCHUMANN Kinderszenen, Op. 15
BEETHOVEN Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120

Friday, July 3, 6:00 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 3, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, July 3, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Opening Night at Tanglewood
Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
ALL-TCHAIKOVSKY PROGRAM
Symphony No. 6, Pathétique
Piano Concerto No. 1
Fireworks to follow the concert

Saturday, July 4, 7 p.m. Shed
Diana Krall
Fireworks to follow the concert

Sunday, July 5, 2:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring
BRAHMS Violin Concerto

Sunday, July 5, 8:00 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Alexander Lonquich, piano**
BEETHOVEN The Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Program 1
Sonata No. 1 in D, Op. 12, No. 1
Sonata No. 2 in A, Op. 12, No. 2
Sonata No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 12, No. 3
Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op. 23

Tuesday, July 7, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Ozawa Hall
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Alexander Lonquich, piano
BEETHOVEN The Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Program 2
Sonata No. 5 in F, Op. 24, Spring
Sonata No. 6 in A, Op. 30, No. 1
Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2

Thursday, July 9 8pm
Ozawa Hall
Christian Tetzlaff, violin
Alexander Lonquich, piano
BEETHOVEN The Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Program 3
Sonata No. 8 in G, Op. 30, No. 3
Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47, Kreutzer
Sonata No. 10 in G, Op. 96

Friday, July 10, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 10, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, July 10, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Emanuel Ax, piano
NIELSEN Helios Overture
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
BRAHMS Symphony No. 4

Saturday, July 11, 9:30 a.m. Shed
Pre-Rehearsal Talk
Saturday, July 11, 10:30 a.m. Shed
Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, July 11, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
James Morris, bass-baritone (Hans Sachs)
Johan Botha, tenor (Walter von Stolzing)
Hei-Kyung Hong, soprano (Eva)
Maria Zifchak, mezzo-soprano (Magdalene)**
Matthew Polenzani, tenor (David)
Hans-Joachim Ketelsen, baritone (Sixtus Beckmesser)**
Julien Robbins, bass-baritone (Veit Pogner)
Vocal Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center (Mastersingers)
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
WAGNER Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Act III
Sung in German with English supertitles

Sunday, July 12, 2:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
BEETHOVEN Egmont Overture
BRUCH Violin Concerto No. 1
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8

Tuesday, July 14, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Le Concert des Nations**
Jordi Savall, director
Les Goûts Réunis
LULLY Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
BIBER Battalia à 10
CORELLI Concerto IV in D
HANDEL Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 6
SCARLATTI/AVISON Concerto IX in Seven Parts
BOCCHERINI La Musica notturna di Madrid

Wednesday, July 15, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Le Concert des Nations
Jordi Savall, director
F. Murray Abraham, actor**
Stage Music in the Plays of William Shakespeare
JOHNSON Jacobean Masque and Stage Music
LOCKE Music for The Tempest
PURCELL The Fairy Queen

Friday, July 17, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 17, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, July 17, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Leon Fleisher, piano
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K.488
MAHLER Symphony No. 6

Saturday, July 18, 9:30 a.m. Shed
Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, July 18, 10:30 a.m. Shed
Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, July 18, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Film Night at Tanglewood
Boston Pops Concert
John Williams, conductor
John Williams returns to lead the Boston Pops and special guests in his annual celebration of music from the movies. This year’s program is a tribute to the legacy of Warner Bros. Pictures and will include film and musical excerpts from some of the studio’s legendary movies, including selections from Mr. Williams' own scores for Superman and Harry Potter.

Sunday, July 19, 2:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
ALL-MOZART PROGRAM
Symphony No. 39
Symphony No. 40
Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

Monday, July 20, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellows
Works for chamber orchestra

Wednesday, July 22, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Craig Rutenberg, piano
All-American program, to include songs by
IVES, GRIFFES, CARPENTER, and BARBER

Friday, July 24, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 24, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, July 24, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Steven Ansell, viola
BERLIOZ Le Corsaire Overture
BERLIOZ Harold in Italy, for viola and orchestra
MUSSORGSKY Prelude to Khovanshchina
MUSSORGSKY (orch. RAVEL) Pictures at an Exhibition

Saturday, July 25, 9:30 a.m. Shed
Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, July 25, 10:30 a.m. Shed
Open Rehearsal, Saturday program

