The Collaborative Piano Blog

Win a Free CD of Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall

2009-07-10T12:00:00.009-04:00

The moment has arrived, and I have two CDs ready to send out to Collaborative Piano Blog readers. But before I announce the rules and skill-testing question, I would like to thank Sony Music for making these two copies of Vladimir Horowitz At Carnegie Hall-The Private Collection: Mussorgsky & Liszt available to readers of the Collaborative Piano Blog. This is an astonishing recording of Horowitz as you've never heard him and I'm pleased to be able to give away these CDs.

Here we go...

Contest Rules and Regulations

1. In order to win one of two free CDs of Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - The Private Collection: Mossorgsky and Liszt, answer the following question correctly:

On what date (month, day, year) did Vladimir Horowitz make his Carnegie Hall debut?

2. Send your answer to me at collaborative piano [at] gmail dot com. The first two people to send me the correct date will each win one of the CDs. As soon as I have two winners, I'll update this post announcing who they are.

3. There is no deadline for the contest, and it will remain open until winners have been chosen.

4. After the winners have been determined, I will send the CDs to their home or work address. Please don't send me your address until you know that you are one of the two winners.

Good luck!

Update 12:21pm:

Joshua W of St. Paul, Minnesota is the first winner! One more to go...

Update 12:32pm:

Anne Lee of Toronto, Ontario is the second and final winner!

This contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for competing and stay tuned, as Sony has expressed an interest in running this contest again for the 2nd and 3rd CDs in the Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - Private Collection series.

Christopher Aaron Smith and Terry Decima Perform Tom Cipullo's Desire

2009-07-10T11:22:00.004-04:00

More people need to perform the songs of Tom Cipullo--here is a wonderful video of tenor Christopher Aaron Smith with pianist Terry Decima performing Desire from Cipullo's Another Reason I Don't Keep a Gun in the House at the New England Conservatory in March 2009:

Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - The Private Collection

2009-07-09T20:49:00.007-04:00

When I was younger, one of the things I always wished when listening to some of the late recordings of Vladimir Horowitz was to be able to hear more recordings of him in his prime than were available then, with a level of sound quality that would give a more complete picture of his playing, and be able to fill in the many mysterious gaps in his decades-long development as a pianist.

That moment has come.

Sony has recently announced three collections of recently unearthed recordings of Horowitz, the first of which is entitled Vladimir Horowitz At Carnegie Hall-The Private Collection: Mussorgsky & Liszt.

Some interesting tidbits about the lost recordings and their reappearance from Sony's press release:

This release features performances of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, from April 2, 1948, and the Liszt Sonata, from March 21, 1949, both at Carnegie Hall. Two more Private Collection releases are scheduled for the fall and early 2010; they include music by Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Haydn, and Beethoven.

In 1988, a year before his death, Horowitz donated to Yale University a treasure trove of original recordings composed of Carnegie Hall concerts and performances he gave during the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s. Horowitz had employed an engineer to make 78-rpm recordings of his Carnegie Hall concerts in this period, and he used them to review and judge his performances. Most of these mono recordings were originally contained on 12- and 16-inch acetate discs. They have been impeccably mastered, with the sound restored, from new transfers made in the Yale archives. Significant press accompanied the original announcement of the donation of these recordings to Yale, where Horowitz performed often through the years and was an assistant fellow of Silliman College.

The first volume is classic Horowitz. He is in sovereign form for the Liszt Sonata, a piece associated with him throughout his career for its incredible virtuoso display, with its cascading runs punctuated by incisive chords. As David Dubal, professor of Piano Performance at the Juilliard School, mentions in his liner notes, “His Liszt Sonata was invincible.” Dubal adds that the private collection release is “more glorious than the 1932 recording,” which is typically considered the gold standard for performance of the sonata. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition demonstrates a different kind of fearlessness unique to Horowitz. His interpretive license as a transcriber of famous works and melodies—including his frequent encores, Variations on a Theme from ‘Carmen’ and Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever—has become a part of his legacy, but even in this context, his transcription of Mussorgsky’s Pictures is particularly bold. For Horowitz, there were no hallowed works, only great performances.

