Category Archives: Elaine Comparone

The joy and value of teaching a piano student over many years

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

Claudia, age 6 playing a duet with me I recall Elaine Comparone, the renowned harpsichordist having described a student she had mentored for 35 years before a move cut short a lasting musical relationship. “She was the real deal,” the … Continue reading →

Posted in Elaine Comparone, Harpsichordist, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Lydia Seifter, Oberlin Conservatory, pianist, pianists, piano, piano addict, piano blog, piano blogging, piano blogs, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano lessons and parental support, piano lessson, piano pedagogy, piano playing and breathing, piano playing and phrasing, piano practicing, piano repertoire, Piano Street, piano student, piano studio, piano study, piano teacher, piano teacher and student relationships, piano teachers, piano teaching, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, Piano World, piano world-wide, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing the piano, playing the piano with a singing tone, Seymour Bernstein With Your Own Two Hands, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, shirley s kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, teaching piano, teaching piano to adults, teaching piano to children, teaching piano to teenagers, teaching piano to teens, technique, the art of piano playing, word press, word press.com, wordpress, wordpress.com, You and the Piano Seymour Bernstein, You and the PIano Seymour Bernstein on You Tube | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The value of studying the piano and another musical instrument

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

While the study of two musical instruments can be time-consuming, it can reap overall benefits in widening a student’s horizons. If a pupil plays only piano for years on end he may deny himself the rich experience of participating in … Continue reading →

Posted in arioso7, Beethoven Violin Concerto, Berkshire Festival, Boston Fine Arts Quartet, chamber music, Elaine Comparone, Isaac Stern, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, palying instruments besides the piano, pianist, piano, playing piano, playing two musical instruments, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, studying the piano and another musical instrument, studying violin, Tanglewood, Toby Appel, violin, What pianists can learn from string players, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Harpsichord has a new lease on life! Elaine Comparone is its biggest advocate!

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

Elaine Comparone is a champion of the harpsichord like no other. Not only does she play with “red-blooded” passion sweeping it off its mantle of obscurity, but her nonprofit organization Harpsichord Unlimited is dedicated to stimulating interest in the instrument … Continue reading →

Posted in "Aglow with Creative Fire", Appel Farm, Appel Farm Art and Music Center, Appel Farm in Elmer New Jersey, arioso7, classissima, classissima.com, Elaine Comparone, Elaine Comparone Harpsichordist, First Moravian Church NYC, Harpsichord Unlimited, Harpsichord.org, Hubbard Harpsichord, J.S. Bach Cantata no. 78, Lyrichord, Lyrichord Early Music Series, Peter Seidenberg, Robert Zubrycki, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Smith Kirsten, The Queen's Chamber Band plays Mozart, Veronica Salas, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What “authentic” edition should a piano student use when learning repertoire of the Masters?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

I’m thinking back to my ancient days studying with Lillian Freundlich in New York City. During this period, like any fledgling I relied on my teacher as an “authority” figure to recommend what Mozart Sonata edition, for example, I should … Continue reading →

Posted in arioso7, classissima, Elaine Comparone, Irina Bogdanova, Journal of a Piano Teacher from New York to California, Lillian Freundlich, Murray Perahia, Patelson's, pedaling at the piano, pianist, pianists, piano, piano instruction, piano instructor, piano lesson, piano lessons, piano repertoire, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching, piano teaching repertoire, Piano World, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, playing piano, Ralph Kirkpatrick, Scarlatti Sonata in C Major K. 159, Scarlatti Sonata K. 113 in A Major, Schirmer's, Seymour Bernstein, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, shirley smith kirsten blog, Urtext, W.A. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Shrinking degrees of separation in the music world?

Posted on December 26, 2011 by

The musical universe is smaller than we think. And perhaps this writing will incubate a linked chain of “connections” that will go further– So here it is: Now that I’m well past my Oberlin Conservatory student years, I notice that … Continue reading →

Posted in Bel Kaufman, Claudio Arrau, Daniel Waitzman, Elaine Comparone, Eugene Lehner, Franz Mohr, Gerard Schwarz, Herbert Gardner, Indiana University, James Gardner actor, Leon Fleisher, Lillian Freundlich, Lillian Lefkofsky Freundlich, Marble Hill Projects, Marjorie Janove, Menahem Pressler, Murray Perahia, Raphael de Silva, Roselle Kemalyan, Samuel Gardner, Seagate, Seymour Bernstein, six degrees of separation, six degrees of separation in the music world, Theodor Leschetizky, Vladimir Horowitz | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What’s happened to music in churches, temples and other religious sanctuaries?

