Tag Archives: pianist

April 12 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1684 ~ Niccolo Amati, member of a family of violin makers in Cremona, Italy, died.

. 1904 ~ Lily (Alice) Pons, Singer

. 1905 ~ The Hippodrome opened in New York City with the gala musical revue, A Yankee Circus on Mars.

. 1913 ~ Lionel Hampton, American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, drummer and bandleader; played with Benny Goodman and recorded with Louis Armstrong. He was responsible for introducing the vibraphone into jazz.

. 1914 ~ George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion” opened in London with Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Eliza Doolittle and Sir Herbert Tree as Professor Higgins. This would later become the musical My Fair Lady by Lerner and Loewe.

. 1916 ~ Russ Garcia, Musician, composer, orchestra leader

. 1931 ~ Billy (Richard) Vaughn, Musician, orchestra leader, music director

. 1932 ~ Tiny Tim (aka Darry Dover, Larry Love) (Herbert Khaury), Ukulele playing, falsetto singer, best known for Tiptoe Through the Tulips

. 1933 ~ Monserrat Caballé (1933) Spanish opera singer and a leading Verdi and Donizetti soprano

. 1938 ~ Fedor Chaliapin, foremost Russian operatic bass singer and one of opera’s greatest performers, died.

. 1939 ~ One of the classic theme songs of the Big Band era was recorded for Decca. Woody Herman’s orchestra recorded Woodchopper’s Ball.

. 1940 ~ Herbie Hancock, Oscar-winning American jazz/fusion musician, pianist and composer

. 1950 ~ David Cassidy, Singer

OCMS 1954 ~ Bill Haley and His Comets recorded Rock Around the Clock for Decca Records. The song was recorded at the Pythian Temple, “a big, barnlike building with great echo,” in New York City. “Rock Around the Clock” was formally released a month later. It sold an estimated 25 million copies worldwide, making it the second biggest-selling single at the time behind Bing Crosby White Christmas
More information about Rock Around the Clock

. 1999 ~ BoxCar Willie, Country singing star, who blended a mellow voice with a rough- hewn hobo persona, died. He was 67.

April 11 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

1819 ~ Sir Charles Halle, German-born British pianist and conductor He settled in Manchester after being driven to England by the 1848 Revolution and in 1858 founded the famous Halle Orchestra.

. 1916 ~ Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian composer

. 1932 ~ Joel Grey, Entertainer

. 1938 ~ Kurt Moll, German bass

. 1938 ~ O.C. Cash founded SPEBSQS (The Society for the Preservation of Barbershop-Quartet Singing)

. 1956 ~ Elvis Presley reached the top spot on the Billboard music chart with his first double-sided hit. The disk featured Heartbreak Hotel and I Was the One. The RCA Victor record stayed at number one for eight weeks. Elvis also made the country and R&B charts, as well.

. 1961 ~ Bob Dylan made his professional singing debut in Greenwich Village’s Gerde’s Folk City. He sang Blowin’ in the Wind.

How to Behave at a Recital

Posted by MaryO on

recital

Student recitals can be lots of fun and create valuable experiences for pianists. Unfortunately, they can also be a source of anxiety or stress if students aren’t ready and/or guidelines aren’t followed.

There are guidelines and rules of behavior all performers and audience members should follow during recitals, concerts or other performances.

Audience members must remember the reason for their visit to the recital hall – to listen quietly, actively and appreciatively to the music being offered by the performers.

For the performer:

1.  Dress appropriately. Performers being nicely dressed (or following the recital theme) shows respect for the audience, the teacher and themselves!

Girls in knee-length or longer skirts/dresses or slacks.  No spaghetti straps, no platform shoes, flip-flops, bedroom slippers or athletic footwear.

Do not wear dangling, jingling jewelry – especially bracelets.  You may need to remove rings if they twist around easily.

Boys in dress pants and buttoned dress shirts with ties preferred, or suits.

IMPORTANT: Remember to practice several times in your outfit, shoes included.  You don’t want to get to the recital and find that you can’t use the pedal properly because of your shoes.

2. Clean hands!  Dirty, sticky, or oily fingers can hurt your performance and bother the next pianist. If you complete a long piece and notice some keys are slippery with sweat (a very common issue), notify your instructor so they can clean the keyboard before the next performer.

2. When it is your turn, stand quickly and walk up to the stage. Do not run!

Bow before you perform to acknowledge the applause. Audiences used to know that it was appropriate to clap for the musician who was entering the stage to perform. This now isn’t always the case (I will start clapping if it doesn’t happen automatically). Students should bow to their applauding audience before they sit down at the bench (not acknowledging applause is generally considered to be rude).