What I noticed about these recordings is that they offer an amazingly accurate picture of how Horowitz played at the absolute height of his powers, and with pretty good sound to boot (albeit for the late 40's on acetate). In addition to deadly accuracy, which one doesn't associate with his later recordings, he is able to create unbelievably bold colors at the piano, from passages played with raw power and authority to moments of the most exquisite and tender sentiment imaginable.

Now the cool part...

To celebrate this occasion, Sony Music has made available to readers of the Collaborative Piano Blog two copies of Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - The Private Collection, and to decide who gets them, I will be holding a contest tomorrow on Friday, July 10 at 12pm EDT.

The contest post will go live at noon EDT and to win you'll need to answer a skill-testing Horowitz trivia question and email me the answer. Stay tuned...

(Thanks, Dana!)

Remembering Bob Mitchell, 1912-2009

2009-07-09T14:39:00.007-04:00

Bob Mitchell, the last surviving accompanist of the silent movie era, has passed away at the age of 96. From his Los Angeles Times obituary:

He helped create "a true revival of cinema on the highest level," said Charlie Lustman, who owned the theater from 1999 to 2006. "That you could walk into a classic theater and see a classic movie accompanied by a man who had done it way back when. . . ."

On Christmas Day 1924, Mitchell was practicing carols on the organ at the Strand Theater in Pasadena when the lights went down and a movie about the Yukon went up. The 12-year-old kept playing, improvising a soundtrack. Soon he was accompanying matinee shows five times a week.

He played for films such as the romantic wartime drama "What Price Glory," the action-adventure "Beau Geste" and the Fritz Lang futuristic fantasy "Metropolis."

With the arrival of talkies and Al Jolson in the 1927 film "The Jazz Singer," Mitchell's first silent-movie career ended when he was 16.

Mitchell, a Cal State and Trinity College graduate, also went on to play in the Armed Forces Radio Orchestra, worked as organist for both the LA Dodgers and California Angels (Mitchell was the first organist to play in Dodger Stadium), conducted choirs, and once again worked as a silent movie accompanist during the recent revival of the medium.

Memorial Service Information
MP3 of Bob Mitchell playing He's Got The Whole Wide World In His Hands
A remembrance by Jon Weisman in Dodger Thoughts

Here are the Mitchell Singing Boys with Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way:

(Via @blackwingjenny)

Tapestry at the Doras

2009-07-08T22:50:00.007-04:00

Taylor Graham, librettist of Tapestry New Opera's Dora-nominated opera The Virgin Charlie, has written an interesting blog post about her experience learning the new opera creation process, the success of her first opera, and the night of the 2009 Dora Awards. An excerpt:

While Bill [Rowson] and I were talking about reasons we thought opera creates possibility I discovered that what the two of us needed was to create something large, something funny, something bigger than the both of us, and yet relateable, caring, sensitive as that is undoubtably key similarities in our personalities. From that discussion I began to create the world of Charlie, our main character and pitched the idea to Bill and with his approval to Tapestry. About a year later I was at the Enwave Centre standing up to bow as "The Virgin Charlie" came to a close.

The category of Oustanding New Opera/Musical (in which four operas produced by Tapestry had been nominated), was eventually won by Abigail Richardson and Marjorie Chan's Sanctuary Song.

(Via Inside The New Work Studio)

Image Credit: Xin Wang and Alvin Crawford from the 2008 Tapestry production of Sanctuary Song, as photographed by John Lauener.

Vancouver New Music Festival's Copyright/Copyleft: Call for Sonic Artists and Mashup Artists

2009-07-08T19:04:00.002-04:00

This is just in from Vancouver New Music:

The 2009 Vancouver New Music Festival will focus on copyright and appropriation, and will be presenting musicians who have been working and reflecting on issues related to copyright/copyleft, using mash-ups and sonic collages and other approaches. We are looking for local musicians who would like to bring their contribution to the discussion. Selected artists will be invited to perform opening acts at the VNM Festival.

Please send a short bio, a note explaining how your work relates to the theme of Copyright/Copyleft, and a short sample of your work in mp3 format to:
giorgio [at] newmusic dot org by July 15, 2009.

