Teaching Piano at 100 years old

I found this article and thought I would pass it along. A great article about a dedicated teacher.

Piano winner for YouTube Symphony competition

Congratulations to Tino Balsamello, winner of the piano portion of the YouTube Symphony competition. YouTube called for professionals and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun.

Winners were announced on March 2nd will travel to New York in April 2009 to participate in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra summit and play at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Follow the link (title of blog post) for more information.

We welcome comments and discussion - what are your thoughts on this type of competition?

Clavier Companion is here!

For those of you who have not heard, Keyboard Companion and Clavier Magazine have merged to form "Clavier Companion". If you had a subscription to both magazines, you will receive Clavier Companion instead, and your subscriptions have been extended to cover all paid issues. The new magazine combines elements of both, and in my opinion combines the best of each. I have always found Keyboard Companion helpful, although limited in scope to a certain teaching population. However, for many years now I have debated whether or not to renew my Clavier subscription - I usually spent about 10 minutes perusing it, then put it on the shelf. After receiving my new copy of Clavier Companion, I can honestly say that I sat down and read it.

This is a refreshing and necessary change for piano pedagogy and performance. If this issue is any indication, we will get great articles by columnists such as Robert Weirich, and teaching tips, in varied formats, at many levels. Future issues will also include reviews. And finally - icing on the cake - Louise Goss is doing Questions and Answers again. Bravo to the folks involved!

Welcome to the NCKP Blog!

This is the place to see photos, video, and read short updates about the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Please feel free to discuss posted items, or visit the Facebook pages for the organization and the conference. For information about the 2009 conference in Chicago on July 29 - August 1, see http://www.francesclarkcenter.org/NationalConference.html. I look forward to seeing you there! Spread the word!