My passion is to help others in the community, young, old, and everyone in between, find relevance and joy in learning, performing or listening to classical music.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Beethoven in 15 Minutes a Day - the final product!

Normally I don't like recording but for the most part this past Monday morning was an exception.  For two hours I was alone in a beautiful recital hall, sitting at a wonderful concert-grand Steinway, playing a piece that I truly love.  Not a bad situation.

And here's what I ended up with after 15 days of practicing for (about) 15 minutes a day:



Now I am officially entered into the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's concerto competition.  The waiting begins!  

During the next two weeks a panel of judges will listen to the entries and whittle away the list of contestants to 20 semi-finalists.  From April 13 until April 30 the videos of those chosen will be posted online and viewers will be able to vote on who they think should make the final round.  The top four musicians from this round will be flown to Pittsburg at the beginning of June to perform the entire concerto for a panel of judges and the winner will solo with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the end of November/beginning of December this year.  

It feels like a long shot for me, but my main purpose in doing this was to take advantage of a challenge  and an opportunity that is rarely given us older musicians.  I've enjoyed the process from start to finish and am very proud of what I managed to accomplish.  My goals were to:
  • put together a 10 minute version that I felt represented the concerto and my playing well.  I also wanted it to not sound like a bunch of excerpts but rather to sound like a piece of music that could stand on its own, even without the accompaniment.  
  • memorize my selection.  I'm not real great at memorizing and am not asked to do it very often these days so I was a little apprehensive about this.  
  • prepare for the competition in an efficient way that could easily fit into my already busy life.
  • videotape my practice sessions and blog about what my various strategies were and to share what my challenges were.
I think I did pretty well with all of these goals.  So I'm smiling! 

And now we wait.  I'll be sure to report back when I hear anything more.  Many thanks to everyone that has been so supportive during this project!


12 comments:

  1. Fantastic! I'm happy for you and inspired.

    Best wishes!

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    1. Thank you, Jamey! And many thanks again for all your input :-)

      -Erica

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  2. Good luck for the concerto competition.
    It's already an awesome achievement to have posted that video and made us feel this way your vision of that concerto.

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    1. Thank you! I'm glad you sensed that I had a vision. That was my goal!

      And thanks for taking the time to listen.

      All the best,
      Erica

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  3. Brava! What a beautiful performance and thank you for allowing us to see the careful preparation that you did. It's great to see how efficiency in practice can translate into a great performance.

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    1. Alexis,
      I couldn't have done this without your cheerleading and encouragement! So thank you :-)

      Just a few more weeks and we finally get to play together!!!!!!!!

      Erica

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  4. Great playing - a nice relaxed feel even in the demanding sections. I liked that you set out your goals and knocked them off one by one. Good luck and keep us posted!

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    1. Thank you, Eugene! I will definitely keep you posted.

      -Erica

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  5. Super job! Winning these things is always a toss of the dice, but just getting this done was an accomplishment.

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    1. You're right about the toss of the dice aspect of competitions. But like you said, I'm just proud of myself for following through. That's not always the case with me!

      Erica

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  6. Erica, listening to you play this provided me with a great amount of insight into the type of player that you are and how I should be thinking about best showcasing your (considerable) talents in your piece with Alexis. One thing that struck me almost immediately is that your playing proves that "accompanists" tend to be (the better ones that is) more expressive players (probably from having had the most exposure to other good players. Congratulations on completing your project - I really hope you make it into the finals - it would be great to hear you play the entire concerto ... especially that gorgeous slow movement.

    Peter (@CrazyComposer)

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    1. Oh wow, Peter. I'm glad you stumbled upon the video and decided to watch. I love your observations about accompanists and think you definitely might be onto something. I think solo pianists that don't do any or much music-making with others do have a more difficult time hearing the range of colors and timbres possible but it's something I think about all the time. I am always asking myself, "What instrument could play this and what would it sound like?" Makes it more interesting for myself and I think it also makes the possibilities more endless.

      I'm so looking forward to working with you and Alexis. Happy composing!

      -Erica

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