As space is limited only a few artists will be selected for performance.

The Show Must Go On

2009-07-07T18:24:00.004-04:00

The old adage holds a lot of truth, especially a few nights ago in Covent Garden, when mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato broke her leg in the first act of The Barber of Seville and returned to finish the rest of the show (and blogged about it too). Here's an account of the accident from 21C Media Group's press release earlier today:

After DiDonato had finished delivering her showpiece aria “Una voce poco fà”, she tripped and fell as she ran off stage. Her manager, Simon Goldstone, watching in the audience, knew immediately that there was a problem when he saw her use the signal that theater folk use to ask for some ice! “For act two, she came in with a cane. Some people in the audience clearly thought it was part of the show,” he says. But that was just the beginning. DiDonato was determined to finish the show, and after the final curtain she was rushed to the nearest ER. The opera is nearly three hours long, and she spent about four hours in the ER of University College Hospital before being released. She was assured that while this kind of break is painful, it heals quickly (the broken bone is the fibula, the outer bone of the lower leg); the orthopedic specialist who saw her the next day said she should be able to perform in a day or two. Accordingly, she was fitted with a new fiberglass cast in shocking pink – to match her costume.

A similar accident happened in a dress rehearsal I played in a few years ago when a tenor fell from the stage and fractured his leg when rehearsing bows. These types of incidents are why I never say "Break a leg" before a performance, but instead substitute one of these:

"Toi Toi!"
"In bocc'all lupo!"
"In culo alla balena!", to which the correct response is "Fammi luce!"

(Thanks, Louise!)

Collaborative Piano Studies at the University of British Columbia

2009-07-06T19:10:00.002-04:00

The School of Music at the University of British Columbia offers a two-year Diploma in Collaborative Piano Studies. About the program:

The unique demands of collaborative work with singers and instrumentalists require specialized training for pianists. The Diploma program combines repertoire study with a diverse array of courses designed to enhance specific skills, in preparation for, or in place of, graduate degree work in collaborative piano. Applicants must hold a bachelor's degree, normally in piano performance, including several years of experience in collaborative work, in both vocal and chamber music, and with very strong proficiency in sight reading. Some study of German and of French or Italian is recommended.

The Diploma includes 29 credits of coursework, which includes both core and elective classes. Prospective students can apply online and may be eligible for a teaching assistantship.

Here is a list of audition repertoire for entrance into the program:

One short solo piece containing some virtuosic element
Movement 2 or 4 of the Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano (some substitution possible with approval from Professor Rena Sharon
One substantial opera aria
Two songs
One opera aria to be specified by faculty

For more information, contact the UBC School of Music.

Also be sure to check out the complete list of Degree and Diploma Programs in Collaborative Piano.

1938 Review of Edwin McArthur In Recital With Kristen Flagstad

2009-07-05T23:49:00.004-04:00

Here's a fascinating item that turned up in a search this evening: a review of legendary accompanist Edwin McArthur in recital with Kirsten Flagstad in the Sydney Morning Herald of June 20, 1938, with a sub-header entitled "The Accompanist's Part":

The piano parts in the Grieg Songs are full of poetic feeling. They drew attention to the outstanding attainments of Mr. Edwin McArthur, who played them. A voice like Madame Flagstad needs something much more electrical than the discreet patternings of a conventional accompanist and this something Mr. McArthur supplied. In the Wagnerian music he had strongly simulated orchestral colour and tone. His "Erl King" conjured up the terrors of Schubert's imaginings. In the same composer's "Ungeduld" his crisp, brisk accents gave a new sparkle to the music. But, like most accompanists, Mr. McArthur did not succeed in giving much interest to his solos.

The Darius Ensemble Performs Ravel's Nahandove

2009-07-05T22:12:00.005-04:00

There needs a better way to visualize performances of art song, so that it can not only survive, but reach out and move a much larger audience. This performance of Ravel's Nahandove (from Chansons Madécasses) by the Darius Ensemble was filmed for the Dutch TV program Vrije Geluiden at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam and is an excellent example of how to visually make art song work on television with only some fine performers, an engaging performance space and cool camera angles.

