“Mu Major” (written 2012)Have been enjoying the new Donald Fagen album, and am realizing that part of the joy for me is the way he developed his own harmonic…Nov 28, 2022Nov 28, 2022
“Atonalism”Schoenberg’s Waltz Op. 23 ushered in the atonal era. But did you know that atonalism itself goes back centuries? Unfortunately, I’m not…Jun 21, 2021Jun 21, 2021
“Talking Cello the day Starker Died”The cello always has been my secret crush. Piano was my lifetime commitment. But cello was that “other” instrument I always wondered about…Apr 28, 2021Apr 28, 2021
“Bach and Sunday Mornings”I would wake you up early on this Sunday morning if I could, to listen to “On Being” with Bernard Chazelle, a computer scientist, about…Mar 31, 2021Mar 31, 2021
“Bill Evans”Bill Evans’ amazing piano album, “Conversations With Myself,” turns 58 this month. Some of you know this recording as the first to include…Mar 18, 2021Mar 18, 2021
“Talking to Linda McCaetney”It was Paul’s first world tour since “Wings Over America.” I had multiple-city backstage passes, awesome seats, and a few of you joined me…Mar 12, 2021Mar 12, 2021
“Opera Blues”Am talkin’ about. opera blues. I have no answers but boy do I understand the nature of the problem! Let me start by saying I love opera. My…Feb 10, 2021Feb 10, 2021
“Peter Serkin, RIP” (written 2/2/20)Yesterday was just a crappy day. (Maybe it is the fact that we are in Carla’s death anniversary month…I thought it was just a bad day. The…Feb 2, 2021Feb 2, 2021
“Blues: The New Generation (Including Me)”First piece played on the new electronic keyboard: a Bach chorale for organ. I like the sound and always wanted to play one! Second…Feb 1, 2021Feb 1, 2021
“Kronos”Some 40 years ago, I said to anyone who would listen that classical music will die unless. performers come along who wear leather jackets…Feb 1, 2021Feb 1, 2021
“Beethoven Op. 31 No. 3”There came a time, in the mid-1970s, when it seemed that every pianist was discovering the Beethoven Op.31 No. 3 Piano Sonata as if for the…Jan 12, 2021Jan 12, 2021
“Serkin”I have a crush on the Mendelssohn First Piano Concerto in G Minor. What I mean is, the music itself reminds me of the feelings of a crush…Jan 12, 2021Jan 12, 2021
“The Process of Learning as a Pianist”I spent some time looking at piano music I’ve studied, and cross checking it with an assignment notebook I kept. My teacher (Eloise Niwa)…Jan 12, 2021Jan 12, 2021
“A Bowie Moment”I was not a huge Bowie fan. But oh, did I experience a Bowie moment! I was watching the debut of “Christiane F” at the Montreal Film…Jan 12, 2021Jan 12, 2021
“Beethoven at 250”Happy 250th birthday, Ludwig van Beethoven! You taught me so much, both at and away from the piano. And what I’m thinking about today is…Dec 16, 2020Dec 16, 2020
“Bartok”I’m actually not as familiar with Bartok’s life as I am other composers, but I marvel what he was able to create during a mere 30 year…Dec 13, 2020Dec 13, 2020
“Kinderscenen”Kinderscenen, Op. 15, is all about childhood. I first played it as a kid, and, back then at least, I liked to imagine that Schumann had…Nov 25, 2020Nov 25, 2020
“Ali Akbar Khan”The greatest Hindustani musician of my lifetime is the Sarod master, Ali Akbar Khan. His album of “Morning and Evening Ragas” continues to…Nov 18, 2020Nov 18, 2020
“Satie”How could I have not known more about Erik Satie as a kid? I attended hundreds of piano concerts at Orchestra Hall (the Allied Arts Piano…Nov 14, 2020Nov 14, 2020
