News aggregator

3. Allegro - Piano Sonata No.1 in C, K.279 - 3. Allegro - Maria João Pires

Jean Bach was nominated for a 1995 Academy Award for her film A Great Day in Harlem, documenting 57 jazz greats, including Marian McPartland, who gathered on a front stoop in Harlem for a portait in 1959. Bach remembers the legacy of this iconic image, including those who have appeared on Piano Jazz: Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Hank Jones, Roy Eldridge, Milt Hinton, and Gerry Mulligan.

Steve Danyew's Come Home for alto saxophone and piano actually started its life as a work for viola and piano. Steve writes:
The music of Come Home is an extraction from the second movement of my work "Fantasies for Viola and Piano." The music of that second movement is quite song-like, and in the summer of 2008 I decided to create a work for mezzo soprano and piano based on a section of the movement. Contrary to the viola work, which features additional contrasting material not used in the vocal arrangement, the song version is essentially in strophic form. After writing the song for mezzo soprano and piano, I thought that it would work well as a saxophone and piano duo. Thus, this version is a transcription of an arrangement of an original composition of mine.This performance with composer/saxophonist Steve Danyew and Ashley Morgan Garofalo on piano is a gem and worth listening to the full 8+ minutes. Congratulations are in order for Ashley, who starts her first college position at Fitchburg State College this fall. Ashley is also a blogger, and her music, poetry, arts [transcribed] should have a permanent place in your RSS subscriptions.

A solo show of marimba, singing and stories with songs ranging from punk covers, Bach and French art songs.

One of the most important things about being a collaborative pianist is developing depth of repertoire, whether you choose to specialize in one area or play a wide variety of genres. When you're applying for graduate school, a young artist program, or your first staff accompanist position, it's important to be able to present a complete repertoire list so those who are interested in you can get a better sense of the works, styles and genres that you've played so far.

The problem is that very few of us actively maintain a rep list and are able to keep track of what we've played over time. It takes a lot of time and regular updating to be able to offer a complete rep list (especially one as jaw-droppingly awesome as Amanda Johnston's) and this post will tell you how you can start, update, and offer one that will impress at hiring time.

Getting Started

Back in the old days, those of us diligent enough to be updating our rep lists did so on a weekly or monthly basis, when we would frantically search our books and photocopies, find out what was new, and add it to our list, most often a word document that lived on our home computer.

Fortunately, things have changed and the process of rep list-building can benefit greatly from the advances made with cloud computing technology. I recommend using a Google Docs spreadsheet for keeping the data in your rep list, and have created a template that you can use for this purpose:



You'll need to create and be signed into a Google account to save the template and start adding your own rep to the spreadsheet. The advantage of a Google Docs spreadsheet is that since it's stored on Google's servers, you can update it from any internet-enabled computer or smartphone. This is much more efficient than the old practice of having a word document on your hard drive that you only added to once in a blue moon.

Updating Your Rep List

Once you've saved the template to your Google account, you can start putting your repertoire on it. I've listed columns for composer, title of work, title of larger work (if applicable), genre, and sub-genre and added a few commonly known works to give you an idea of how the setup works. Here are some things to keep in mind when adding data to the fields:

• There is no need to insert rows. Simply add the latest data to the bottom of the spreadsheet, click on the arrows on the lettered columns, and choose "Sort Sheet A ---> Z" in order to alphabetize, ie. by composer. 
• When listing composers, it's a good idea to put the last name first for the purpose of alphabetization.
• I've used the genre field for dividing between Instrumental and Vocal repertoire. You can also add Solo to this field.
• You can use the Sub-Genre field to even further segment your rep, ie. sonata vs. concerto, aria vs. art song. 

Presenting Your Rep List
The time will come when you need to present your list in various elegant guises. Here are some ways that you can segment your full repertoire list in order to present it when the time comes:

• Select and copy any groups of fields and then paste and format them into a word document for official presentation. You can also paste them into WYSIWYG editors if you're building a website.
• For a complete alphabetical listing, sort the entire list alphabetically by composer.
• To divide into instrumental and vocal groups, sort the genre field, then the composer field, then copy and paste into a word document. 
• To list a specialization such as violin concertos or lieder, sort the sub-genre field, then sort the composer field, then copy and paste the alphabetized contents of the chosen sub-genre field.
• For even more input, sorting, and presentation options, you can download the spreadsheet and then import it into a database program such as Microsoft Access or OpenOffice.org Base. 