The Darius Ensemble are: Barbara Kozelj (mezzo soprano), Romana Goumare (flute), Teije Hylkema (cello), and Mirsa Adami (piano).

Compare this video to the fascinating montage of Wolfgang Muhr's Nahandove music video. If you're interested in keeping up to date with another fascinating reinvention of the art of song, be sure to check out the Sparks and Wiry Cries Podcast by Martha Guth and Erika Switzer, whose Episode 2 (National Holidays) has just been released.

Collaborative Piano: Changing Career Paths and Skill Sets

2009-07-04T20:06:00.008-04:00

I really like this explanation of what collaborative piano is in a recent post by Billie Whittaker:

Practically speaking, I think it is whatever combination of piano + _____ that a pianist can get paid to play with.

Billie's definition is anti-academic, to say the least. There is no discussion of collaborative piano's affinity to piano pedagogy in academia, the quest to create a premium brand of accompanists, or the training of graduate students for ever-harder-to-find tenure track positions. Collaborative piano's existence in the freelance world is grounded in the functional, economically viable world of getting work in urban centers, suburbs, opera companies, ballet companies, large and small ensembles, festivals, competitions, and yes, universities too.

I also like the importance she places on talking about the specific genres and skills that have genuine importance and demand (many of which include an emphasis on keyboard skills and stylistic adaptability). There needs to be much more dialogue on the types of work that people actually get hired to do

Take a quick look at my previous post on Career Options in Collaborative Piano--I had to give up a lot of preconceived notions I had learned about the constituent parts could make up a career in the process of gathering information for that list.

But at the end of the day, I still believe that some of the most valuable skills we can bring to the profession (and to musical life in general) include an infallible professionalism, as well as the vocabulary and core skills, pianistic or otherwise, to create a sense of dialogue and partnership in any situation one runs across.

Pianists: What are some of the skills you are using and skill upgrades that you are working on? How has your career path evolved in unexpected ways?
Singers and Instrumentalists: What are the most important skills that you need from the pianists that you work with?

Happy Independence Day Weekend!

2009-07-04T07:36:00.003-04:00

Here's Barack Obama with the Chicago Symphony in 2005 (when he was still in the Senate) in an excerpt of Copland's Lincoln Portrait (previously seen here):

Canadian Music Centre's Song Repertoire Listings Available as Free Download

2009-07-02T10:53:00.006-04:00

As part of a continuing initiative to make Canadian music more accessible (and get it performed!), the Canadian Music Centre has made available a spreadsheet of its complete Canadian art song repertoire listings, which I am offering as a free download on my teaching site. The spreadsheet can be viewed with Microsoft Excel, Google Docs, and Open Office, as well as a number of other programs.

These listings include songs by a vast number of Canadian composers, including:

Chan Ka Nin
Robert Fleming
Harry Freedman
Violet Archer
Jean Coulthard
Stephen Chatman
Paul McIntyre
John Beckwith
Barbara Pentland
Harry Somers
Ben Steinberg
Mary Gardiner
Larysa Kuzmenko

Once you've downloaded the spreadsheet, each of the entries contains the correct call number for the work so you can easily locate it at the Canadian Music Centre either online or in person, and then borrow the score for free or purchase it through the CMC.

Canadian Music Centre Complete Song Repertoire Spreadsheet

(Thanks, Erika!)

Collaborative Piano Studies at Bellarmine University

2009-07-01T20:46:00.005-04:00

The Department of Music at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky offers a specialized Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Pedagogy and Accompanying. The philosophy behind the pedagogy/accompanying split:

The philosophy of our Piano Pedagogy and Accompanying Program is to provide an environment in which students can take responsibility for their own musicianship. You will have plenty of opportunities to develop your solo playing skills, but the focus of this degree program is to develop your skills in pedagogy and accompanying. We mentor students and give guidance while holding them accountable for understanding the proper work ethic needed for optimum success. Successful completion of this degree will lead to career opportunities as private teachers and accompanists, and to entrance into graduate school.