Posted on November 20, 2011 by

On this rainy Sunday morning in Fresno, California, I was surfing You Tube, looking for a spiritually poignant musical offering, and I knew there was one particular posting that was a source of inspiration. I had once replayed it to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cantata 78 by J.S. Bach performed at the First Moravian Church in New York City, classissima, classissima.com, Elaine Comparone, emotion in music, First Moravian Church in New York City, Fresno, Fresno California, Kol Nidre, memoir, Mozart, music and heart, music in churches, music in Jewish temples, music in religious services, music in synagogues, musical inspiration, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace, publishersmarketplace.com, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway M grand piano, the Crystal Cathdral, the Crystal cathedral, W.A. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word press, wordpress.com, Yom Kippur, you tube, You Tube Cantata no. 78 performed at the First Moravian Church in New York City, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Our Family’s Cultural Tradition: The last remnant of my NYC trip (Photos) with an update on the history of Russian piano factories

Posted on October 23, 2011 by

I scanned the memory card of NYC pics stored in my Sony digital camera and came across my mother, (on the extreme Left) and a few other key family members seated around a decorative party table. We were celebrating mom’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Bobby De Niro, Broadway theater, Elaine Comparone, Greenwich Village, Group Theater, John Garfield, Manhattan, Marble Hill Projects, New York, New York City, Off Broadway Theater, P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Aglow with creative fire: My NYC visit with harpsichordist, Elaine Comparone

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

The centerpiece of my trip back East this past weekend was meeting up with Elaine Comparone in her acoustically magnificent West Side apartment. Two splendid harpsichords of incomparable beauty, a custom made Dowd and Hubbard, graced a divinely resonant space … Continue reading →

Posted in Couperin, Domenico Scarlatti, Dowd Harpsichord, Elaine Comparone, Harpsichord Unlimited, J.S. Bach, Jean Phillipe Rameau, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

More trills, but bucolic and serene: Scarlatti’s d minor “pastorale” K. 9 (VIDEO)

Posted on February 27, 2011 by

Domenico Scarlatti Sonata K. 9 in d minor (the “pastorale”) The trills in K. 9 are far different than those permeating Scarlatti’s sonata K. 159 in C Major. The latter has a robust horn call opening with a lavish assortment … Continue reading →

Posted in Baroque trills, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Elaine Comparone, essercizi, Facebook, Frederic Chopin, Fresno, Fresno California, Juilliard, keyboard technique, memoir, mind body connection, music, music and heart, music appreciation classes, music history, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, my space, New York, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin, Oberlin Conservatory, pentachords, performance anxiety, piano, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, piano scales, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano teaching repertoire, piano technique, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, publishers marketplace, publishersmarketplace.com, scales, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, Steinway studio upright, talkclassical.com, teaching scales, the natural minor scale, trills, uk-piano-forums, video performances, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Piano Technique: Big Leaps, Crossed Hands, and shifty eyeballs (with slow motion video replay)

Posted on February 23, 2011 by

Prepare to exercise your eyeballs minus head movements when tackling large leaps, especially those hand over hand acrobatics that are intrinsic to many of Domenico Scarlatti’s sonatas. In the video I’ve isolated a few of these jumps from K. 113 … Continue reading →

Posted in arpeggios, athletic coaching, athletic training, California, cdbaby, classissima.com, counterpoint, Creative Fresno, Domenico Scarlatti, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, El Cerrito piano studio, Elaine Comparone, essercizi, Facebook, Fig Garden Village, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Fresno, Fresno California, fresno filmmakers alliance, gymnastics, harpsichord, humor, Internet, keyboard technique, Major and minor scales, mind body connection, MTAC, MTAC Baroque Festival, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, musicology, my space, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, pianist, piano, piano pedagogy, piano practicing, piano room, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technique, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld.com, ping pong balls, publishersmarketplace.com, scales, Scarlatti, Scarlatti Sonatas, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, sports, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, technique, Theory, trills, uk-piano-forums, video performances, videotaped replay, whole body music listening, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments