| WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY | ||||||
| 9:00 | Welcoming remarks and morning reception |
Gordon Marsh Lecture/Recital: “Beyond the Mainstream: A Deep Dive into Fauré's Pianism"
This lecture-recital examines unique characteristics of Fauré's piano works, music often
overlooked in favor of works by more mainstream composers. Delving into his innovative style, we focus
on a selection of mature and late works, explore technical and interpretive challenges, and propose
insights from Matthay principles.
|
|
||||||
| 10:00 | Elizabeth Lauer
Lecture/Recital:"What Stimulates the Musical Imagination?" The program features works for piano—in particular how they came about—that Lauer has composed over decades. Significant among the several spurs to composing that will be demonstrated are Lauer’s studying—which she began as an adult—with Julian DeGray. The repertoire comprises beginner pieces through larger works. |
[Session begins at 10:15] Stephen Siek: "The Americanization of Sergei Rachmaninoff" Prompted by the sesquicentennial of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninoff, the year 2024 witnessed a spate of books and articles examining both his life and his music. But no such book has received greater praise than Fiona Maddocks’s Goodbye, Russia: Rachmaninoff in Exile, which became available in the U.S. in late summer (the Kindle version appeared last January). Maddocks provides an extensive chronicle of Rachmaninoff’s years from 1918 when he landed in New York, to 1943 when he died in Beverly Hills, and though her focus is broader than his residency in the U.S., a remarkable portrait of his assimilation to American tastes and customs emerges. Some brief examples include his admiration for jazz and his friendship with pop bandleader Paul Whiteman (whose orchestra he viewed as a “remarkable organization”), and his affinity for American business practices, as evidenced by his decades-long friendship with Igor Sikorsky (considered by many to be the inventor of the modern helicopter), who made him the first vice-president of his Long Island-based aircraft company. Maddocks also provides extensive detail concerning Rachmaninoff’s recording contracts with Victor, terms so generous that just three years after he arrived virtually penniless in New York, he was able to relocate to 33 Riverside Drive, the city’s most fashionable residence, where George and Ira Gershwin even maintained penthouses. |
Recital by the Winners of the 2024 Clara Wells Fellowship Awards Beethoven: Allegretto from Sonata in D minor, op. 31, no. 2 "Tempest" Chopin: Andante spianato & Grande Polonaise brillante, op. 22 Allison Lin Messiaen: Île de feu 1 from Quatre Études de rythme Messiaen: Les sons impalpables du rêve from Préludes Messiaen: Un reflet dans le vent from Préludes Granados: El amor y la Muerte from Goyescas Lyndon Ji |
Anton Nel Master Class with the Winners of the 2024 Clara Wells Fellowship Awards |
|||||
| 11:00 |
Stewart Gordon Keynote Address: "Changing Times and Neglected Composers" Dr. Gordon will share insights gleaned from his years of service at the University of Southern California in USC's s DEI Intitiative. He will address the keyboard literature of many neglected composers, some of African descent, composers of Latin American countries, from Asian countries, as well as composers from Turkey, Australia, Panama, Middle-Europe, Nordic Countries, South American and Caribbean composers. |
Mark Anderson The Piano Music by Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) Julklapp (Weinachtsgabe), Op.12 (1875) Dolce Far Niente “The Sweetness of Doing Nothing”, Op.60 (1909) Passacaglia and Fugue (1911) |
Stewart Gordon Lecture: "Performing Beethoven's Sonatas" Dr. Gordon offers an exploration of his widely praised Beethoven's 32 Piano Sonatas: A Handbook for Performers (OUP. 2017), highly acclaimed for the historical insights and practical instructional tools he offers for interpreting the Sonatas. |
Anton Nel Master Class cont. | |||||
| 12:15 |
LUNCH (on your own) |
LUNCH
|
LUNCH |
LUNCH | |||||
| 2:00 |
[Session begins at 1:30] Terry McRoberts Matthay Core: "Brahms’s Op. 118 Revisited from a Matthay Perspective" This session will include a discussion of how to prepare and perform these works using Matthay principles to create the desired sounds with appropriate physical ease. Musical examples will illustrate the principles discussed, and the selections will be performed in their entirety. In twenty years since I gave a presentation on these works at the Festival at King College in Tennessee, my study of Matthay principles, and pupils, and silence have given me new perspectives. |
David Abbott Lecture/Recital: "Pianistic Intersections between Matthay and Rachmaninoff" In 1895, Matthay performed a then unknown work, “Prelude in C-Sharp minor” by the equally little-known composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. While it is likely Matthay may have heard Rachmaninoff perform in London in subsequent years, there is little doubt that he clearly was drawn to the achingly beautiful melodies and rich sonorities of Rachmaninoff’s deeply passionate and expressive music. At last year’s 2024 AMAP conference, a panel presented a preliminary discussion of Matthay and the Russian School. At this year’s 2024 conference, performances of Rachmaninoff’s two piano suites will be given along with a survey of his four hand works. Stephen Siek will also present a lecture on the “Americanization of Rachmaninoff.” In part because of these presentations, I've chosen to pursue this examination of Rachmaninoff with a lecture recital examining three selected works of Preludes and one Etude Tableau with an aim to demonstrate how some of Matthay’s technical concepts at the keyboard directly intersect with solutions for preparing this physically challenging music for performance. |
