Spring 2021: Pupil Saver: Adagio in F Minor by Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Spring 2021; Vol. 13, No. 1
Can you imagine performing a piece by a Black composer who was born into slavery? What a piece of history you would have at your fingertips! Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745–1799) was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, and composer. Born in Guadeloupe, his father was a wealthy plantation owner...
Professional Associations: Your Indispensable Resource for Musicians’ Health Information
Spring 2021; Vol. 13, No. 1
As an eager college student majoring in piano, I felt it was a badge of honor to practice eight hours a day on the weekends. I thought I was doing what every dedicated music major was supposed to be doing. In those days there was...
Celebrating 70 Years of Composing: An Interview with American Icon Eugénie Rocherolle
Spring 2021; Vol. 13, No. 1
Rocherolle’s impressive musical output over her long career is both broad and substantial. She has composed a total of 678 individual pieces and 108 collections for solo piano as well as chamber music with piano. In addition, Rocherolle has published some forty choral pieces, four...
Spring 2021: Questions and Answers
Spring 2021; Vol. 13, No. 1
Q: I’ve enjoyed your Frances Clark Center webinars on preparation activities. I am unsure of what activities I should do with and without the keyboard and would appreciate some specific ideas and guidance. A: The key element in preparation activities is experience! Before encountering a new musical...
Summer 2021: Questions & Answers
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
Q. My elementary students want to explore the piano pedals, but they are too small to reach without straining or dangling off the bench. What do you recommend? A. The piano pedals are certainly wonderful for the resonance and color they provide, and this does spark interest...
Brahms Rediscovered: The Solo Piano Transcription of His Last Opus by Busoni
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
When Clara [Schumann] suffered a series of strokes in 1895, Brahms realized that the woman he had always loved could not live forever…His deepest feelings about her are revealed in his last great songs, the Vier ernste Gesänge, written in May 1896, as she lay dying in Frankfurt… Clara’s death came on...
Reflections on the Frances Clark Center 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
The Lifetime Achievement Award has only been bestowed ten times since 1983. It is the Frances Clark Center’s highest honor and is presented to individuals who have made substantial and enduring contributions to the field of piano pedagogy. At the NCKP 2021 Virtual Piano Conference, four individuals will be honored...
D. E. I.: “I, Too,”
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
I know. Maybe you’re pondering if this article will discuss how to engage students in music reading using the Middle C approach included in many pedagogical methods and piano theory manuals? However, the article’s title is inspired by the initial words of Langston Hughes’ poem I Too— “I, too, sing America.” (Hughes,...
NCKP 2021 Conference and Preconference Previews
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
In our spring 2021 issue we previewed some of the daylong preconference sessions in which attendees of the virtual conference can participate in July. Below, we follow-up on two more exciting preconference days and highlight a new conference track featuring presentations in Spanish and Portuguese, with...
Lessons with Slenczynska
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
My heart pounded as I stepped out of the elevator of the 27th floor and nervously approached the West End Avenue apartment in New York City where Madame Ruth Slenczynska worked and lived. “What was I thinking to ask to take a lesson from the...
Tips for Healthy Remote Teaching
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
While preparing for the 2021 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, members of the Committee on Wellness for the Pianist collaborated to establish wellness tips specifically for teachers. At the beginning of the pandemic, most students and instructors were obliged to cope with the challenge of...
Tech Gear for Online Lessons and Recording
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
The circumstances of the pandemic taught teachers in 2020 and 2021 to be creative and use technology in ways that they might not have otherwise. While there appears to be a relative return to normalcy and face-to-face lessons in sight, we have learned a lot this past year in order to...
How Slow is Slow? A Practical Guide for Implementing Slow Practice
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
Many years ago, my undergraduate piano professor, Dr. Robin Hancock, told me a story regarding the pre-recital preparation of his teacher, the legendary pianist Anthony di Bonaventura. My teacher sneaked into the Tsai Performance Center at Boston University and hid behind the chairs, eager to find out what Mr. Di Bonaventura did...
Summer 2021: Pupil Saver: Russian Dancer
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
The Janice K. Hodges Contemporary Piano Competition and Festival held annually in San Antonio, TX, is unique in its focus on twentieth- and twenty-first century repertoire. Norman Dello Joio’s (1913–2008) “Russian Dancer,” the sixth piece from his Lyric Pieces for the Young, appeared as a...
Summer 2021: Book Review: The Lost Pianos of Siberia
Summer 2021; Vol. 13, No. 2
As you read this review, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere; I expect the days are warm, possibly humid, and you’re enjoying, I hope, being outside in the sunshine. As I write this, I’m ensconced in blankets, a warm sweater, and scarves (yes, multiple),...