Announcement of Judges for This Year's Competition March 28 - 29, 2015

Dear teachers,

 

On Saturday, March 28, the Suffolk Piano Teachers Foundation annual piano competition will be taking place at Steinway Gallery . 505 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, Ny from Noon - 5 pm and on Sunday, March 29, at Faust Harrison Pianos, 277 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, New York 11747.   We have a nice line up of judges and they are excited to be judging at our competition!

Below is some information about our  judges for this year's piano competition.

• Marjean Olson, teacher and pianist in New York City, is emerging as one of the most unique voices of her time. Marjean has devoted much of her life to educating people in the art of piano pedagogy. Dr. Olson has enjoyed teaching at The Manhattan School of Music for over a decade where she is currently the Assistant Dean of Academics and the Director of Keyboard Skills. Olson develops curriculum, supervises teaching fellows, and leads a doctoral seminar entitled Teaching Piano in Higher Education. She also teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in piano pedagogy and keyboard skills. She has taught and mentored pianist-teachers who enjoy international careers.
• Originally from North Dakota, Olson began her musical studies at the age of two with her oldest sister Janet Johansen as instructor. She went on to study with David Worth at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN where she obtained a Bachelors of Music degree. Olson completed her graduate work at The University of Michigan under Arthur Greene where she received a Doctor of Musical Arts.  

• Nelson Ojeda Valdés (pianist) has been a soloist with the Southeast Symphony playing Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in C Minor, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra playing Saint-Saens “Carnival of the Animals” and California State University Fullerton Wind Ensemble playing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” on a tour of Japan. His solo recitals include Debussy’s 150th Anniversary at Symphony Space in New York City, the concert series at St. John the Divine (NYC), Steinway Hall in Los Angeles and Fundación Juan March (Madrid,Spain). He recently performed at the Earle Voorhies Memorial Concert in Meng Hall at California State University, Fullerton. His chamber concerts include a recital with pianist Hyangmee Kim at Yon Sei University in Seoul, Korea, a duo piano recital of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert at the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt (Austria), a concert of American composers in Alcalá de Henares (Spain), a tour playing Stravinsky’s two piano version of Rite of Spring with Susan Svrcek in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the work’s premiere and Brahms Quintet Opus 34 with Cuarteto Assai broadcast live on RTVE Spanish Radio.  Mr. Ojeda has premiered works by composers Tom Lidell and David Meckler at Voces Novae New Music Festival and works by Carlos Carillo and Desmar Guevara at Pregones Theate in the Bronx, NY and at MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana) in San José, California. He is featured in the recordings of composers Greg Lawrence and Paul Bailey.  His solo album “España” has been released under the label Louis Ferdinand Productions. 

• Nelson Ojeda Valdés holds degrees from California State University, Fullerton and Manhattan School of Music with additional studies at the Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music. His primary teachers have been Earl Voorhies, Susan Svrcek and Constance Keene. Mr. Ojeda has been on the faculty at Mt. San Antonio College, Rio Hondo College and Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts and has taught masterclasses at CAMDA (California Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts), Escuela de Música Adora Calvo (Madrid, Spain) and Pasadena Conservatory. For more information please visit www.nelsonojeda.com

• Lisa Kim came to America as a recipient of the Kresge International Scholarship to study piano at Interlochen, Michigan in 1963.
• She continued her piano studies with the legendary Sascha Goridnitzki at the Juilliard School where she received Bachelor's and Master's degree in Music.
• Her solo, orchestral and chamber music performances included a live full length recital on WQXR and the world premier of the Ross Lee Finney's Piano Trio at the congregation of the Arts at Dartmouth College.
• She has devoted the past 40 years in private piano teaching where her former and present students include winners of the Van Cilburn International competition, the Stravinsky International Piano Competition, Philadelphia orchestra student competition, the Juilliard concerto competition, Long Island Philharmonic Young Artist competition, Suffolk Music Guild competition, Sound Symphony solo competition and NYSSMA All State Piano Showcase.
• She served as director of Instrumental Music at the Stony Brook School until her retirement in 2010, co-directed the Grazioso Music Institute in Switzerland, England and Austria and served as a judge for the National Guild of Piano Teachers Auditions.

