A follow-up to my earlier article What Is Practice? Debussy: 12 Etudes – No. 1. Pour les cinq doigts (For the five fingers) No. 11. Pour les arpèges composés (For written arpeggios) “Practice Makes Perfect” is an over-used phrase, familiar
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My first concert experience in 2019 began in Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang province. There, at the crescent-shaped Hangzhou Grand Theatre by the Qiantang River, I celebrated the New Year’s Eve bells on December 31st, while attending the theatre’s
After many decades of performing, one would think everything that could possibly go wrong has… Wrong! Or am I a magnet for snafus? Last month, my pianist and I drove the two hours to a University in a nearby town.
Playing a musical instrument is an amazing endeavor. It’s thrilling when a performance is everything we want it to be and the audience erupts in applause. If we’ve conveyed the beauty, meaning, and emotion of the music, and not the
Do you ever think you might be practicing in your sleep? Yesterday I went to practice Debussy‘s prelude La cathédrale engloutie, which I’m preparing for a performance later in the year. The second section, when the waves start to roll
This article has been written in reaction to hearing “I don’t like this [enter instrument, genre, artist etc.]” too often. As a composer, diversity in music is equal to the painter’s, who constantly seeks for new colours, or the chef’s
Love has been an unfailing interest of mankind and an indispensable element of human lives. Love is much more than superficial attraction: at its best, love displays trust, commitment, longing, making sacrifices for the greater good. Yet on the flip
“Gaspard has been a devil in coming, but that is only logical since it was he who is the author of the poems.” – Maurice Ravel Considered to be one of the most fearsomely difficult pieces in the pianist’s repertoire