As a member of the Alameda County branch of MTAC (Music Teachers Association of California), I was lucky to receive a waiver on the registration fee as a first-time convention attendee. Hooray!

It was great to connect with several of my Californian piano colleagues as well as hear some intriguing presentations and uplifting performances. 

Some of my personal highlights included:

• Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov’s lecture-recital on the Moscow Piano School at the Turn of the 20th Century
• Randall Faber and Fred Karpoff’s exposé on their collaborative technique and artistry project
• Samantha Coates’s fantastic session on new research concerning motivation
• Susan Chan’s wonderful session on Chinese piano music

… and many more. 

On Wednesday, May 30 (2018) I will join my wonderful colleague Artie Storch for a performance of Gerald Kechley’s “March Slight Incognito” for Piano and Percussion. This is a short and hilarious spoof on “Stars and Stripes Forever”, the quintessentially American band march by Sousa. 

Wednesday, May 30 2018

Cal State East Bay Percussion Ensemble

MB 1039

12:00 p.m.

Here’s a link to the President’s Own Band version:

The first International San Francisco Piano Festival ended yesterday and I was really happy to both see and listen to some fabulous performances from, among others, Eunmi Ko, Johnandrew Slominski, and Bobby Mitchell. Very inspiring and thought-provoking. 

I’m very excited about making a presentation this summer at the Performing Indeterminacy conference, to be held at the University of Leeds, 30 June – 02 July. My talk will focus on indeterminate elements in Rzewski’s “The People United”. More updates as we get closer. 

I really enjoyed serving as guest artist for the Constance Kotis Piano Festival at the Music Academy of North Carolina (Nov 7-8, 2014). On Friday evening, Nov 7, I played a solo program consisting of works by J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, Bartók, and Chopin to a friendly and appreciative audience. Bright and early on Saturday morning I co-adjudciated one group of students, who came from all over North Carolina, four of which, were chosen to play on an honors recital at 1:00 pm. My wonderful fellow-judge was my good friend and colleague Pamela Howland. Finally, at 2:00 pm (Nov 8) I conducted a master-class with four students who played works by Bach, Lecuona, and Kuhlau. Many thanks to Thomas Swenson, the folks at MANC and its underwriters for supporting this event. It was a pleasure meeting the other two judges as well: Constance Kotis and Dr. Paul Stewart of UNCG.

This fall, I’m performing a program of J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, Bartók and Chopin at Elon University, Gettysburg College (Sunderman Conservatory), and the North Carolina Music Academy. I’ll also be presenting a lecture-recital on C. P. E. Bach’s Sonata in f-sharp minor, Wq. 52/4 at Eastern Carolina University.

The Elon recital took place  on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 in Whitley Auditorium.

Here’s a PDF of the program.

Gettysburg College: Saturday, October 4, 2014.

NC Music Academy: November 7, 2014. This recital is part of the Constance Kotis Festival, where I’ll also be conducting a master-class and adjudicating a piano contest.

On June 6, I presented and performed at Focus on Piano Literature symposium, which was held at the University of N. Carolina Greensboro. This year’s theme was Brothers Bach, the music and legacy of J. S. Bach’s most illustrious sons: Carl Philipp Emanuel, Wilhelm Friedemann, Johann Christian, Johann Christoph Friedrich.

My performance and presentation took place on Friday, June 6. I focused on performing CPE’s music on the modern piano, with all the challenges and questions it raises. The piece I played was the F-sharp minor Sonata, Wq. 52/4. It comes from a collection called “Second Continuation of Sonatas with Varied Reprises”. If you don’t know the piece, I encourage you to check it out.

The featured guests included noted musicologist and author Christoph Wolff, musicologist and keyboardist David Schulenberg, and harpsichordist/fortepianist Jacques Ogg from the Royal Conservatory in the Hague.

The conference attracts a friendly and devoted crowd of keyboard lovers, performers, teachers, amateurs, and students.

For a review of the entire event, including my session, click here: (Jeffrey Simon for Classical Voice of North Carolina).

Our two-piano, eight-hand team, consisting of Rebecca Penneys, Johnandrew Slominski, Eunmi Ko and myself performed our latest program on the Faculty Artist Series at Eastman on November 24, 2013. Ms. Penneys had invited us to join her in Rochester for this event, which took place in Kilbourn Hall. Rochester, as usual this time of year, was miserably cold, gray, rainy, and snowy. On the bright side, it was lovely to have Huan join me for part of this trip and my dear friend Nigel Maister hosted us graciously. Here are few photos:

The concert listing in the Main Hall (now named Lowry Hall in memory of Dean Lowry)

The program’s front page:

Typical Rochester, NY weather:

Here’s a link to a review of my recital with Kirsten Swanson at Elon. The review was written by Kelsey Higgins, who is a double-major in music and communications at Elon University.

Kirsten Swanson (viola), Omri Shimron (piano).