A couple of caveats

1. Update your list regularly. Doing a mass update the night before you send out your DMA application is not a good idea. Setting up your list early as a Google spreadsheet and adding to it via smartphone or internet whenever you learn a work takes less time over the long term and results in a much better, flexible, and marketable product when you need it.
2. Don't falsify the contents of your repertoire list. Only list the works that you actually can play. You're going to get burned if you pad your list. I recall a "cello specialist" I once worked with who only knew a few sonatas and no concertos. The best rep list in the world cannot mask a pianist with repertoire deficiencies. On the other hand, every single one of us has a slightly different specialization, the nuances of which can rise to the surface with a consistently revised list.

Although the template I created on Google Docs was intended for collaborative pianists, a few tweaks can make it work for any singer or instrumentalist. 
Do you have any useful repertoire list and/or spreadsheet tips? If so, tell us about them in the comments.

From Maximilian Van London, a great publicity shot of Vienna-based collaborative pianist (and Eastman grad) Chanda VanderHart. You can read more about Chanda's projects here.

The art of silent movie accompanying is alive and well - a recent Ryan Kearney article in TBDArts looks at the work of Andrew E. Simpson, who specializes in utilizing a variety of traditional and contemporary techniques to bring these silent classics to life. About his preparation process for the 1925 movie Maciste all'Inferno, recently screened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington:
It's a challenge, to say the least, because Simpson must play for an hour and a half straight, no breaks. "You have to pace yourself," he says. "The good thing is, most films have very few moments where there's outright action all the time. There's almost always a place where you can play a chord and settle, and the audience needs a break, too." And yet there are other films, Maciste being one of them, which are packed with action. "You look for opportunities to save yourself, so you're not exhausted, but with that film I did sort of leave it all out there," he says. "I have to tell you, this was one of the more exhausting performances I've done."

In this instance, at least, Simpson had the opportunity to watch Maciste beforehand. For many of his 50 or so performances since becoming an accompanist in 2006, he's gone into the screening cold, including when he plays the Slapticon festival in Arlington. (He also regularly plays the Library of Congress' Mt. Pony Theater in Culpeper, where he's the house accompanist.) "Often I play something I've never seen before, which is another special challenge because I have to anticipate what's happening," he says. "The more films you play, the easier it becomes to spot patterns, and it becomes a little easier to predict what will happen." For instance, if there's a vase prominently displayed in a scene, "you're pretty sure that vase is going to be broken at some point." And when the vase breaks, he's ready to replicate the sound of breaking china on the piano's upper register.

2. Andante - Maurizio Pollini

The Auenbrugger sisters, 18th century patrons of the arts in Vienna, must have been amazing keyboard players, because it takes quite a bit of technique to play this piece Haydn composed for them in 1780.  We hear it played by the Russian virtuoso Alexander Kobrin, in our Fraser Performance Studio.

***

Haydn: Sonata No. 37 in D major, Hob.XVI: Normal 0 0 1 5 32 WGBH Educational Foundation 1 1 39 11.1287 0 0 0 37

Alexander Kobrin, piano

+++

Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on March 8th, 2010.
©2010 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

This evening I found yet another accompanist poem, this time from McSweeney's realm of the bizarre and postmodern. An excerpt from Accompanist Needed by Sean Adams:
To build intrigue, the accompanist may be billed as an android, caveman, confirmed serial killer who is shortening his prison sentence through a musical community-service program, or all of the above. Therefore, it is necessary for the accompanist to play from music sheets of binary code, create music by striking the keys with an oversized faux-wooden club, and play with ankles and wrists cuffed.

Some of my singing engagements take place late at night, in the homes of strangers, without audiences or music, and may appear to be elaborate art or jewel heists. For engagements like this, the accompanist may be called on to pick locks, crack safes, break windows silently and jump over large, sometimes barb-wire topped fences with me riding piggy-back at all times.

Etude No. 11, Op. 25 - Van Cliburn

Most of us know Reynaldo Hahn's work through his exquisite songs, but what most people aren't aware of is the large body of chamber music that he wrote from 1891 through 1946. Here is the first movement of his 1921 Piano Quintet with pianist Benoit Zhou, joined by violinists Eva Zavaro and Aliisa Barrière, Antonin Le Faure on viola, and Mina Rodriguez on cello in this 2009 performance from the École Alsacienne.



Also check out James Chute's review of Cho Liang Lin and friends performing the quintet recently at SummerFest in San Diego.

