Saturday, October 30, 2010

Beat That!


When we think of a child-genius, it is natural to think of Mozart. He was performing and composing at the age of five. But other composers also began very early. And some even surpassed his considerable feats.

Did you know that Chopin wrote pieces from the age of seven that were much more demanding to write and play than many of the pieces that Wolfie wrote, even in his maturity?

But the one who is impressing me at the moment is Camille Saint-Saëns. Consider this: at the age of two he could already read and write and was picking out melodies on the piano. He began composing shortly after his third birthday, and by the age of five had given his first piano recital.

At seven he was reading Latin, studying botany and investigating butterflies [the last of which he continued to do for the next eighty years].

When he was ten he made his formal debut as a concert pianist, performing a Mozart piano concerto in B flat and Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto in C Minor. For an encore, he offered to play any of the thirty-two Beethoven piano sonatas from memory!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

A bit of fun


The Good, The Bad and The Ugly performed by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, from their DVD Anarchy in the UKulele.

I wish to advise that I was not thinking of any staff or students when I made this post. Honest.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Sunday, 31st October Bicentenary Tribute

Elena Day-Hakker, at a previous Mitchell Conservatorium recital
This year is the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Chopin and Schumann, two of the most-performed composers for the piano. On Sunday, 31st October, Elena Day-Hakker will perform some of their most beloved compositions, as well as works by Moskowski and Shamo.

Starting at 2.30 PM, the concert is free for Mitchell Conservatorium students and costs just $20 for adults and $15 concession. There is also a two-for-one deal for U3A members.

Please join us for some delightful music at our first Spring Season concert, at West Wing, Court House in Russell St.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

How to ensure your kids don't practise

Mum, I can't find my music book...

One way to ensure your kids don't practise is to make it impossible for them to find their instrument! You could follow the method above, but it can also be done by being too tidy. Eusebius will never fall into the latter category; just ask Mrs E.

But it has been done. One parent used to carefully pack away the keyboard in its original wrapping and put it on top of the cupboard after use. And another family kept the sheet music on a high shelf where their child couldn't see it.

Can you think of any other creative ways to stop your kids practising?

Alternatively, you might reverse this and think of ways to encourage them!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Keep Music Live


Clever videos accompanying prerecorded music can be fun, but you can't beat a great live performance. Local musician, Alyce Kissell shared this video with me, and I thought I'd share it with you.

A great song and great performance are captured well in this live recording. Watch out for the smile of satisfaction at the end.

The song was originally written to be accompanied by this video (which I'm not allowed to embed here), but I love the simplicity of the live version above. Which one do you prefer?

How many keys?

Piano by Stuart and Sons
Do you notice anything unusual about this piano? Can you work out what the lowest and highest notes are?

Unlike the standard piano that you would see at Mitchell Conservatorium, it has 8 octaves, from F to F. For more than a hundred years, pianos have been manufactured with 7 and a quarter octaves, with a total of 88 keys.

The Thursday, 21st October, 2010 Sydney Morning Herald announces that Wayne Stuart, the manufacturer of the piano pictured above, has extended this range even further by creating a piano with 102 keys, from a very low C to the high F on the piano pictured.

Some composers are writing for the extended range, but the existence of the strings on the piano can enhance its sound, even if the actual keys are not included in the piece of music being played.

If you would like to hear how these pianos sound, Stuart and Sons are offering a free demo cd at their website, where you can also read more about their interesting, Australian-made pianos.

But for a wonderful live performance on a beautiful Bechstein grand piano [with 88 keys], you won't want to miss Elena Day-Hakker's concert at 2.30 PM on Sunday, 31st October at Mitchell Conservatorium, in the west wing of Bathurst Court House in Russell St.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Musique Pour Médecins (in English, 'Music for Doctors') is a fundraiser concert hosted by Mitchell Conservatorium on behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières, Australia.

This concert will feature seasoned local musicians who have donated their time and talents to the event. Performers include Michelle Griffin, David McKay, Cindy Fox, Jon Lewis, Glen Wholohan, Catherine Brown, Olivia Fisher, and local wind quintet Quintwood. The evening will begin with wine and hors d'œuvres, after which the audience will be treated to the music of French composers such as Bizet, Debussy, Faure, Schönberg, Ravel, and Tiersen.

The concert will be held on Friday, 22nd October in The Orchard Room of Mitchell Conservatorium. Guests are asked to arrive at 6.30 for a 7pm start. Tickets cost $25 each and will be available at the door.

All money raised by this event will be donated to Médecins Sans Frontières, the world's leading independent organisation for emergency medical humanitarian aid.

Every year MSF sends around 3,000 international field workers to work alongside 22,000 national staff, to bring emergency medical assistance to the people who need it most and may otherwise have no access to even the most basic life-saving health services. Our concert is in support of the hundred Australian doctors who join in this work each year. For further information, please visit MSF Australia

Friday, October 1, 2010

James Muller, Emma Pask, Ian Cooper, Doug Richards, Phil Stack, James Morrison, Mitch Richards, John Morrison
After James Morrison's great concert in Forbes, I'm sure many locals would be declaring that their favourite performers are
vocalist, Emma Pask
fiddle player, Ian Cooper,
brass whizz, James Morrison
and percussionist, John Morrison.
You can't beat a great live concert, and John and his band always leave you with a smile on your face.

But what are your favourite classical works? Did you know that ABC Classic FM (at 97.5 on your FM dial and online at the linked address) has asked listeners to nominate their ten favourite classical works to find out what music Australians love to listen to?

I don't want to influence your vote, and by the time you read this, it may be too late to do so as the cutoff date is Friday, 1st October, 2010, which is the date I'm writing this. But I thought I'd share what I voted for:
1. Sumer is icumen in
2. TALLIS Spem in alium
3. HANDEL: Messiah
4. BACH, J S: Jesu, meine Freude
5. HAYDN: Creation
6. BEETHOVEN: Ninth symphony
7. MOZART: Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola
8. DVORAK: Eighth Symphony
9. WILLIAMSON, MALCOLM: The Musicians of Bremen
10. MCKAY, Justin: The Walrus and the Carpenter

I tried to choose music from different periods and instrumentation, realising that I would have to omit dozens of pieces that I would have liked to include. So I chose one anonymous piece, one composition by my son, one concerto, two symphonies, two oratorios, two works for small vocal ensemble, one piece from the Medieval Period, one from the Renaissance, as well as music from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic Periods, a work from last century and one from this century, and two works by expatriate Australians.

I didn't really choose my ten favourites, because I wanted to reflect the variety in the music I like.

What would you choose?