The Golandsky Institute

Once the basic movements of technique are learned, they must be minimized and combined for the technique to function at its highest level. Edna Golandsky will show how this fascinating process takes place to give performers, teachers, and students a technique of artistry that is expressive and effortless.

Continuing a series he began several years ago, John Bloomfield will examine the nature of pedaled sound at the piano. Topics such as the acoustical characteristics of sound sustained by the damper pedal, the control of dissonance, the projection of sound, and pedaling for rolled chords will be explored and demonstrated with numerous examples from the repertoire.

Robert Durso will give a lecture/demonstration focused on some of the most difficult passages from Franz Liszt’s Vallée d’Obermann. Musical content will be discussed and technical difficulties analyzed using the Taubman Approach. Practical solutions will be presented, bringing ease to this virtuoso masterpiece.

Liszt’s concert etude Un Sospiro contains many challenges, including tone production, interdependence of the hands, and balance of sound. Mary Moran will show how the musical requirements of this piece can be fulfilled when applying many concepts of the Taubman Approach, resulting in lasting solutions for you and your students.

Taking a titular cue from a recent essay by musicologist and children’s author Anna Harwell Celenza, Princeton professor Scott Burnham will explore how Franz Liszt responded to specific works of poetry and visual art in his beguiling Années de Pélerinage.

2010 Grammy-nominated Princeton University composer Steve Mackey will discuss the compositional process for his new Piano Concerto before its upcoming premier in collaboration with pianist Orli Shaham.

Lisa Yui will explore the piano works of Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812) and Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), whose output is of great historical and musical value. Both composers played an integral role in the development of the Romantic style, at times revealing elements that are decades ahead of their time. The highly dramatic, programmatic, and deeply personal aspects of their compositions foreshadow the music of later composers, such as Beethoven, Chopin, and Schumann.

In this lecture/recital, Logan Skelton will present performances of selected piano music of Béla Bartók in combination with recorded excerpts of actual folk music. Many pianists can hear that folk influences abound in Bartók’s music, but relatively few can identify anything in particular. The focus will be on highlighting and naming specific folk elements that Bartók used in his own compositions. By so doing, Bartók’s own creativity, imagination, and artistic transforming power in synthesizing folk and fine art becomes increasingly apparent. Such a compositional approach was an expression of Bartók’s fundamental vision of humanity, which he referred to as “The Brotherhood of Peoples.”

The experience of applying the Taubman Approach to the violin has opened an entirely new world of technical and musical possibilities for violinists. The combination of this approach with the clarity and thoroughness of its pedagogy is revolutionary in its results. The 2011 Summer Symposium will be offering the basic lecture series for violinists, master classes, clinics for advanced issues and repertoire, a children’s pedagogy workshop, and individual lessons.

Piano Care & Maintenance: An overview of the many factors necessary for proper care and maintenance of a piano. Proper environment, cleaning, and tuning concerns are all addressed, as are the factors that go into proper voicing and regulation. Learn how to get the maximum performance from your instrument and how to recognize the difference between a piano tuner and piano technician.

Advocacy: Providing information on concepts and addressing elements that can be useful in promoting and marketing your career, your studio, or active music participation in general. Gain insight and ideas on how you might work and interact with like minded businesses, institutions, and individuals within your home community to promote and foster arts and music participation.

Elena Sorokina, legendary professor of Russian music history and piano at the Moscow Conservatory, will speak about the influence of Franz Liszt’s teaching, music, and performances on great Russian pianists and composers of the time. She will share rare recordings and historical anecdotes relating to Liszt’s journey to Russia.