My duo piano partner sparks an Oberlin reunion with a long lost classmate!

Yesterday marked a special event in my life--a rekindled tie to an Oberlin Freshman dorm mate made possible by Anita, my 92-year old, 4-hand piano partner. A twenty-year donor/subscriber to Philharmonia Baroque (PBO) a celebrated Bay area-based orchestra, Anita had placed its glossy program brochure on the coffee tray right at our mid-point playing break.…

The sad news of Livia Rev’s passing at 101

If there ever was a pianist who embraced a style of playing that was in the service of sculpted phrases, regardless of wrist-breaking rules, it was Livia Rev. Her playing had choreographic freedom as she responded to the here and now of music-making, crafting phrases with a thoughtful relationship to what unfolded, in the before…

Music-sharing Par Duo in an “age-less” environment

It was no accident of fate that I spotted a 90 plus, sprightly woman on you tube who registered a wish to find a partner to play "4-hand piano." (It's a musical collaboration with two players at one instrument.) The posting, exciting my interest, had been hyper-linked from the Ashby Village (AV) website that details…

Debussy framed articles and videos enrich our study

It's always a blissful coincidence when a piano teacher discovers a wealth of contemporary commentary about a composer whose music is under study in a partnered learning environment. With a framing introduction about the creator, a mentor and pupil can journey beyond details of notation, fingering, harmony, to absorb context, history, and varying compositional approaches…

The “Best Interview” with Seymour Bernstein

Seymour's fan club encompasses a vast array of e-list recipients who feel the pulse of the pianist's response to a universe of infinite wonders. In a steady stream of emails FROM: see.less (not more--mour), TO: his many cyber-connected admirers, a cascade of attachments might contain a photo display of newborn puppies snuggling with a feline…

Jeanne Bamberger, 94, shares a rich and abundant musical life

A former student of legendary pianist, Artur Schnabel, Jeanne Shapiro Bamberger sat comfortably at her piano bench, nestled in her Berkeley Hills home. She meticulously traced her East to West Coast journey that's reached beyond the boundaries of piano performance. Through decades of creative discovery, Bamberger has synthesized elements of music and cognition; form, structure,…

Our individual musical study grows our piano teaching

For the past year I've devoted many daily hours to the study J.S. Bach's six French Suites while simultaneously keeping pace with my students' passage through diverse repertoire. The decision to take on this additional musical challenge apart from meeting my basic teacher obligations of being present at lessons; knowing the material assigned, and dispensing…

Attitude and Adult Piano Study

What is under-emphasized in discussions about satisfying piano study, is the role of a student's attitude toward lessons, practicing, and progress. Particularly within the realm of adult music learning, an individual's decision to return to a structured instructional environment after a weighty absence from childhood lessons will often attach a set of negative associations: 1)…

Pianist, Seymour Bernstein revisits the Schumann Arabesque at age 90

As I grappled with matters of tempo, mood, and interpretation in learning a Baroque era work, I found a kindred spirit in Seymour Bernstein who openly shared his introspective thoughts about re-thinking a well-known composition in the piano literature. Encapsulated in an e-mailed communication to his league of followers, Bernstein addresses the common temptation among…

My early learning efforts (J.S. Bach) under the influence of Peter Feuchtwanger

My students know that I say what I do, while they do as I say, with the understanding that we are perhaps interchanging the whole music learning process on an egalitarian basis. Therefore, it's no surprise that I regularly thank them for "teaching" me what I might otherwise have overlooked in my daily practicing. For…