Richard Becker Lecture/Recital: Richard Becker: "Nine Inventions to the Muses" (2022) The "Inventions" were an offshoot of recent research I did for my poems related to the Scylla Myth soon to be completed. They were begun in 2021, finished in 2022, and presented at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts during two separate month-long VCCA residencies. Chopin, Schumann, Debussy and Stravinsky have been strong influences. I'll also be performing my "Nocturne" (1991) from Seven Piano Fantasies of which the Nocturne is fifth. It was composed at and after a two-month residency at MacDowell Colony. |
Jordan Karrigan Lecture/Recital: "Beethoven: Why Bother?" It is human nature to seek novelty in life. In an ever-changing world of musicians, composers, and scholars who seek new works and ideas, what is the purpose in preserving and programming commonly known works such as Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor, op. 57 “Appassionata” in the modern day? Being as well-known as it is, there are still many unique features that made it stand out as a musical innovation in its day such as the tragic musical content, unorthodox use of harmonies and formal structure when compared to works of his contemporaries, and the ways Beethoven pushed the limits of the piano. Though music has drastically changed since the early 1800s, performers, scholars, and audiences are still drawn to this work due to its immediacy of expression and defiance of stylistic conventions. This presentation will explore the Appassionata’s reception history from its conception to the present day. Included will be Beethoven’s compositional approach, how theorists Heinrich Schenker, Arnold Schoenberg, and Patricia Carpenter have analyzed the Appassionata’s structure, and others’ philosophical interpretations. It is important to look to the past to understand the present and for hints of where the future will lead. In response to the festival’s theme of “Matthay and Changing Times,” the topic of artworks’ durability is fitting. I hope to share the many reasons why this work is worth continuing to study and perform. |
|||||
| 3:00 |
[Session begins at 2:45] Ivy Lu Wang Matthay Core: "The Evolution of Piano Technique: Tracing the Pedagogical Journey from the Finger School to Tobias Matthay"
This presentation delves into the historical evolution of piano technique, spanning from the
Finger School in the early 18th century to the groundbreaking contributions of Tobias Matthay.
I will provide a concise overview of teaching methods employed by influential figures such as
Clementi, Hummel, Czerny, Cramer, Logier, Kalkbrenner, the Lebert-Start School, Ludwig
Deppe, and Leschetizky. It is important to understand the deep roots of the finger school
traditions and how the gradual changes in the historical progression of musical needs, the
development of fortepiano mechanisms, and the recognition of sound and tone qualities led to
innovative discoveries throughout the 20th century. The focus will particularly be on Matthay's
revolutionary impact on piano technique and teaching.
Specific examples from Matthay's Occasional Exercises will be employed to enhance the
understanding of his innovations in piano playing. Through analysis of the transformative
journey of piano technique from the early 18th century to the beginning of modern piano
technique development, a comprehensive understanding of Matthay’s visionary map on piano
playing will be explained. |
[Session begins at 3:15] Aiko Onishi "On Teaching Creativity and Imagination"
A pupil of Cécile Genhart and Frank Mannheimer, Aiko Onishi has distinguished herself as one of the world's great teachers. She will offer some rare insights garnered from a lifetime of guiding extraordinary artists to pianistic success.
|
[Session begins at 2:30]:
Jim Lees Lecture/Recital: "Eastern Parallels" This session explores Asian influences on 20th and 21st-century "classical" piano music, both intended or (in my mind) implied. The examples I'm using are Pagodes (1903) by Claude Debussy, Palabunibunyan (2020) by the young Filipino composer Jimuel Dave Dagta, the Visionary Landscapes (Op. 214) of Alan Hovhannes, and Elliott Carter's Caténaires (2006). |
"Open Mic" Program for AMAP Members Chopin: Impromptu in F-sharp, op. 36 Chopin: Nocturne in B, op. 62, no. 1 Stephen Siek |
|||||
| 4:00 |
Annual Meeting of the AMAP Board of Governors |
Annual Meeting of AMAP |
| 7:45 |
Steven Herbert Smith |
Schubert: Sonata in B-flat, D. 960 John Beall: Vandalia Suite (2004-08) Beethoven: Sonata in F minor, op. 57 "Appassionata"
Jocelyn Chang and
Phillip Young |
All Rachmaninoff Program Russian Rhapsody (1891) Suite No. 1, op. 5 Suite No. 2, op. 14 Symphonic Dances, op. 45
Anton Nel |
Chaminade: Theme varié in A, op. 89 J. S. Bach: Partita in B-flat Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Debussy: Estampes Beethoven: Sonata in C, op. 53 "Waldstein" | |
Back to American Matthay Association Home Page