Saturday, July 25, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Soile Isokoski, soprano
Matthias Goerne, baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
BRAHMS A German Requiem

Sunday, July 26, 2:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
David Robertson, conductor
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Orli Shaham, piano
HARRIS Symphony No. 3
THOMSON Five Songs from William Blake
BARBER Songs with Orchestra
BERNSTEIN Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety

Sunday, July 26, 7:30 p.m. Theatre
Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows and Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Ira Siff, director
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
MOZART Don Giovanni
Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Monday, July 27, 7:30 p.m. Theatre
Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows and Orchestra
James Levine, conductor
Ira Siff, director
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
MOZART Don Giovanni
Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Tuesday, July 28, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Tanglewood on Parade
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Pops Orchestra
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
James Levine, Keith Lockhart, John Williams,
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Leonard Slatkin, conductors
ROSSINI Overture to William Tell
ENESCU Romanian Rhapsody No. 1
BERNSTEIN Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
WILLIAMS Tributes: For Seiji
COPLAND A Lincoln Portrait
TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture
Fireworks to follow the concert

Wednesday, July 29, 7:30 p.m. Theatre
Tanglewood Music Center Vocal Fellows and Orchestra
Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellow
Ira Siff, director
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
MOZART Don Giovanni
Sung in Italian with English supertitles

Thursday, July 30, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Sir James Galway, flute
Lady Jeanne Galway, flute
Phillip Moll, piano
Celebrating Sir James Galway’s 70th Birthday

Friday, July 31, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, July 31, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, July 31, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Vadim Repin, violin
BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto
DEBUSSY La Mer
RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2

Saturday, August 1, 9:30 a.m. Shed
Pre-Rehearsal Talk
Saturday, August 1, 10:30 a.m. Shed
Open Rehearsal, Sunday program
Saturday, August 1, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Celebrating Sir James Galway’s 70th Birthday
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Leonard Slatkin, conductor
Sir James Galway, flute
Special Guests
DEBUSSY Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun
COPLAND Appalachian Spring (complete)
MOZART Overture to The Magic Flute
MOZART Flute Concerto No. 2
Plus musical surprises especially for the occasion

Sunday, August 2, 2:30 p.m. Shed
The Serge and Olga Koussevitzky Memorial Concert
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2

Monday, August 3, 8 p.m. Shed
Tanglewood Music Center Vocal and Conducting Fellows and Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Peter Serkin, piano
ALL-STRAVINSKY PROGRAM
Pulcinella (complete)
Concerto for Piano and Winds
Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)

Wednesday, August 5, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Thursday, August 6, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Mark Morris Dance Group
Tanglewood Music Center Fellows
Mark Morris, choreographer
Emanuel Ax, piano
Colin Jacobsen, violin
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Martin Pakledinaz, costume designer
James F. Ingalls, lighting designer
New work (world premiere)
IVES Trio for piano, violin, and cello ‘A Lake’
HAYDN Horn Concerto No. 2
New work (world premiere)
BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 4 in C for cello and piano, Op. 102, No. 1

Friday, August 7, 6 pm Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, August 7, 7:15 pm Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, August 7, 8:30 pm Shed
Boston Pops Orchestra
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Chris Botti, trumpet**

Friday, August 7 – Tuesday, August 11
Festival of Contemporary Music
Augusta Reed Thomas, director

Saturday, August 8, 9:30 a.m. Shed
Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Friday, August 8, 10:30 a.m. Shed
Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Friday, August 8, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor
Laura Claycomb, soprano*
Lawrence Brownlee, tenor*
Markus Werba, baritone*
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1, Classical
ORFF Carmina burana

Sunday, August 9, 2:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Julian Kuerti, conductor
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
PERLE Sinfonietta No. 2
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1
FAURÉ Elégie, for cello and orchestra
BIZET Symphony in C

Wednesday, August 12, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Boston Symphony Chamber Players
André Previn, piano
VILLA-LOBOS Quintette en forme de chôros, for wind quintet
PREVIN New work (2009)
BRAHMS Quintet in F minor for piano and strings, Op. 34

Friday, August 14, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Friday, August 14, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, August 14, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Yefim Bronfman, piano
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

Saturday, August 15, 9:30 a.m. Shed
Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, August 15, 10:30 a.m. Shed
Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, August 15, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
André Previn, conductor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4
LISZT Piano Concerto No. 2
RAVEL La Valse

Sunday, August 16, 2:30 p.m. Shed
The Leonard Bernstein Memorial Concert
Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra
Kurt Masur, conductor
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
ALL-BRAHMS PROGRAM
Piano Concerto No. 2
Symphony No. 2

Sunday, August 16, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
André Previn, piano
David Finck, bass
André Previn and David Finck return to Ozawa Hall for an evening of jazz favorites.

