Mother's Day Concerts

Besides sending our Mother's greetings on Sunday, May 10, David and I performed seperately in the evening.

My concert was a lovely tribute to women composers. I played NGC 2997 by Ann Callaway. My favorite comment about my playing was from Violinist Carol Braves. She said I "owned that piece". I'm pleased that I played NGC 2997 pretty well, as Ann was in the audience! Carol and Dr. Allen George Biester (the organizer, organist and pianist) played "Sonatine for Violin and Piano" by Germaine Tailleferre (the only female composer of the famous French group Les Six). Their performance was delightful and brought out all of the charm of Tailleferre's lovely work.



David sang at the tribute concert for the poet Bernie Weiner. Works were written by several Bay Area composers (including the poet's sons); David sang works by our dear friend Ed Dierauf as well as two works of another local composer, Randy Craig.

Brief Bio for Bernie: Bernard Weiner, a poet and playwright, has written numerous fantasias about the Bush Administration ( http://www.crisispapers.org/weinerpubs.htm#fantasies ). A Ph.D. in government & international relations, he has taught at various universities, worked as a writer/editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, and currently co-edits The Crisis Papers.

Derailed by a Page Turner

Last night I performed with the Fortnightly Club of Palo Alto a work by Nancy Bloomer Deussen. The piece, The Message, written for choir and small ensemble, was arranged for piano and choir for this performance. I was very excited to perform this piece and worked very hard to play it to the best of my ability. The page turns in the piece were difficult. I had cut and pasted my part to minimize the page turns, but there was great concern that I would turn too many pages or have some problem with the page turns. A turner was found for me at the last minute. I was uncomfortable with using a turner, but decided that it would be best to have one so I could look at the conductor (my music was interfering a little with my sight lines).

ONCE AGAIN I LEARNED ---- TRUST YOUR GUT! The page turner was a disaster. He made three incorrect page turns and the first wrong turn during my solo introduction. I, personally, am never more nervous than when I have to turn pages for a performance (including my own). Publishers and typesetters of music should really take the turns into account and then rarely do...also I can't wait for the day that pages are turned electronically so there will be no more human errors (just like computers have eliminated humor errors!)

I must put aside my anger and disappointment as the "message" in Nancy's piece was about love. So I forgive my page turner, I forgive myself for not trusting that I could turn the pages myself and I forgive the typesetter for creating the page turning issues in the first place.

It just wasn't the night for page turning. The duo pianists who played before us were turning their own pages and had a horrible page turning problem which caused them to have to stop the piece. It just goes to show that anything can happen in a performance and you have to just roll with it.

I Did It!

I did it! I performed Chopin's Butterfly Etude for my students, but I'm not going to post the recording. I had too many note mistakes in the middle section - where I lost focus. That aside several of my goals for this project were met.

1. I played the piece everyday for 10 minutes for a month (well really just 28 days, since the month I started the project was February)
2. I had a disciplined approach to learning the piece which I followed.
3. While performing the piece I did not rush, played musically and nailed the ending.

I really love this piece and will continue to work on it...I think for 10 minutes a day as part of my technical practice.

Ann Saslav's Thoughts about Learning Music

From my mother-in-law, Ann Saslav --- thoughts about playing the piano...

Musicians and actors share one quality, the ability to "recreate" the thoughts of others (the master composer, the master playwright that created the work studied)...and it has been my experience that "learning" and "re-creating" and "remembering" are three different processes. Each depends on separate brain-functions that are somewhat cognizant to the student.

1. Learning and discovering:
Part a. is sketching a new piece of music at first-reading, reacting to it as one travels over its patterns and noting the reactions that one feels.

Part b. is carefully and meticulously learning every note physically and coordinating the patterns into larger sentences...paragraphs...and finally, a total overview of the work. This is the process called "practicing". Practicing can be tedious or exhilarating depending on many factors of health and restedness and anxiousness to prepare for a deadline..and discipline. (This is another subject entirely!)

2. Re-creating: It is of utmost importance for the public Performance to be a FRESH and SPONTANEOUS recreation...for performer and audience...as though hearing it for the first time as a delighted participant. The act of "communication to the audience enters here too"...with projection of energy as though exclaiming an exciting discovery to a friend...and a professional artist take into account the acoustics of the hall (how many "friends" and how close to the acoustic piano will they be?..activating different projections for chamber music blending, or solo projections with and over an orchestra collaboration..changing weight productions and fingerings and use of pedals accordingly and instinctively).

3. Finally, remembering (memorization)....depends entirely on the conscious ability of the performer to understand the above (1., and 2.) and to "will" the execution and emotions of the music to take place even in the private practice studio or home many times before performing before the public. The daily public IS the performer him-or-herself in the practice room growing increasingly familiar with the material, the emotions, the projections. This work is never finished but continues even the day after the public performance. It is the performer's repertoire for life!

For more about Ann:

http://www.arts.state.tx.us/rosters/touring07/disc.asp?id=114
scroll down to find information about Ann and Isidor Saslav's touring program in Texas


http://www.anthonyritchie.co.nz/opus/opus45b.html
a piece written for Ann when she was a touring artist in New Zealand

http://www.nsula.edu/news/grieg03.html

a 2007 project that inspired my "Journeys" program featuring the Lyric Suite, Opus 54 of Grieg