Nikolai Medtner's Heavenly Music Creations
Eight Mood Pictures, Op. 1 "An angel was flying through the midnight sky, singing softly; and the moon, and the stars, and the clouds in a throng hearkened to that holy song. He sang of the bliss of innocent spirits in the shade of the gardens of paradise; of the great God he sang, and his praise was unfeigned. In his arms he carried a young soul, destined for a world of sorrow and tears; and the sound of his song, without words but alive, stayed in the young soul. And for a
The Honest Truth: Thoughts on Practicing vs. Performing
Earlier this month, I shared a quote that I said to a student on my Facebook page: "We perform too much when we practice and practice too much when we perform." While I am well aware that this concept is not novel and it may seem glaringly obvious to many musicians, I shared it because the quote expresses, in a concise and succinct manner, my thoughts on the differences between practicing vs. performing. Nonetheless, I continue to be fascinated that many musicians (myself inc
Three Thoughts on Master class Teaching
I just returned from presenting a master class last weekend at the University of Chicago. I had a great time visiting their beautiful campus and working with the brilliant piano students. For me, giving master classes have always been a challenge in comparison to teaching my own students at Miami University. In this type of setting, teachers must present their thoughts in a clear, concise, and convincing manner to make a quick impression with students they have not met before
Top Vacation Destinations for Classical Music Lovers: Villa d'Este
We are on the home stretch here at Miami University! With the end of the semester rapidly approaching, I hear talks about summer and vacation plans with friends and colleagues. So I started thinking: why not write my next blog post on desired travel destinations that are inspired by musical works? To me, performing works that are based on a particular landmark or destination and then having the opportunity to visit the site are interesting phenomena to me. The questions that