Wednesday, August 19, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Thursday, August 20, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor and host
Pat Birch, director*
Judy Blazer, performer*
Neal Benari, performer *
Ronit Widmann-Levy, performer*
Eugene Brancoveanu, performer*
THOMAS The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater

Friday, August 21, 6 p.m. Ozawa Hall
Prelude Concert
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor

Friday, August 21, 7:15 p.m. Shed
This Week at Tanglewood
Panel discussion with moderator and guest artists

Friday, August 21, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Kurt Masur, conductor
David Fray, piano*
HAYDN Symphony No. 88
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, K.503
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 1

Saturday, August 22, 9:30 a.m. Shed
Pre-Rehearsal Talk

Saturday, August 22, 10:30 a.m. Shed
Open Rehearsal, Sunday program

Saturday, August 22, 8:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Kurt Masur, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin
ALL-MENDELSSOHN PROGRAM
The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) Overture
Violin Concerto
Symphony No. 4, Italian

Sunday, August 23, 2:30 p.m. Shed
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Erin Wall, soprano*
Kendall Gladen, mezzo-soprano*
Stuart Skelton, tenor**
Raymond Aceto, bass-baritone
Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
John Oliver, conductor
IVES Thanksgiving and Forefathers’ Day, for chorus and orchestra
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9
*BSO debut
**Tanglewood debut

James Taylor and Friends
August 27 – 30

Thursday, August 27, 8 p.m. Ozawa Hall
The Band: Conversations Among Friends
James Taylor presides over an intimate and informal evening of conversation and performance with members of his legendary band

Friday, August 28, 7 p.m. Shed
Saturday, August 29, 7 p.m. Shed
James Taylor Concert
James Taylor and his band return to the Shed stage and are joined by special guests in two unforgettable evenings

Sunday, August 30, 2:30 p.m. Shed
James Taylor and the Boston Pops
Boston Pops
John Williams, conductor
James Taylor, soloist
Two Tanglewood favorites reunite in concert for the season finale

Concert This Sunday with the Esprit Orchestra

This Sunday, November 23 I'll be playing celeste in the Esprit Orchestra for Valentin Silvestrov's Dedication for Violin and Orchestra. Marie Bérard is the solo violinist with Alex Pauk conducting. Dedication has two keyboard parts in the orchestra, and the piano part is played by Stephen Clarke. (Stephen will be a featured soloist with the Esprit Orchestra in early 2009 when he plays the Unsuk Chin Double Concerto with percussionist Ryan Scott on February 6.)

Also on the program is John Adam's Short Ride in a Fast Machine, R. Murray Schafer's Dream Rainbow, Dream Thunder, and Aaron Copland's Piano Concerto with pianist Andrew Burashko. The concert starts at 8pm in the Jane Mallett Theatre. Tickets are $32/$24/$15.

Come Back at Midnight EST for the 2009 Tanglewood Season Listings

I've just received the press release and season listings for the 2009 BSO Tanglewood Season. This information is embargoed until November 21, so be sure to come back at midnight EST to see what's happening next summer at Tanglewood!

My New Blogging Job

I'm proud to announce that I have just been asked to join the staff of writers at the Music Teachers Helper Blog. In addition to being a support vehicle for Music Teacher's Helper, an incredibly useful studio management tool (which I use for my own studio) the MTH blog has also evolved into one of the most vibrant online communities of music teachers, and I'm honored to be a part of it.

My first posting is up, entitled The Complete Musician on MTH: An Introduction. Over the next while, I'll be looking at ways to tweak the functionality of MTH in order to accommodate organizing all sorts of musical activities beyond teaching.

