During the past twenty or so years,most professional pianists and piano teachers have noticed the influx of Asian pianists. They appear at piano recitals and competitions locally and internationally, often comprising the majority of the performers. The names of Yundi Li, Yuja Wang, and certainly Lang Lang are better known today than most past giant...

"East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet" may have held some truth in 1889, when Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem The Ballad of East and West, but the phrase has little relevance in 2012. World-wide communication, increased travel, and global industry have made our planet avery small place. So it's...

I first met Toshie Okada and her two daughters, Emi, and Tamami on the rocky mountain path between Ptarmigan and Owl cabins at Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado. Toshie and I had exchanged excited e-mails about the prospect of her two daughters coming to the United States from Japan to attend the first Junior Seminar Session at the C...

I remember well standing backstage in Kansas City in the 1970s after a recital of the French soprano Régine Crespin and hearing her admonish an over-eager admirer who gushed that her Carmen was the best since the immortal Calve. "Comparisons are odious," Crespin said with grandeur." I wish to be considered unique in all things." But to educato...