The Piano Pedagogy and Accompanying Program also has several goals for the undergraduate students enrolled in the program:

Students should be prepared for a career in music, graduate study or teacher certification in music.
Students should develop an understanding of music history and theory.
Students should develop the ability to perform in various genres.
Students should develop skills in pedagogy.
Students should develop skills in accompanying.
Students should develop skills in basic music technology, including basic digital manipulation and recording/editing techniques.
Students should develop an understanding of historical and theoretical aspects of performance and in turn seek answers to questions such as: Why do we do what we do? How does the music reflect and understanding of society and of ourselves?

For more information on the program and a detailed curriculum for the degree, go to the Piano Pedagogy/Accompanying page.

Here are more Bellarmine links:

University Admissions
Music Faculty
Apply online
Request more information

-----

Complete listing of Degree Programs in Collaborative Piano

Quote of the Day

2009-07-01T09:01:00.004-04:00

A set of films by Justin Blome accompanied Mr. Broome’s performance, which ended with Cage’s “4’33”.” His version was oddly rushed: I clocked it at 4’20”.

--from Alan Koznin's review of pianist David Broome in the New York Times

(Thanks, Stephen!)

Happy Canada Day

2009-06-30T22:02:00.006-04:00

Best wishes to everyone for a happy and healthy Canada Day! After some searching for the ideal performance to showcase on this post, I finally decided on an excerpt of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic gold medal hockey game between Canada and the US, featuring "O Canada" sung by the rabid Canadian fans during the dying seconds of the game*:

*Final score: Canada 5, USA 2. The Canadian goals were scored by Joe Sakic (2), Jarome Iginla (2), and Paul Kariya. Tony Amonte and Brian Rafalski scored for the USA. I missed the entire game, since I was in rehearsal for Modern Baroque Opera's 120 Songs for the Marquis de Sade in the Strathcona neighborhood of Vancouver's Downtown East Side. We broke for lunch minutes before the game ended, and en route to the cast's favorite neighborhood sushi takeout, we could hear people all over the neighborhood singing along with the fans on TV. From the spontaneous outpouring of song we surmised that Canada had indeed won the game.

Gustav Mahler Desktop Wallpaper for July 2009

2009-06-30T20:18:00.005-04:00

If you're looking for some cool July desktop wallpaper of the Mahlerian variety, your search is at an end. Smashing Magazine has just debuted its July lineup of desktop wallpapers, and one of them features Maurice Depestre's of Gustav Mahler's portrait and Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" (you can see a preview here).

In case you would like Depestre's Mahler portrait to grace your desktop, there are number of screen size downloads available from Smashing Magazine--it's the 10th calendar down on the July desktop issue. I particularly like the timeline of musical works set against that of Mahler's milestones.

(Quick CPB hint: in case you've never figured out how to change your desktop wallpaper, you can right-click on the image and save it to your computer, then follow this tutorial on how to change the background picture on the desktop. If you're using Firefox, it's even easier - simply right-click on the image, then select "Set as Desktop Background".)

July is Degree Programs Month

2009-06-29T20:14:00.005-04:00

One of the most popular articles on this blog for the last three and a half years has been the listing of Degree Programs in Collaborative Piano. Now that my schedule has lightened up somewhat, I will finally have time to return to my long-term plan of creating links to program info for as many of the listed schools (95 at present) for which I can find accurate information.

For the month of July, I'll be focusing on finding and listing those links. Each school will have its own posting, linked from the degree programs list, and linking to all relevant pages on the school website. I'll be creating the posts and building links for the schools in alphabetical order as I work through them.

However...

If you are an administrator or faculty member at a school with a degree program in collaborative piano and want to both 1) jump the alphabetical queue and 2) craft a better, more targeted posting for your school`s CP program, now is the time to contact me. If you write up a short article with relevant links, I can publish it right away as a guest post. Allison Gagnon, who previously wrote a guest post about the program at the North Carolina School of the Arts, has already recruited CPB readers into the NCSA program as a result of her initiative.

This project to create links to as many collaborative piano programs as possible is one of my top priorities at the moment, and if you run a collaborative piano program I would be more than glad to both feature your own introduction and drive interest in your program.

Sparks and Wiry Cries Podcast Launches - Long Live Art Song on the Internet

2009-06-25T21:36:00.004-04:00

Training wheels for singers? No more....