1. Allegro - Piano Sonata No.1 in F minor, Op.2 No.1 - 1. Allegro - Wilhelm Kempff

The multifaceted Vijay Iyer's resume includes pianist, composer, bandleader, writer, and PhD. candidate in Physics. Last year he won a treasure trove of accolades for his album Historicity with his Vijay Iyer Trio. On this session, Iyer performs Geri Allen's "I'm All Smiles," and duets with guest host Arturo O'Farrill on the bluesy Iyer original "Abundance".

Mixes and processes recordings made in the remote mountains of northeastern Washington State revealing the textures of snowbrush, horsetails and pine bark alongside electronic manipulations.

Zwielicht, Im Walde, and Frühlingsnacht from Liederkreis Op. 39 by Robert Schumann
Flavio Ferri-Benedetti, countertenor
Olgierd Bohuszewicz, piano

March 3, 2010 at the Elisabethen Kirche, Basel

Earlier this summer, musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown discovered that people were illegally offering his sheet music for downloads, so he engaged one of the downloaders in conversation via email and posted it on his blog. He wraps up his main argument most eloquently:
I'm sorry if you still think I'm a jerk, but what I'm talking about here is not "insignificant." The entire record business is in free-fall because people no longer feel the moral responsibility to buy music; they just download it for free from the Internet, from YouTube, from their friends. When I make a cast album or a CD of my own, I do it knowing that it will never earn its money back, that I'm essentially throwing that money away so that I can put those songs out in the world. That shouldn't be the case, and I suspect in your heart you believe that too. All of us who write music for the theater are very much concerned that the sheet music business will eventually go the same way as the record business. I'm doing my little part to keep that from happening.The wild free-for-all in the comments is also worth a look. Congrats to Jason Robert Brown for standing up for his right to make an honest buck selling his first-rate music. I've always been a fan of JRB's music, especially Songs for a New World, The Last Five Years, 13: The Musical, and Parade (BTW those are links to legal copies of his music).

(Via Piano Addict)

The College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cinncinnati offers a two-year Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano. You can find information on collaborative piano majors and assistantships on Page 9 of the Application Handbook and in the Graduate Assistantship Application for Vocal and Instrumental Studio Accompanying. Professor Ken Griffiths also sent along some information about collaborative piano studies at CCM:
All CCM undergrad piano majors are required to take two years of Collab Piano classes taught by my colleague Prof Donna Loewy. For those interested/gifted pianists there is a possibility of a third-year elective (in their Senior year) where the instruction is much more one-on-one. The MM in Collab Piano has been undergoing changes and will do so again in 2012. At the end of the 2008-09 academic year we officially did away with the previously required choice of either Instrumental or Vocal track programs.

So currently all MM pianists must pursue the same degree requirements. In addition to the standard MM academic classes our Collab Piano majors are required to take piano lessons with a member of the Piano Faculty for four quarters, take three languages, take vocal seminars with me, instrumental rep seminars with Prof Sandra Rivers, play four degree recitals in two years. On at least one of these recitals the pianist must include rep for different kinds of ensembles (vocal,instrumental sonatas or chamber works, two-piano works, etc). At the end of the second year each major must pass a 30-minute orals exam before the combined Collab Piano faculty.

CCM is currently preparing to move on to the Semester system – as will the entire University of Cincinnati – in the fall of 2012. This preparation included an entire review of the MM program and there have been some major changes made.

Grad vocal diction classes will be required of all majors, language studies regrettably become elective choices rather than required, three recitals required in semesters 2,3,4 of the two-year program. In addition, majors will be required to take an Arts Administration course “Managing your own professional career”.CCM's collaborative piano program has been around since 1970, and its graduates have a long track record of success in the profession. For more information, fill out the CCM information request form.

Complete list of Degree and Diploma Programs in Collaborative Piano

Bach didn't often write music in a "lighter" vein, but when called upon, he came up with something really brilliant.  This piece was premiered at Zimmerman's Coffee House in Leipzig in 1931, probably by a group of young musicians - not too much different from the Discovery Ensemble, conducted  in our studio in 2010 by Courtney Lewis.

***

Bach:  Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068

The Discovery Ensemble; Courtney Lewis, conductor

+++

http://www.discoveryensemble.com/

 

Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on January 15th, 2010.
©2010 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.wgbh.org/classical email: classical@wgbh.org

Allegro grazioso - Sviatoslav Richter