VCSU's Online Piano Pedagogy Course

An anonymous reader comment alerted me to an interesting course offering: Valley City State University is offering an online course in Applied Piano Pedagogy. This might be an interesting alternative for those interested in learning how to teach piano but unable to find a teacher or program in their area. From the comment:

The class is taught by Beth Gegante Klingenstein. She is a well-known writer for many music magazines...The classes are not a pushover, so do not take them if you just what the credits. Be expected to work. The teachers put a lot of work into the classes and they are better than being there!

Thanks for the info and be sure to contact the Music Department at Valley City State University for more info.

And thanks to another commenter with info on more additions to the list of Degree Programs in Piano Pedagogy. If you know of any programs that aren't yet listed, be sure to give me a shout either through the comments or via email!

Dick Allen's Accompanist Poem

Dick Allen has written a poem entitled "The Accompanist", an ode of sorts to the person at the piano. Here's an excerpt:

I worry about whole lifetimes,
most lifetimes
lived in the shadows of reflected fame;
but then the singer's voice dies
and there are just your last piano notes,
not resentful at all,
carrying us to the end, into those heartfelt cheers
that spring up in little patches from a thrilled audience
like sudden wildflowers bobbing in a rain
of steady clapping. And I'm on my feet, also,
clapping and cheering for the singer, yes,
but, I think, partially likewise for you
half-turned toward us, balanced on your black bench,
modest, utterly well-rehearsed,
still playing the part you've made yours.

You can read the entire poem here.

Well.

In spite of the fact that it is somewhat kind of a poet to condescend to write a poem about that "modest, utterly well-rehearsed" person at the piano, I can't help but think that this poem may be little insulting to those of us who spend our lives working with other musicians playing awesome repertoire and often making good money at it. And what about those lines about living "in the shadows of reflected fame", or "receiving only such applause as the singer allows"?

Do you feel that Allen is using the stereotype of the collaborative pianist/accompanist as the person in the shadows to showcase the poignancy of their art, or is he merely reinforcing the stereotype? Is Allen's view of the accompanist an outdated one or is it still valid?

As always, your comments are welcome.

More poems about accompanists:

Arni Ibsen's Accompanist Poem
Accompanist for Florence Foster Jenkins, a Poem by Darren Morris
Ken Weisner's Accompanist Poem

Some Updated Links

As various sites change and mature, so do the urls of their content. Here are the new web locations for some of the projects I've been up to in the last year:

• My article for Drew McManus' Take a Friend to Orchestra 2008 has moved to a different page after his recent site redesign and can now be found here.
• My interview with CBC Television's Mary Ito for Living in Toronto has also found a new location with the revamping of the multimedia resources for the show. You can find the interview by typing "piano lessons" into the search box on this page.

I'm also updating my resume, and will post the newest version here in the next few days.

Playing for Free?

Earlier today someone left a comment regarding the fact that the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts doesn't actually pay anyone to play at their noon concerts. Here is the comment in full:

Is anyone aware that the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts doesn't PAY for these concerts in The Richard Bradshaw Theatre.
Oh, they pay the heat, they pay the staff, they pay the administrators, the people who book the musicians, the piano tuner, the IASTE guys to set up the stage and lights and sound, but somehow there isn't a penny left over for the people who actually are the whole REASON for these concerts... the musicians.

One has to wonder how this bastion of high culture, good taste can get away with not paying these world class musicians. Yes this multi million dollar venue can't come up with a few bucks to pay these musicians.

One must wonder WHY these player are playing for nothing. Is it because that's what they think they are worth?

I too have played at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts for that series, and although I wasn't paid by the FSCPA, I was in fact paid by the presenting organization (Opera Atelier) for my performance. At the venue, there were several people from OA who held a raffle for free tickets (and harvested a large number of emails from the sold-out crowd), as well as handed out brochures for the OA season. These types of events are integral for building audiences and mailing lists, and result in both new audience members, higher attendance, and potential donors down the road.

Many artists play at this series (and the First Canadian Place series a few blocks away) and aren't directly paid, but use it as an outreach opportunity, building audiences and community, selling CDs, and promoting future events.