Today pianist Erika Switzer and soprano Martha Guth launched Sparks and Wiry Cries, a podcast dedicated the world of the art song. Their goal is to bring awareness to an activity that is central to the art of the piano in ensemble, as well as to one of the most intimate, collaborative, and threatened genres of both piano and vocal classical music.

From the Sparks and Wiry Cries website:

The great passion in my career is the world of classical song. In conjunction with the Vancouver International Song Institute (VISI), renowned pianist Erika Switzer and I will co-host the upcoming episodes. We will look at song in a different light in episodes that will air every other week. Each podcast will be centered around a theme, and include live recordings spanning Mozart to the present day. We will also have the pleasure of including interviews with composers, musicologists and poets whose voices add a meaningful dimension to our conversations about song and performance. This podcast offers favorite repertoire, performed by ourselves and the many wonderful colleagues we have the pleasure to work with. This new generation of song singers have won international awards for excellence in their field and are currently performing in all corners of the globe. My hope is that this venue has the intimacy that the first composers of song originally had in mind, and that what has been delighting us on the concert stage can now be enjoyed in your living room. We have now Launched -Please enjoy!

Episode 1 (What Is Song) features a conversation between Erika and Martha about what art song is, how pianists and singers relate in this genre, as well as several awesome piano/vocal performances.

This is a major initiative that brings a new visibility to art song and the poetry that inspired it. To keep up with the podcast, you can check out either the Sparks and Wiry Cries website or subscribe to their RSS feed.

Britten/Pears Performing Schubert's Mein!

2009-06-23T21:39:00.002-04:00

Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten were a voice/piano duo that excelled at lieder, even though it was not the style that they are primarily known for interpreting - here they are performing Mein! from Franz Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin:

(Via @weinmanj)

Astor Piazzolla Plays Milonga del Angel

2009-06-23T21:09:00.005-04:00

One of the perennial favorites of pianists at the RCM/NMCP Grade 8 level is Astor Piazzolla's Milonga del angel. One of the things that I always like to impart when teaching this piece is just how important it is to get a feel of what this incredible Argentine dance form sounds like in its original form in order to recreate the style at the piano.

Here is the legendary Astor Piazzolla (on bandoneón) and friends performing Milonga del angel:

Looking Ahead

2009-06-21T21:43:00.004-04:00

Believe it or not, this is one of the busiest times of the year for me, with 6 more days of examining for RCM Examinations coming up in Etobicoke this week, as well as a fair number of new summer students to contact before early July rolls around.

I'm grateful for the thoughtful blog input I received last weekend at the Collaborative Piano Conference of the Vancouver International Song Institute, and have a number of projects that will come off the backburner as soon as my schedule clears up, including a push to continue building links to more collaborative piano degree/diploma programs, and a renewed initiative to create repertoire lists for piano with specific instruments or voice genres (Thanks, Margo!). I'm also in the early planning stage of another month-long series--no details yet, as I still need to flesh out a lot of ideas before I even announce what the series will be about.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to another action-packed week of judging nearly 200 piano exams at all levels.

Gerald Moore's Singer and Accompanist

2009-06-18T20:20:00.005-04:00

Gerald Moore was one of the first collaborative pianists to become both a musical celebrity and champion of the collaborative arts (as both a pianist and writer). Although his playing has fallen out of favor somewhat [Update: see comments below for some strong opinions on the subject], he is still highly regarded as a writer, both for his musical wisdom and sharp wit. Embedded below is Moore's Singer and Accompanist - The Performance of Fifty Songs, via Google Books.

Dr. Seuss' Only Screenplay...About a Diabolical Piano Teacher

2009-06-16T22:06:00.006-04:00

And you think your piano teacher is weird--below is the trailer from the 1953 Dr. Seuss movie (his only screenplay) The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (wiki, IMDb).

Here's the plot of the movie from the Wikipedia entry:

The plot revolves around young Bart Collins [!?!?--CF: check out the author of the Well Tempered Blog for a rather significant coincidence], who lives with his widowed mother Heloise. The major blight on Bart's existence is the hated piano lessons he is forced to endure under the tutelage of the autocratic Dr. Terwilliker. Bart feels that his mother has fallen under Terwilliker's sinister influence, and gripes to visiting plumber August Zabladowski, without much result. While grimly hammering away at his lessons, Bart dozes off and enters a fantastical musical dream, in much the same fashion as Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.

