With the passage of years, I don't find memorization more difficult, but....different. When I was a teenager, I had a near-perfect visual memory and could memorize pieces just by mentally looking at the score when I played without the music. Until I had catastrophic memory slips in recital, that is. Then I learned to listen, to develop tactile memory, to understand what was going on in the form of the work, and to feel my way through the piece as well. Every five years or so I need to completely revamp the way I memorize.  Angela Hewitt's article on memory in the Guardian looks at her o ..read more

Erika Switzer, Director of the Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship Katie Rossiter sends along the following information regarding Bard Conservatory's collaborative piano fellowship: The Bard College Conservatory is seeking applicants for three fellowship positions in the Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowship, a two-year fellowship program designed to give professional experience to pianists who have a strong interest in becoming collaborative artists, with the ultimate aim of easing the transition between school and the working world of a collaborative p ..read more

Every seven years, The Royal Conservatory launches a new edition of its Piano Syllabus and Celebration Series in order to reflect new directions in piano pedagogy and to refresh the many selections available for developing pianists to learn. The kickoff event for the new series and syllabus is Music Lights the Way on Wednesday, April 27 in Koerner Hall at The Royal Conservatory in Toronto. Pianists appearing include Steward Goodyear, Lang Lang, Angela Hewitt, Jan Lisiecki, Tony Yike Yang, Heather Schmidt, and Dianne Werner-Simon.  The in-person event is sold out, but you can still regis ..read more

Those of you who are interested in exploring the extensive violin and piano repertoire might be interested in attending duo526's week-long Sonata Seminar at the end of May hosted by the Jacobs Academy at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. This is a fantastic opportunity for those interested in deepening their ensemble skills and knowledge of the art of ensemble with violin and piano.  Some information from the website: duo526 Sonata Seminar @ IU offers an intensive five-day performance seminar to explore the art of listening for both pianists and violinists. Since 2018, duo526 ..read more

Since the start of the pandemic, many classical musicians have made a shift away from traditional classical music work, in whole or in part. Clarinettist Zach Manzi writes about his experience on why he left the profession:  As much as I’ve felt like a failure over the last almost two years, I don’t regret my choice. I wish it was more normalized to move on from music as a profession , but there’s so much shame around “quitting.” I wish I’d known earlier that moving on would allow me to grow in ways that would not have been possible if I stayed. I’ve been working to know myself apart f ..read more

One of the areas that musicians continually need to improve in is the art of managing our time, including with practicing, studying, and admin work. On a recent edition of the Bebop Mädchen podcast, Jens Emil Jensen talks about his experiences managing his time as a musician: For those who aren't familiar with the methodologies that Jens talks about: The Pomodoro Technique is a system of breaking down units of work into 25-minute blocks, with a 5-minute rest between them. Every four Pomodoros, take a longer 15-30 minute break.  GTD is a system developed by David Alle ..read more

Ana Maria Otamendi sends along some information about this summer's Collaborative Piano Institute at LSU: It is my pleasure once again to invite your students to apply to the sixth edition of the Collaborative Piano Institute, which will take place between June 5th - 25th 2022 at Louisiana State University. Our program is open to all pianists who are interested in the collaborative arts, from undergraduate students to professionals.  NEW IN 2022! CPI, the Vocal Academy, and the Collaborative Strings Institute are accepting applications for duos, trio ..read more

"In reorienting our systems toward diversity, equity, and inclusion, we inherently acknowledge that it takes more than perseverance to overcome such obstacles. Whereas the internal fortitude of perseverance costs energy, such that we may acquire emotional debt, systemic change universally invests in its constituents through equitable treatment and compensation, making resilience an institutionally supported commodity. In the meantime, as we persevere, resilience must be cultivated by individuals and within communities. In my own work, the essential elements of collaborative resilience are r ..read more

Maddalena Deichmann from the Trentino Music Festival sends along the following information about the festival's new collaborative program: Trentino Music Festival is an international Young Artist Program that runs every summer in the beautiful Dolomiti region in Trentino, Italy.  The program has been growing exponentially in its many seasons, and we are now launching a collaborative piano program - offering a few positions with fully scholarshipped tuition and housing provided. The successful candidates will live among a culturally rich international community of talented young artist ..read more

Here are some links to articles on practicing that might enliven your time in the practice room: Tricky Corners: Tension Breaks - Melanie Spanswick on how to build small moments of release into your playing, using as an example the Chopin Black Keys etude. Why this is important: Students often find the concept of tension breaks challenging. What do I mean by this expression? Most pianists understand the idea of tension and release; we need a certain amount of tension in our bodies to play a note or a group of notes, but the second (or millisecond) the note or notes have been played, we must ..read more