•      World-renowned pianist Jörg Demus often referred to her as “the silent giant” and “richly gifted.” Since her studies in his home in Gastof, Austria, Stephanie D. Watt , pianist, has become one of the most sought-after performers/teachers in the Long Island and metropolitan New York areas.  She received degrees in performance, composition, and computer science from Long Island University and also studied extensively at the Vienna and Haydn Conservatories with Jörg Demus, Hans Kann, Marialena Fernandez and Paul Badura Skoda.  As a soloist, collaborative and chamber artist, she has performed in major concert halls throughout the U.S. and in five continents with renowned organizations such as the Kennedy Chamber Players, Long Island Philharmonic and Masterworks choruses; Camerata Pro Musica of Hungary; Leo Duo, Melete; Communidad de Palermo Symphony Orchestra; Musica Viva of New York and many others. 
•      She has been hailed as a “Master Artist” in Vas Nepe, Hungary; “Unanimous!...” in Strings Magazine and “…consistently marked with warmth, verve, and excitement: in the Lynbrook Express.  In 2013 she received an Honorary Degree from the renowned National Academy of Tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she will return in May 2015 to perform as a soloist and conduct an educational tour with her students. She is the founder/director of the EASTWEST Conservatory of Performing and Meditation Arts.  Her discography includes the prized Duo for Cello & Piano written by noted composer, Allen Brings released on Capstone Records. Her biography has been published in the prestigious Marquis Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Women, and Who’s Who in the World. She is Professor of Music, Director of Piano and Theory Studies and has also served as Chair of the Department of Music at LIU Post.

News from the studio of Esther Marks - Results of the Concert Festival International Competition 2015

It is with great pleasure that I would like to share some exciting news!

All 9 of my students who auditioned for the Concert Festival International Competition earlier this month were chosen as prize winners!  

They were selected from over 300 piano, string, wind and vocal students ages 5 - 25 who auditioned live, via YouTube and by DVD from all over the world for the opportunity to perform on the stages of the finest concert halls in the world!

Please join me in congratulating the following students:

Grand Prix Winners

(Performance in Carnegie Hall; select students received a $500 scholarship towards the summer tour in Portugal, and all 3 were recipients):
Tom Liu, age 7
Zoe Marks, age 9
Rebecca Nelsen, age 12

First Prize Winners
(Performance in Lincoln Center):
EJ Zoe Arturo, age 10
Rebecca Nelsen, age 12 and Francine Leung, age 13 (duet)

Second Prize Winners
(Performance in Symphony Space):
Tom Liu, age 7
Antonia Pavek, age 10
Francine Leung, age 13

Third Prize Winners 
(Performance in Engelman Recital Hall)
Shirley Xiong, age 7
Robin Xiong, age 10
Gabriel Downs, age 18

These students worked very hard and I am very proud of their effort, as well as this wonderful and exciting achievement. They will be performing in March and April.

News from the Studio of Esther Chung Marks

Two students of Esther Chung Marks just received the results of the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program piano performance assessments Level III that they took on December 6, 2014 at the Amadeus School of Music in Queens, New York. Both Tom Liu, 7, and Zoe Marks, 9, received "First Class Honors" for their performances of a multitude of technical and aural skills, five repertoire pieces and sight reading. Congratulations!

Guild Information - Leadership change and Venue Change

The long time chairperson for the Setauket-Stony Brook, NY Guild Audition center, Tamara Slobodkin, has resigned.  Although we will definitely miss working with her and the leadership she has provided over these many years, we are happy to let you know that Ms. Esther Chung Marks has stepped forward to fill the position.  We look forward to working with her this coming year!

Although the center name will remain the same for 2015, certain changes have taken place including a change of venue and a little earlier time frame for auditions. The new hosting facility is Costa’s Piano Shoppe, only minutes away from the former site SUNY, located at 4747 Nesconset Hwy, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776, 631/689-2977 (across from Home Goods in the Port Jeff Commons Shopping Center).  The REQUESTED (but not yet confirmed) dates for 2015 auditions are May 14-22 (incl. Sun.).  These TENTATIVE dates will appear in the winter issue of PGN and as always, for confirmation of dates please contact Guild Headquarters Scheduling Dept. directly or your center chairperson who will be notified by Headquarters once confirmed.

