SongFusion Presents States of Mind on May 8 in NYC

If you're in the New York City area, head on over to the DiMenna Center for Classical Music on May 8 for States of Mind, a recital of new American art song presented by SongFusion featuring visual artist Kevork Mourad. About the project:

"States of Mind" uses as its point of departure the Baroque Doctrine of Affections. Over the course of three mini narratives held together thematically and visually, SongFusion explores opposing pairings of affections - love/hate, joy/sorrow, wonder/desire to create a joint multidisciplinary artwork with projections of visual art. Mourad, who has a deep musical understanding and has worked with the leading musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, has a highly individual artistic style in which he provides his response to the poetry and music. “States of Mind” aspires to be a modern look at everyday states of being. In America. Today.

This concert will feature sopranos Mary McKenzie and Victoria Bowers, baritone Michael Kelly, flutist Henrik Heide, and violist Ed Klorman, with Liza Stepanova and Kathleen Tagg on piano. Tickets are $15 advance/$20 at the door.

Singers: What To Put in an Audition Binder

The Young Person's Guide to the Opera Audition has an informative guide on what to put in your audition binder. Included are sections on head shots, resumes, rep sheets, audition instructions, directions, as well as the all-important sheet music:

Audition Music - The preparation of the audition music is a whole other post, but it’s good to remember to make sure it turns well in a three-hole punch binder. The easier it is for the pianist to turn the more a pianist can play and not have to worry about page turns. It’s also a good idea to put the piece you want to sing first as the first selection in the binder. You would think this is assumed, but sometimes, in the rush of getting everything ready, little things are forgotten. 

To which I would add the following:

• Arias for the current audition need to be at the front of the binder.
• Each aria needs to have its own flag for easy discovery by the pianist
• Mark in start points for each aria if it's not at the beginning.
• Mark in all cuts as obviously as possible. Use tape, blank paper, and highlighter and assume that pianists won't get it unless you're as obvious as possible.
• Mark in ritardando and accelerando points with arrows, squiggly lines, large letters, or whatever will get a pianist's attention. Rehearsal time is a luxury and you might not even get time to talk about the aria with the pianist.
• Use double-sided pages and make sure that all pages are securely in the binder.
• Don't put photocopy paper in laminated sleeve pages - they tend to reflect light in the most unfortunate way possible when the pianist is backlit. You want them to see the music, don't you?

There's an unwritten code among pianists that if a singer shows up to an audition with a completely organized binder (including marked start points, cuts, and tempo indications), it's automatically assumed that the singer will be in contention. In other words, if I see a well-organized binder, I damn well better play at my absolute best for this person.

Pianists: what are your suggestions on what to put in an audition binder? How do you like music presented? Leave a comment with your ideas.

[Update] Thanks for the great comments, everyone. It's also worth checking out the discussion on the CPB Facebook Page.

Opera Cheats: La Voix Humaine and Bluebeard's Castle

These two irreverent mini-synopses are from Opera Five, a Toronto-based collective founded by Rachel Krehm and Aria Umezawa. You can check out Opera Five's Bluebeard's Castle on May 15, 16, and 18 at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.

Boromir on Sight Reading

For those of you who missed it on the Collaborative Piano Blog Facebook Page the first time around...

This meme comes in response to a student of mine who wished to put off practicing sight reading until closer to their exam...

Peter Longworth's New Website

If you frequent the Toronto musical scene, chances are that you've come across the fine playing of Peter Longworth, a colleague of mine at the Royal Conservatory whose projects over the next few months include appearances with the Tokai, Silver Birch, and Annex String Quartets, Talisker Chamber Players, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (featuring a rare performance of the John Ireland Piano Concerto). Peter's got a new website (courtesy of the design awesomeness of Elizabeth Bowman) and Facebook Page, so you know where to look up his projects for the coming season.

Peter is joined by cellist Amanda Forsyth in this performance of Malcolm Forsyth's Song of Light:



(Thanks, Elizabeth!)

Man Playing Cat Organ

One can only wonder what original compositions might be commissioned for such an instrument...



(Via Jason Robert Brown)

Remembering Kelly Archer

It's always humbling to read about the lives of collaborative pianists who have passed away, how they moved people, how they impacted communities. A lovely article in the Columbia Daily Tribune covers a celebration of the life and work of Kelly Archer in Columbia, Missouri, both at the University of Missouri at Columbia and Stephens College. Here are some comments about how people remembered her:

"She made choreography a delight for me. She had been a dancer herself and knew exactly what I was doing every moment."

"When I was a terrified 18-year-old with an unexpected solo in a Rep musical, her calm and seemingly unshakeable confidence in me basically enabled that solo to happen."

"There is a chord missing from all the harmonies in her absence."

"She gave piano lessons to Jack LaZebnik and gently advised him not to punch the music into the piano but to pull it out."

Jarrod Radnich Plays Pirates of the Caribbean

Say what you will about popular piano arrangements, I credit many of these artists and their work with inspiring young pianists to keep exploring new repertoire and continue playing, when boredom with traditional classical repertoire might have otherwise caused them to quit.

Here's Jarrod Radnich (filmed by the Piano Guys) playing his own arrangement of Klaus Badelt's Pirates of the Caribbean theme. It's worth checking out the sheet music for the arrangement, whose Lisztian virtuosity sounds rather flashy, but isn't as difficult as it looks.




One of my students is performing this arrangement next month, and I'm glad to say that this arrangement inspired him to work fiendishly hard in order to master some difficult piano writing that would have been beyond his abilities a few months ago.

Vocal Coach Position at Texas Tech University

A new vocal coach position was just announced at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Here is the complete listing:

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

College of Visual & Performing Arts

School of Music

Staff Vacancy Announcement

VOCAL COACH

POSITION: Vocal Coach. A full-time staff position.

