Top Collaborative Piano Blog Posts of 2009 Part 1

This is the first in a four-part series on the top Collaborative Piano Blog articles from the last year, in case you missed them the first time around...

• My First Commercial - For the 2008 Royal Conservatory Piano Syllabus
  Yes, I did wear makeup, talked from a teleprompter, and had my own hand model. But it was a great opportunity to talk about the newly launched RCM/NMCP Piano Syllabus, a huge step forward for the RCM's curriculum.
• Bush's Final Press Conference Set to Music by Henry Hey
  One almost feels sorry for George Bush in his last days as president, already condemned by history and relegated to a caricature - grist for the creative mind of Henry Hey, who had previously set a Sarah Palin interview to music.
• The February 2009 Music Education Blog Carnival
  My contribution to the ongoing Music Education Carnival Project, with lots of MusEd links from around the blogosphere.
• Open Comment Thread: What Are the World Concerto Reductions of All Time?
  An open question from LSU's Jan Grimes led to a torrent of gripes and kvetches about the absolute worst in concerto reduction failage.
• Elizabeth Gilbert on the Creative Process
  The author of Eat, Pray, Love talks on a TED video about the idea that the creative process is jump-started not by oneself, but by a Muse.
• Elena Obraztsova Sings Acerba Voluttà
  Observe the awesomeness of a great Russian soprano at the height of her powers in concert in Japan via the wonders of Soviet television.
• Classical Music's Encounter With Twitter
  Like it or not, Twitter is big these days. You can investigate more at my lists of Classical Musicians and Classical Music Organizations.
• 9 Categories of Excuses for Missed Rehearsals and Coachings
  Jennifer Peterson's first guest article for CPB looks at the myriad ways that singers and instrumentalists somehow manage to finagle their way out of pianist sessions.
• Condoleezza Rice Plays the Dvorak Piano Quintet at Aspen
  Diplomat, author, possible love-interest of Canadian politician Peter McKay, pianist. Observe Condy in all her pianistic awesomeness at the Aspen Music Festival.
• Tapestry's Opera To Go Runs March 26-29 at Harbourfront in Toronto
  One of my fave projects of 2009, this evening of four new operas resulted in three Dora nominations in the Best New Musical/Opera category.
• Coaching Recitative: Subliminal Recit Technique
  Jennifer Peterson's second guest post looked at a systematic way to help singers approach recit from a text-centered process.

And finally,

• Monster List of 100+ Resources on the Collaborative Piano Blog
  There has long been a need for a on this blog for a centralized CPB resouce list. You can also find a link to this list at the header of each page between the Home and Subscribe links.