Communication by email is preferred by so many today, however not everyone uses it for their main contact and some still prefer standard phone/mail notifications.  Although many of you have provided email information to Guild Headquarters, our current privacy policy does not allow us to release those addresses without direct permission.  For this reason we ask that you contact Ms. Marks as soon as possible at esmrks@icloud.com or by phone at (631) 928-7738 if you are unable to communicate by email.  Ms. Marks would appreciate having your email address as the preferred method of contact in order to provide the most updated information to all participants by the most convenient and accessible method.

Should you have questions about this year’s arrangements or need assistance in enrolling your students in an audition center other than Setauket-Stony Brook, please contact Gloria Castro or Leslie Frost in the Guild Headquarters Scheduling Dept. (512/478-5775).  They will be happy to assist you!

We look forward to a musically successful 2015!

Sincerely,    

Leslie Frost

Scheduling Dept.

Guild Headquarters

512/478-5775

Musicale Notes by Fred Barnett

                                      ” The Composer’s Landscape”

                                                              

                                                                               Carol Montparker

                                                                            

 

If instantly recognizing the unique textual landscapes (appearances) and fully grasping the core interpretive differences of eight major composers, down to the smallest details, are truly the most significant in reaching the highest of pianistic peaks, this latest 250 page book (very recently published) by Carol Montparker may even be better than any of the accolades of notable luminaries on the back cover. Although we’ve repeatedly heard much of the commentary within over the years from many sources, CM has remarkably succeeded in synthesizing and compiling the most significant interpretive insights, apparently gathered over a lifetime, into one convenient volume.  Making this perhaps the most valuable addition to any piano teacher’s pedagogical collection, ESPECIALLY AS A HANDY REFERENCE PRIOR TO ANY LESSON FEATURING ANY OF THE COMPOSERS:  Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Chopin, and Mendelsssohn.    

                                                                            

Despite the most meaningful counsel of all “Let the music speak for itself,” ironically from no other than Leopold Mittman, one of her prime teachers, and an exploration in the Beethoven chapter re: whether interpretation can really be taught at all, Carol goes on to consult and pick the interpretive brains of virtually everyone of note under the sun in her musical orbit. The Bibliography alone contains 29 disparate entries from pedagogue legend Heinrich Neuhaus to

Albert Schweitzer to Charles Rosen, not to mention quotes and ideas of apparently hundreds more, most probably sought out during her role as senior editor of Clavier for fifteen years.

 

A few tidbits -

 

On Bach: having students sing subject-themes helps. Beethoven: “the most human of all composers.” Mozart: difficulty of creating artistry with fewer notes. 

Alfred Brendel’s practicality: “anything played slowly, yet accurately, can be played faster.”

Comedy: Radu Lupu re: textual fidelity re: repeats (p.86). Controversial: ”we can never get to the level of composers’ greatness as the music itself” (p.51)” Tongue ‘n Cheek: blaming Clara Schumann for setting the memorization precedent. Curiosity aroused: To what extent did Clara correct, alter, even revise her beloved husband’s published works? Technique: Best to approach technical passages musically, etc.

 

The ultimate question of all, however, re: Landscapes, if rated by purely pedagogical standards is

“To what extent have these multitudes of insights, dead on or not, actually contribute in reality to student playing? Especially, unfortunately, during this age when most struggle to simply decode written notation and are preoccupied with simply playing the notes and rhythm accurately. Carol herself would, no doubt, be the best qualified by objectively reflecting on her private teaching and the recent master class series at Steinway. Perhaps, planting seeds. Hopefully more  

 

Also unique: A 16 selection CD, convincingly played by Carol. An appendix devoted to interpreting Chopins’ Barcarolle and Fm Ballade, discussed by renowned pianists,  much musicology type analysis minus musicology type jargon, etc.

 

One cannot help being moved by the sheer amount of work and organization that clearly must have been consumed in such an exhaustive lifetime endeavor. Am sure many SPTF appreciative members would agree.

 

Unquestionably a major contribution.

