When I relocated to Melbourne, Australia, from the United States in June of 2019, I was immediately struck by the sense of tradition and cultural reverence that was deeply felt and clearly acknowledged by new colleagues, acquaintances, and students. Recurrent themes included the widely held belief that curricula related to music studies were consta...
In my new role as Co-head of Keyboard at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in Australia, I find myself checking in frequently with colleagues here about the future of their students. Will they pursue graduate studies abroad? If so, in the US, Europe, or elsewhere? Do these students generally return "home" to Australia or do they remain abroad? ...
Introduction by Jerry Wong Years from now I suspect we will all have our own stories to tell of how we were affected by COVID-19. From my own perspective, colleagues in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan were the first to share updates of school closings and a new culture of all online, all the time. The situation took on a different reso...
My introduction to Seymour My earliest exposure to Seymour Bernstein came during childhood, after hearing several student performances of his beloved impressionistic suite, Birds. Inspired by one of Bernstein's own pupils, Birds charts the progress of a precocious student named Christopher as he moves towards specific pianistic goals—such as evenne...
Menahem Pressler, best known as the pianist of the unparalleled Beaux Arts Trio for more than fifty years and a revered Distinguished Professor at Indiana University's Jacob School of Music for even longer, continues a daunting schedule of performing and teaching. At age ninety-two, he shows no signs of slowing down, as plans for the future and the...
Each spring, I adjudicate festivals and write comments, review auditions for a summer program that I co-direct, and judge precollegiate competitions. Sitting with other pianists on these panels, the conversation is often something like: "Wasn't it wonderful the way Student X played repertoire at his or her level with polish and fine preparati...
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