In the dream, Bart is trapped at the surreal Terwilliker Institute, where the piano teacher is now a madman dictator who has locked up all non-piano-playing musicians in a dungeon and constructed a piano so large that it requires Bart and 499 other enslaved boys (the aforementioned 5,000 fingers) in order to play it. Bart's mother has been turned into Terwilliker's hypnotized assistant and bride-to-be, and Bart must dodge the Institute's guards as he scrambles to save both his mother and himself. He tries to recruit Mr. Zabladowski, who has been hired to install all of the Institute's sinks ahead of a vital inspection, but only after much skepticism and foot-dragging is the plumber finally convinced to help. The two of them empty their pockets and construct a noise-sucking contraption which ruins the mega-piano's opening concert. The enslaved boys cheerfully run riot, and the "VERY atomic" noise-sucker explodes in spectacular fashion, bringing Bart out of his dream.

The movie ends on a hopeful note for Bart, when the real-life Mr. Zabladowski finally notices Heloise, and offers to drive her into town in his jeep. Bart escapes from the piano, and triumphantly runs off to play.

(Via Dr. B)

In Good Company

2009-06-16T21:41:00.006-04:00

The online presence of the collaborative piano world continues to grow. The latest entry is Good Company by Northern Virginia/DC pianist Billie Whittaker. So far I like her Paid To Play series, with lots of unique information on how pianists can get themselves hired, including at universities, churches, in the army, and at summer music festivals.

I'll be announcing another major collaborative piano-oriented initiative in the coming weeks, but I'll remain quiet about the details until its creators officially launch the project...

Beethoven's 5th Sung in Japanese

2009-06-16T06:55:00.003-04:00

This hilarious rendition of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is entitled "Asagohan" and is sung entirely in Japanese. From the YouTube comments, it appears that the lyrics are largely about what to order for breakfast.

(Thanks, Craig!)

Career Options Updates

2009-06-15T19:58:00.008-04:00

I'm now back home from a wonderful weekend at the VISI Collaborative Piano Conference at the University of British Columbia. At my Saturday workshop, I presented my list of Career Options in Collaborative Piano and received some fine input for additions to the list, including the following:

Dean has been added to the list of possible positions in Colleges and Universities.
Singers on Chorus Contract and Small Role Contract are not required to possess voice degrees in order to be hired, according to anecdotes from those present.
Under the Large Ensemble Category, I've added the "Fixer" in parentheses to the Contractor entry to reflect the UK term for that position.
In the Other category, I've added Pianist for Musical Groups in Armed Forces, according to information in this post from BG.
Official Competition Pianist and Official Symposium Pianist has been added to the Freelance category.
Arranger has been added in the Media category.

Thanks to everyone for their invaluable input during Saturday's workshop!

The complete list: Career Options in Collaborative Piano

Welcome to the Collaborative Piano Blog

2009-06-12T09:45:00.004-04:00

Greetings to all participants of the Vancouver International Song Institute! On Saturday at 4pm in Gessler Hall I'll be giving a workshop about the Collaborative Piano Blog and explaining its operations in detail, as well giving as an under-the-hood look at the various services I use to maintain and monetize it on a day-to-day basis. I've also created a public Netvibes page for the workshop containing links of interest that I'll be referring to in the lecture. Your feedback is very important to the development of this site, so I'll be having a question-and-answer session following the workshop. Hope to see you there!

Blogging the Piano in Ensemble This Saturday 4pm at the UBC School of Music

2009-06-10T22:09:00.004-04:00

This Saturday at 4pm in Gessler Hall at the University of British Columbia's School of Music, I will be presenting a talk entitled Blogging the Piano in Ensemble, in which I will talk about the experience of creating and growing this blog over the last 3 and a half years. Admission is $10 for the afternoon, $20 for the full day, or $50 for the entire weekend of events. For more information, check out the full roster of events for the VISI Collaborative Piano Retreat.

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