2.  Enter the bench from the side furthest from your audience. This was a biggie for my former piano teacher and I’m reminded of it every time I see a student slink in from the “front side”… or climb over the top. I used to think this was awfully stuffy – but when you see a student do it, it just looks right.

3.  Hands in your lap before you begin. I use this with my students to give them a moment to hear the first few measures in their mind before they begin.  Once fingers are on the keys it means you’re  ready to play. If the bench needs adjusting it should be done first… and then  hands should be placed in your lap before beginning to play.

Play the scale of the piece in your head and think over tempo, markings, etc. Then  arch your hands onto the piano and position  feet on the pedals or flat on the floor–NEVER under the stool. Proceed to play!

3. Should you make a mistake while performing, you should try to continue playing without starting over or repeating. This makes sufficient practice before the recital very Very VERY important!

If playing more than one piece, you should acknowledge applause in between with a nod or smile.

4.  Hands in lap after you finish. So many piano students are already lifting themselves off the bench as they play the final note (perhaps really eager to return to their seat in the audience!?) Learning to place your hands in your lap after finishing gives the audience a moment to truly relish what they just heard.

5.  Rise and stand at the edge of the piano (with left hand on the wood). Bow from the hips,  don’t curtsey. Bowing nicely takes practice!  In handbells, we bow towards the table and say silently “I love handbells”.  The same can be said in piano recitals – “I LOVE Piano”.

6.  Walk calmly off the stage or away from the piano.  No running… no matter how badly you want to get back to your seat!

For the audience:

Recitals are a special occasion and so it is customary to dress nicely.

• Please arrive a little early in order to find a comfortable place to sit.

• Make sure all your invited guests understand the importance of arriving on time. If they arrive late, it makes it difficult for those performing.

• Please invite as many friends and family members as you’d like. Our recital hall has lots of room, and can accomodate likely as many as you’d like to invite. And if not, then a standing room only crowd would be a fantastic crowd to have, and a wonderful problem to deal with!

• Turn off all cell phones and any electrical devices that may produce sound.

• Once the recital begins, please listen and be quiet. Crying babies should be taken out. They are not happy, and neither is the audience or the performer!

• If you arrive late, please wait to enter between pieces when you hear applause. Do not enter the recital hall or switch seats while someone is performing.

• The soloist will bow and your response is to applaud politely!

• No whistling, yelling, or other loud methods of congratulation. While boisterous congratulations are meant to show support for the performer, it may actually cause unintended problems instead. The best way to show appreciation for the performance is with thunderous applause, and an occasional “bravo” at the end of an especially great performance.

• Compositions that have movements or suites are, in general, performed without applause in the middle.

• Respect the performers. Unnecessary noise from whispering, talking, candy wrappers, etc. during a program is not acceptable. Reading, studying, and writing letters during a program are also inappropriate.

• Please stay until the performance or event is completely over. Attending a recital so that other families will serve as audience to your student, and then leaving before the other performers have finished is rude, inconsiderate and unacceptable. If you have other obligations or matters to attend to before the recital is over, please do not attend.

• Flash photography is not appropriate during a performance. The flash can disrupt the performer’s concentration.

• Enjoy! Your presence is the greatest affirmation!

For Everyone:

No Perfume!  Your perfume or cologne will linger around the piano after you leave the stage (especially under hot lights), and it might give the next pianist some sinus or eye irritation; or, at the very least, create a distraction that can prevent them from getting “in the zone.”

Parts of this article adapted from It’s The Little Things That Count… Piano Etiquette and Your Piano Students | Teach Piano Today

April 10 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1864 ~ Eugen d’Albert, British-born German pianist and composer

. 1885 ~ Sigmund Spaeth, American music scholar

. 1921 ~ Martin Denny, Composer, arranger, pianist

OCMS 1930 ~ Claude Bolling, French jazz pianist and composer
More information about Bolling

. 1927 ~ Ballet Macanique was presented for the first time at Carnegie Hall in New York City. This was the first symphonic work that called for an airplane propeller and other mechanical contraptions not normally associated with the ballet.

. 1953 ~ Eddie Fisher was discharged from the Army and arrived home to a nice paycheck of $330,000 in record royalties. Fisher sold 7 million records for RCA Victor while on furloughs. Anytime was just one of several hits recorded during his stint in the Army.