 

Fred Barnett 

 

 

Published by Amadeus Press, 2014

An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation

7777 West Bluemound Road

Milwarkee, WI 53213

 

 

Registration is closed for the 10th Annual Piano Competition

Dear colleagues,

The competition application deadline is now past.  Many teachers and students have applied and are working hard on their pieces for the competition.  Thank you, teachers for getting the information online and sending your checks on time.


Sincerely,

Ellen Johansen
Competition Committee Chair

PR for a performer at Lang Lang's Master Class - all our students need this in their lives

http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/Eastport/90551/ESM-Pianist-Joins-Lang-Lang-For-Master-Class

ESM Pianist Joins Lang Lang For Master Class

Publication: The Southampton Press

By Alexa Gorman   Dec 9, 2014 9:06 AM
 Dec 10, 2014 11:23 AM

Rebecca Nelsen already knows how far a career as a musician can take her.The 12-year-old has been playing the piano since she was 4, and has plans to study at The Juilliard School in Manhattan after she graduates from Eastport South Manor Junior-Senior High School in 2020.

“I like playing on stage and in front of big crowds,” she said during a recent interview, noting that she also plays the oboe in the school’s pep band. She has played the oboe for four years.

Rebecca has always been surrounded by musicians in her Manorville home. Both of her parents, Karen and Grant, play piano. Her mother also plays the flute. Her twin brother, Ryan, is a rising percussionist at ESM as well.

Growing up in a musical home, Rebecca quickly fell in love with the art, and all of the ups and downs that go along with perfecting an instrument. Her piano teacher, Esther Chung-Marks, who teaches out of her home in Port Jefferson Station, said Rebecca’s natural talent and passion shines through.

“She is innately very musical, and she really feels the emotion in the music that she plays,” said Ms. Marks, who has been working with Rebecca for the past five years. “She really is an ideal student.”

Last month, Rebecca performed alongside 99 piano students her age, and took direction from Lang Lang, a Chinese concert pianist who has performed with leading orchestras on three continents, including in the United States. He also happens to be one of her musical idols.

“He was more fun and easy-going than I thought,” she said of the internationally known pianist. “I thought he’d come out in a tux to teach the master class.”

Ms. Marks sent seven students to audition for the Lang Lang 101 Pianists program offered by the Lang Lang Foundation. All seven were accepted and performed in October at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at Long Island University Post in Greenvale.

The students took a master class, worked with Lang Lang and performed for an audience all in one day. Lang Lang—who has played at venues ranging from the 2014 World Cup in Rio to the Grammy Awards where he played alongside Metallica to the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing—hosts educational programs, including 101 Pianists, for young artists around the world through his foundation.

Thousands auditioned over the summer for the opportunity to participate in the fall program.

“He really focused on our sound,” Rebecca recalled. “I learned to play loud when in front of a large audience, but to make sure the sound stays crisp.”

Rebecca said that staying consistent and practicing daily is not a problem for her because she’s been dedicated to the piano, and now the oboe, for so long. She prefers the romantic composers, with the Polish composer Frederic Chopin being her favorite.

Ms. Marks has seen Rebecca’s taste for the classic composers evolve through the years, but noted that her student’s heart lies in the romantic period.

“I like his style and how he puts the different dynamic of notes together,” Rebecca said of the 19th century artist.

Rebecca notes that she practices daily at home, except for Wednesdays, when she spends time working with Ms. Marks.

“Anything she touches, she does well,” Ms. Marks said of her student. “She has a lot of dexterity and poise, and stage presence that’s always been with her.”

Rebecca said she hopes all of the practice will pay off when she’s applying to college and auditioning in the hopes of securing scholarship money.

“It really just shows that if people try hard, they can do anything,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever give up.”

Rebecca performed for the Eastport South Manor Board of Education at the end of November and was honored by Schools Superintendent Mark Nocero and Board President Kenneth Cooke.

“Absolutely phenomenal,” Mr. Nocero said following her performance in front of those in attendance. “I’m so proud of students like Rebecca, who show what drive and determination can really do.”

 

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Alexa Gorman

Reporter

Press News Group

agorman@pressnewsgroup.com

631-288-1100

203-725-7884