Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Ives

Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Ives (2006)

Tracklist:

  • J.S. Bach - Partita #1 in B Flat Major, BWV 821
  • Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata in C Major, Opus 2 #3
  • Robert Schumann - Humoreske
  • Charles Ives - Second Piano Sonata - III. The Alcotts

Total playing time: 70:03


This CD is a collection of pieces I really love, by composers I deeply admire, and having spent a long time working on each of them, I felt a good next step would be to record them. The recording process, at Futura in Roslindale (a former Masonic Temple complete with weird neo-classical paintings) was both wonderful and challenging, and I learned so much about the pursuit of a perfect, on-the-record performance. The joy was that I loved playing these pieces, and loved playing them on the beautiful Steinway at Futura.

Weather Score Sheet Music

Weather Scores (2009/2010)

Excerpts:

  • Navigating into a New Night
  • Stormy Weather, Internal Storms

A CD of these works is planned for release in the near future.

In the winter of 2008-2009, I met artist Nathalie Miebach through a student of mine and a professor at Mass Art, Matthew Hincman, who was on the board of the Berwick Research Institute, where Nathalie was at that time Artist-in-Residence. A sculptor who works with basket weaving techniques and materials as well as data she collects herself, Nathalie was branching out into musical notation, literally graphing her data (in this case, weather data) onto manuscript paper, and then asking musicians to play what they see.

These scores contain an immense amount of information, more even, in a a way, than a standard score made by a trained composer. Coming to them as a pianist with experience with graphic notation of the type pioneered by John Cage and other experimental composers, I felt very comfortable interacting with them and finding ways to turn them into fully realized performances. Nathalie communicates her personal experiences during the period when the data is collected, creating the opportunity for exploring the cyclical relationship between one's life and mood and the weather. Her openness to the musician's free exploration of the material presented in the scores makes it possible for every performance of the score to be totally different, depending on the musician's personal approach to it.

Dance Themed CD

Dance Themed CD (Coming Soon)

Expected Tracklist:

  • Claude Debussy - L'Isle Joyeuse (1904)
  • J.S. Bach - Overture in the French Style (Partita) in B Minor, BWV 831 (by 1733)
  • Charles Ives - Waltz-Rondo (1911)
  • Frederic Chopin - Polonaise, Opus 44 in F sharp minor (1841)
  • Alberto Ginastera - Suite de Danzas Criollas (1946)

CD coming soon!

This program was inspired by Stravinsky's insistence that no matter how dissonant or complex a composition gets, the music must still sing and dance. This gets at the deeper purpose of music for me, especially when I'm teaching - I always want my students to feel rhythms in their whole bodies to understand them. I think the physical act of singing a melody, or clapping or dancing out a rhythm, is what music is all about, and it's shockingly easy to detach from these essential elements while playing the piano. All the pieces on this program are related to dance in one way or another. It's a clear link because composers throughout history have been inspired by existing dance forms - the traditional rhythms everyone knows and understands gives the composer an immediate connection to his or her listeners.