. 1970 ~ Officially resigning from The Beatles, Paul McCartney disbanded the most influential rock group in history at a public news conference. The Beatles hit, Let It Be, was riding high on the pop charts. The last recording for the group, The Long and Winding Road (also from the documentary film Let It Be), would be number one for two weeks beginning on June 13, bringing to a close one of contemporary music’s greatest dynasties.

April 9 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1886 ~ Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer, performed his debut piano concert in Barcelona.

. 1888 ~ Sol Hurok, Impresario

OCMS 1890 ~ Efram Zimbalist, Russian-born American violinist and composer
More information about Zimbalist

. 1898 ~ Paul Robeson, American bass. Known for his sympathy for Russia he had his passport revoked for many years. The song Ole Man River, whose words he changed to fit his views, became his signature song.

. 1906 ~ Antal Dorati, Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He was the first conductor to record all of Haydn’s symphonies.

. 1916 ~ Julian Dash, Jazz musician, tenor sax

. 1928 ~ Tom Lehrer, Songwriter

. 1932 ~ Carl Perkins, early American rock ‘n’ roll figure who originally recorded Blue Suede Shoes. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987

. 1940 ~ Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra, along with singer Helen O’Connell, recorded Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga for Decca Records.

. 1950 ~ Bob Hope hosted a Star-Spangled Review on NBC-TV. Hope became the highest- paid performer for a single show on TV. The Star-Spangled Review was a musical special.

. 1970 ~ Paul McCartney sought a High Court writ to wind up the Beatles business partnership, effectively ending the group’s career.

. 1977 ~ The Swedish pop group Abba made its debut at number one on the American pop charts, as Dancing Queen became the most popular record in the U.S.

. 1988 ~ Brook Benton passed away.  He was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences.

. 2001 ~ Graziella Sciutti, an Italian soprano and opera director best known for her interpretations of Mozart, died at the age of 68. Born in Turin, northern Italy, in 1932, Sciutti made her first operatic appearance at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France in 1951. She went on to perform under Herbert von Karajan at Milan’s La Scala. She was lead soprano at a smaller theatre at La Scala called La Piccola Scala for eight years from its inception in 1955. She became a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1960 and the following year made her debut in San Francisco in one of her most celebrated roles, as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. She began her directing career at Covent Garden in London and at the Glyndebourne Festival in England, where she directed and performed in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine in 1977. She then went on to direct in Canada and for the opera companies in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Dallas and Miami, as well as in Britain, Germany and Italy. She joined London’s Royal College of Music in the mid 1980s and continued to teach there until shortly before her death.

April 7 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1899 ~ Robert Casadesus, French pianist and composer

. 1908 ~ Percy Faith, Grammy Award-winning orchestra leader, composer

. 1915 ~ Billie Holiday, American jazz singer, born as Eleanora Fagan. She sang with all the American big band leaders of her day while developing her own intimate style.

. 1919 ~ Ralph Flanagan, Bandleader

. 1920 ~ Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist and composer

. 1925 ~ David Carr Glover, Piano Educator

. 1949 ~ Opening day of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “South Pacific”. It was a musical classic of love and war, and it unfolded on a lush tropical island swarming with Seabees, nurses, natives and coconut trees on this night in 1949. Actually, it was not a tropical island, but the stage of the Majestic Theatre in New York City. Ezio Pinza starred as the suave French plantation owner with a shady past and Mary Martin portrayed the bubbly, pretty, but naive Navy nurse. Mary Martin washed her hair a zillion times as she sang, I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair in 1,925 performances.

. 1950 Tony Awards went to the show and its producers, performers, director (Joshua Logan) and composers nine statuettes. It also earned a Pulitzer Prize in the same year and in 1958 was made into a movie.
More about Mary Martin

. 1951 ~ Janis Ian, Singer-songwriter

. 1954 ~ Gee, by The Crows, became the first rhythm and blues single to gain attention on pop music charts.

. 1973 ~ Vicki Lawrence got her number one single as The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia made it to the top of the pop charts on this day.

. 1987 ~ Maxine Sullivan (Marietta Williams) passed away

April 6 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1895 ~ Waltzing Matilda, one of Australia’s best-known tunes written by bush poet Banjo Paterson, was first publicly performed at a hotel in the remote northern town of Winton.