Of course, many musicians object to this type of series and it is their own choice whether or not they choose to play at these venues. However, my experience from playing at the series was that it was a very positive atmosphere and is an essential part of the outreach mission of many performing organizations.

But if I were asked to play at a free series and there was nothing in it for me, of course I would decline.

What do you think of non-paid concert opportunities? Would you play at them?

Lest We Forget

Below is a short documentary on photographer Tim Hetherington's experiences embedded with a unit of the US 503rd Infantry Regiment. One of Hetherington's pictures eventually won Photo of the Year at the 2008 World Press Photo Awards.



See also:

Lee Hoiby's Last Letter Home from Pfc. Jesse Givens

Weekend Warrior

Here are some of the things that I've been up to this past weekend:

• On Saturday morning at the Glenn Gould Studio, I was the pianist for the Toronto auditions of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. The singers I played for were Julia Raphael Morgan, Leslie Bouza, Maria Krywaniuk, Gerrit Theule, Simone Osborne, Chantale Nurse, Eve McLeod, and Allison Arends. Competitors representing each country on the audition tour will be announced in early 2009 and then move on the next rounds in Cardiff.
• Saturday evening I played a recital with soprano Susan Tsagkaris at the University of Toronto for a conference for psychoanalysts. Our repertoire included works by Wagner, Richard Straus, Gershwin, and Puccini. Susan is a wonderful soprano who is able to sing with ease much of the dramatic repertoire (such as Strauss' Befreit and Wagner's Liebestod) that is off-limits for most singers.
  
• Sunday afternoon I attended a College of Examiners workshop put on by RCM Examinations to discuss changes to the Piano Syllabus for 2009, as well as watch a sample Elementary Piano Pedagogy Certificate exam given by Janet Lopinski and Jennifer Snow.

This week I get a few days of respite before the next round of master classes, auditions, and concerts begins...

Freelance Collaborative Pianists: Do You Charge Clients for Same-Day Cancellations?

If you've ever worked as a freelance collaborative pianist, you've probably got a call similar to this one:

"Um, hello, this is Dave. Sorry to give you such late notice but I can't make our coaching this afternoon because my throat is a little sore and my teacher told me I should go on vocal rest for the weekend. Can we reschedule for next week sometime?"

So what do you do? Reschedule the coaching for later and make up the lost income then? Or charge him for the lost hour and risk offending both him and perhaps his teacher as well?

This is one of the trickier questions I've come across in the freelance world, and although most music teachers (both private and institutional) have no problem charging students for lost lessons, collaborative pianists are usually expected to swallow their pride and dutifully ask when a good time might be to reschedule.

You can register your vote either on the sidebar or on the poll's home page.

And please feel free to leave comments and kvetches below...

Previous poll:

Which of the following is the most important in building your performance career?

Barack Obama Narrating Copland's Lincoln Portrait with the Chicago Symphony in 2005

A combination of a busy teaching schedule, too many committee meetings, and a late night watching the US election results have meant that this is the first time I've had in several days to post. And what a find I came across, via Deceptively Simple: a rare 2005 minute-long excerpt of President-elect Barack Obama (who at the time was a US Senator) narrating Copland's Lincoln Portrait with the Chicago Symphony on September 11, 2005.

Rowan Atkinson Miming Piano Playing at the Secret Policeman's Ball

Here's Rowan Atkinson (of Mr. Bean fame) at the 1979 Secret Policeman's Ball miming a mashed-up performance of Beethoven's Op. 13 and 27 Sonatas.



More pianists mugging for the camera:

Mylene Klass vs. Wilhelm Kempff
Anderson & Roe Play Libertango
Those Overactive Pianists

Happy Birthday Madame K!

I'm sure I'm not alone in setting this day aside as a special one: November 1 is the birthday of Gwendolyn Koldofsky, one of the pioneers in this field, and who started the world's first degree program in accompanying at the University of Southern California back in 1949. I only had a short time to work with Madame K at the Academy of the West in 1989, but I've had the honor of knowing many people who studied with and were guided by her.

Gwendolyn Koldofsky's entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia

Previous articles:

Rare Footage of Gwendolyn Koldofsky Playing in Lotte Lehmann Master Class
Koldofsky Memorial Benefit Recital
Some Ideas on How to Learn a Song or Aria
Last year's happy birthday post