QUALIFICATIONS: MM in collaborative piano required, DMA in collaborative piano preferred, or experience commensurate with the DMA. Intimate knowledge of English (British and American), Italian, French, and German diction. Experience with Spanish, Russian, and Czech preferred. Secure knowledge of standard song repertoire and opera literature. Experience in coaching singers at the college level or higher, in recital preparation, audition preparation (arias), and opera role preparation.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Coach music students in preparation of degree recitals. Coach students in music theatre/opera productions. Assist in the coordination of student accompanists for TTU Music Theatre. Assist in diction and song literature courses per expertise.

APPOINTMENT EFFECTIVE: August 1, 2012.

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY: Founded in 1923, Texas Tech is located in Lubbock, TX. It has the distinction of being the largest comprehensive institution of higher education in West Texas, with an enrollment of over 32,000 students. The School of Music, with a full-time faculty of 52, enrolls more than 440 majors and offers the following degrees: Bachelor of Music (performance, composition, theory, teacher certification), Bachelor of Arts, Master of Music (performance, conducting, composition, string pedagogy, piano pedagogy, theory, musicology), Master of Music Education (including a three-summer completion program), Doctor of Musical Arts (performance, conducting, composition, piano pedagogy), and Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts—Music. The School of Music is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Music and is a unit of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, one of the university’s eleven colleges.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Applications are to be completed online at http://jobs.texastech.edu. Refer to job posting and requisition number: 85873 (a two-step procedure). 1) Attach the following materials to your online application: a) letter of application, b) curriculum vita. If you are having trouble with the online application, contact TTU at 806-742-3851 ext. 238. 2) Send the following items to the address listed below: a) three current letters of recommendation (or placement file), b) minimum of three additional reference names with telephone and email contact information, c) audio recordings representative of recent collaborative performances (live recording only). Send these materials to: Kris Medrano; School of Music; Texas Tech University; Box 42033; Lubbock, TX 79409-2033. Completed file should be received by June 1, 2012, but screening will continue until the position is filled.

Additional School of Music contact information: kristen.medrano [at] ttu.edu 806-742-2270 ext. 227.

Texas Tech University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity. The university welcomes applications from minorities, women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and dual-career couples.

(Thanks, Quinn!)

Children's Arts Activity Tax Credits in Canada: What You Need To Know

If you're a resident of Canada, it's important at this time of year to know that there are several available tax credits available to claim if your children are enrolled in music lessons.

First of all, the Line 370 Children's Arts Amount. From the CRA website:

You can claim to a maximum of $500 per child the fees paid in 2011 relating to the cost of registration or membership of your or your spouse's or common-law partner's child in a prescribed program of artistic, cultural, recreational, or developmental activity.

You can find out more from this video:




If you live in Ontario, music lessons are one of the eligible activities that can also be submitted for a the 2011 Ontario tax credit in addition to the separate federal arts amount. Here's how it works:

If you have a child enrolled in activities, such as painting classes, soccer, hockey or music lessons, you can claim up to $509 in eligible expenses and get up to $50.90 back for each child under 16 for 2011. You can receive up to $101.80 back for a child with a disability who is under 18. These amounts will be adjusted for inflation each subsequent year.

Its only a measly $50.90, but every dollar counts at this miserable time of the year.

Best of luck preparing your taxes as we get into the crunch time before the April 30 deadline. If you know of any provincial arts credits for provinces other than Ontario, please leave a comment w/links.

Continuum Plays Brian Current's Strata

From a February 2012 Continuum recital at the Music Gallery in Toronto - the performers are Anne Thompson (flute), Max Christie (clarinet), Carol Lynn Fujino (violin), Paul Widner (cello), Laurent Philippe (piano), and Ryan Scott (percussion), conducted by Brian Current.

Our New House

A few months ago, Wendy and I bought a house. Not just any house, but a large one. Of course, our primary consideration in selecting one for our needs was the size, location, and layout of a potential studio space, since my previous home studio, although it suited my needs at the time very well, ended up being little on the small side. The property we finally found was only 1.5km from our townhouse in Oakville (perfect for business, since none of my current students would be inconvenienced), featuring an open-concept living room that would be ideal for enclosure into a sizable studio space.

Here's what my new studio looks like, thanks too the awesomeness of Michael Corridor and Nicolas Groenewegen in the quick but efficient renovation process:

One of the coolest things about my new studio is that the ceilings are 14 feet high! Needless to say, it's a very singer-friendly room. In addition, my 70's-vintage Yamaha U1, feeling the arm weight of the years, needed a refurbishing rather badly. Paul Clement was able to replace the original Yamaha hammers with a new set of German Abel hammers, completely changing the sound. It's now mellower than before (having lost the original Yamaha brightness), but with a much wider dynamic range. In fact, any smaller room than this probably wouldn't do justice to the instrument and the size of tone it can produce. And yes, it's only a U1. Paul also did a lot of work on the action, which resulted in a much more responsive touch. For those of you who are interested in Paul's modifications, take a look at his project summary w/photos.

So, the inordinate amount of time required to put an offer on the house, arrange financing, put our townhouse on the market (thankfully, it sold in two days for just under the asking price), pack all our belongings, supervise the renovations, move in late March, and unpack everything (and did I mention that March is the busiest time of the year?), meant that blogging has taken a back seat to what was hopefully the last move we'll do in a long time ever. I finally have a studio large enough to hold master classes and small house concerts. When the time comes, I'll easily be able to fit a grand of any size into the room.

And as of this afternoon, my taxes were completed. Back to blogging...