. 1913 ~ ‘Pappy’ Wade Ray, Country entertainer/musician with the Grand Ole Opry

. 1917 ~ George M. Cohan wrote Over There, which became the chief marching song for World War I

. 1924 ~ Mimi (Miriam) Benzell, Opera singer, mezzo-soprano

. 1924 ~ Dorothy Donegan, Jazz pianist

. 1925 ~ Eddie Cantor recorded the standard, If You Knew Susie, for Columbia Records. There was none classier.

. 1927 ~ Gerry Mulligan, Jazz musician, composer

. 1929 ~ Edison Denisov, Soviet composer

OCMS 1929 ~ André Previn, German-born American pianist, composer and conductor, Known as a classical orchestral conductor, notably of Shostakovich, he also conducted and scored film music and arrangements, Oscar-winning film scores: Gigi, Porgy and Bess, Irma La Douce, My Fair Lady, Washington Honored Eastwood, Baryshnikov, Domingo, Berry, 2000
More information about Previn

. 1931 ~ Little Orphan Annie, the comic strip character developed by Harold Gray, came to life on the NBC Blue network. About 5 decades later, the comic strip inspired a Broadway play and a movie, both titled, Annie.

. 1937 ~ Merle Haggard, American country-music singer, songwriter, fiddler and guitarist, CMA Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year (1970)

. 1944 ~ Michelle Phillips (Holly Michelle Gilliam), Singer with The Mamas and the Papas

. 1956 ~ Capitol Tower, the home of Capitol Records in Hollywood, CA, was dedicated. The building was the first circular office tower designed in America. It is 13 stories tall and 92 feet in diameter. At night, a light at the tip of the tower blinks the letters “H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D” in Morse Code.

. 1971 ~ Igor Stravinsky, Russian-born composer, died in New York. One of the 20th Century’s leading musical figures and most famous for his ballets “The Rite of Spring” and “Petrushka.”

. 1971 ~ Rolling Stone Records was formed to promote the hits of The Rolling Stones. The famous Stones trademark, the lips logo, became widely used. Brown Sugar was the first hit by the Rolling Stones on the new label, followed by Wild Horses, Tumbling Diceand Start Me Up.

. 1973 ~ The Stylistics received a gold record for their ballad hit, Break Up to Make Up. The Philadelphia soul group placed 10 hits on the pop charts in the 1970s. More of their gold record winners include: You Are Everything, Betcha By Golly Wow, I’m Stone in Love With You and You Make Me Feel Brand New.

. 1974 ~ The first concert film featuring a soundtrack in quadraphonic sound opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre.

. 1985 ~ The country group, Alabama, went five-for-five as the album 40 Hour Week grabbed the top spot on the Billboard country chart. The group had a number one album for each of the previous five years. The popularity of the quartet (three are cousins from Fort Payne, AL) continues today.

. 1994 ~ Dick Cary passed away.  He was an American jazz pianist, trumpet and alto horn player, and prolific arranger and composer.

. 1998 ~ Tammy Wynette, known as “The First Lady of Country Music” and world- renowned for her hit Stand by Your Man, died aged 55.

. 2001 ~ Daniel J. “Danny” Gaither, the original tenor voice of the former Bill Gaither Trio, died after a five-year battle with lymphoma. He was 62. He joined the Bill Gaither trio when he turned 18. His brother, Bill, led the group, and his younger sister, Mary Ann, was the group’s original female singer. Danny Gaither traveled with the family trio for about 10 years until the early 1980s, when he started doing solo work. Problems with his vocal chords forced him to give up his solo career about 10 years later. Danny Gaither won several Grammy and Dove awards for his work. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in April 1999.

. 2016 ~ Merle Ronald Haggard died.  He was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, fiddler, and instrumentalist

April 3 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1859 ~ Reginald De Koven, Composer

. 1895 ~ Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-born American composer

. 1897 ~ Johannes Brahms, German composer and pianist, died. He wrote four symphonies as well as concerti for piano and violin and highly-esteemed chamber works.

. 1924 ~ Doris Day, Singer

. 1942 ~ Wayne Newton, American singer of popular music

. 1944 ~ Tony Orlando, Singer, Tony Orlando and Dawn

. 1948 ~ Garrick Ohlsson, American pianist, winner of Poland’s Frederic Chopin piano competition in 1970. More about this competition.

. 1949 ~ Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis debuted on radio in an NBC program that ran until 1952.

. 1950 ~ Kurt Weil, German composer, died, best known for his “Threepenny Opera” and for his collaboration with actress and singer Lotte Lenya whom he married in 1926.

. 1952 ~ Harry Belafonte recorded his first songs for RCA Victor at Manhattan Center in New York City.

