Category Archives: Canadiana
An ethical and practical choice. It defines us.
“Talent is the result of highly motivated, focused, relentless practice, expertly guided by a master, over a long period of time. Given sufficient amount of excellent practice, innate talent becomes indistinguishable from acquired talent… “The notion that talent has a … Continue reading
The odd thing about books
Ever feel like this in your studio? After culling excess music in summer, it’s piling up again. It’s a disease. Between the APTA conference and Rideau Music’s closing out sale, music books just keep finding their way back into the … Continue reading
Lament for the Polar Bear
This stunning artwork by Alaskan artist Bob Patterson is on the cover of Susan Griesdale’s book of Piano Solos called Arctic Voices. She has captured the sound and feel of the Arctic in this collection – with pieces like Arctic … Continue reading
Posted in Canadiana, CFMTA 2011
Tagged Canadian piano music, Lament for the Polar Bear, Red Leaf Pianoworks, Susan Griesdale
2 Comments
We Rise Again
We rise again in the faces of our children We rise again in the voices of our song We rise again in the waves out on the ocean And then, we rise again. Raylene Rankin, you will surely rise again. … Continue reading
Posted in Canadiana
Tagged Cape Breton music, Rankin family, Raylene Rankin, We Rise Again
2 Comments
Familiarity and exploration
“…the first-time listener needs an experience … they need to feel like there’s a journey and they need their dopamine (smiling) … you can get that through familiarity and you can get that through exploration and if a piece has … Continue reading
Posted in Canadiana, Performance
Tagged British Columbia, Emily Carr House, Emily Carr String Quartet, Klee Wyck, String quartet, Tobin Stokes
3 Comments
Conference in September
One of the best pedagogy conferences is the Alberta Piano Teachers’ Association conference, held every year in September. This year’s headliner is Marvin Blickenstaff – no stranger to piano teachers in North America. By all accounts, he’s well worth hearing. … Continue reading
Music for the people
Musicians – and, indeed, all artists – have always pushed the boundaries. They need to in order to keep their art alive and vibrant. The number of musicians who are inventing new ways of bridging the gap between the old, … Continue reading
Posted in Canadiana, Performance
Tagged Astrolabe Musik Theatre, Canadian music, Heather Pawsey
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The Studio Wall
Time to celebrate 2 more winners in the 50 Piece Challenge! Two wonderful students received a book of fun, fun music and got their pictures added to the wall. The one student was just bothered that he hadn’t been the … Continue reading
Posted in Canadiana, Inspirational, Music Reviews, Studio News
Tagged music books, Piano Performance
5 Comments
Sails
The Impressionist artists created a whole new way of painting and viewing their world. A core group of painters worked together and influenced each other, and then inspired the musicians. One compositional technique that reflected the paintings was the whole … Continue reading
Posted in Canadiana, Performance, Piano pedagogy
Tagged Claude Debussy, Piano pedagogy, Voiles, Whole tone scale
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The Hidden Treasure
The Easter weekend, the holiest time of the year for Christians, is upon us. The depth of this season has inspired so much truly great music. I remember one organist/composer/choral director commenting that his faith and his music were inseparable. … Continue reading
Posted in Canadiana, Inspirational, Performance
Tagged Emily Carr, Hidden Treasure, John Tavener
3 Comments
Do You Have the Nerve?
So you want to write a fugue.You got the urge to write a fugue. … Continue reading
Seasons – by Teresa Richert
Youtube is a fabulous source of many great recordings of many classical works and I encourage my students to look for recordings of their pieces. If I haven’t had the time to search for specific videos, I tell them to … Continue reading