. 1952 ~ Hugo Winterhalter backed up the singer with an 18-piece orchestra. Among the sides recorded were Dogs A-Roving and Chimney Smoke.

. 1955 ~ Fred Astaire appeared on television for the first time on The Toast of the Town, with host, Ed Sullivan. Already an established dancer in films, Astaire was quick to become a TV sensation as well.

. 1965 ~ Bob Dylan appeared on the pop music charts for the first time. Subterranean Homesick Blues entered the Top 40 at number 39. The song stayed on the charts for eight weeks. Dylan would chart a total of 12 singles on the pop charts between 1965 and 1979. He appeared in the films Don’t Look Back, Eat the Document and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. He made the film Renaldo and Clara in 1978. Dylan co-starred in the film Hearts of Fire in 1987. He became a member of the Traveling Wilburys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Dylan won the Grammy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991.

. 1986 ~ For the first time in six years, major record companies decided to raise prices – between three and five percent.

. 1986 ~ Peter Pears, British operatic tenor, died. He was a collaborator with composer Benjamin Britten and first interpreter of many of Britten’s works, notably “Peter Grimes.”

. 1990 ~ Sarah Vaughan passed away

. 1999 ~ Lionel Bart, British composer of the musical “Oliver!,” died aged 68.

. 2001 ~ Lester “Big Daddy” Kinsey, a blues singer-guitarist known for his croaky voice, died of prostate cancer. He was 74. Kinsey and his sons, Kenneth, Donald and Ralph, became known as “Big Daddy” Kinsey and His Fabulous Sons. The sons now form the Gary-based Kinsey Report and record for Alligator Records, a Chicago blues label. The Kinsey Report has toured with the likes of the Allman Brothers Band. In the early ’90s, the elder Kinsey experienced one of his career highlights with I Am the Blues, a major-label release on Polygram. The album boasted a host of blues standouts backing up Kinsey, including Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Sugar Blue and Pinetop Perkins.

2015 ~ Andrew Porter died.  He was a renowned music critic and scholar and translator of opera.

April 2 in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

. 1826 ~ Charles-Valentin Alkan made his public performance debut at the piano, in Paris

. 1851 ~ Adolph Brodsky.  He was a Russian Empire violinist

. 1905 ~ Kurt Herbert Adler, Austrian-born American conductor and opera director

. 1912 ~ Herbert Mills, Singer with The Mills Brothers

. 1939 ~ Marvin Gaye, American soul singer and songwriter, inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987

. 1941 ~ Leon Russell, American rock singer songwriter and instrumentalist

. 1942 ~ Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded American Patrol for Victor Records. The jitterbug tune became one of Miller’s most requested hits.

. 1947 ~ Emmylou Harris, Grammy Award-winning singer for Elite Hotel in 1976 and Blue Kentucky Girl in 1978.

. 1963 ~ Best Foot Forward opened in New York City. Liza Minnelli was the lead actress in this off-Broadway revival of the show which enjoyed a run of 224 performances.

. 1964 ~ The Beach Boys recorded their next single ‘I Get Around’, which became their first US No.1 in the summer of this year. The song begins with a multi-part a cappella introduction that quickly shifts into rock-style verses sung by Mike Love and a pop chorus sung in falsetto by Brian Wilson

. 1977 ~ Stevie Wonder’s tribute to Duke Ellington, Sir Duke, was released.

. 1985 ~ A day after its release, the album, We are the World, was certified gold with sales in excess of 500,000 copies.

. 1987 ~ One of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, Buddy Rich died aged 69 due to complications caused by a brain tumour. Rich worked with many acts including, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey’s band, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. Rush’s Neil Peart organized a pair of 90s tribute albums (titled Burning for Buddy), which also featured the work of Kenny Aronoff, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Max Roach, Steve Smith and Matt Sorum.

A New Way to Learn: Piano Gloves!

Posted by MaryO on
JoyTunes Piano Gloves

JoyTunes Piano Gloves

I thought this would surely interest all piano teachers and lovers out there – JoyTunes’ just came out with new piano teaching GLOVES!

Take a look in the clip and share it to all piano lovers everywhere.

The JoyTunes gloves, still in beta version, will turn you into Mozart in the blink of an eye! Don’t know how to play piano? These gloves will take you from 1 note to Beethoven in a flash. Our gloves allow your hands to auto magically bend and move to play any song your heart desires! Check out the video for more info.

Want to get your own pair of gloves? Purchase them here: http://www.joytunes.com/gloves