General News:

1. My upcoming recital in Madrid on the 26th for Casa Asia and the Madrid Cultural Center will touch on the music of Takemitsu. I’ll be performing both of his Rain Sketches in addition to works by Chopin, Ravel, and Debussy - I wanted to place Takemitsu’s music in context to these other French and French-influenced composers to see the influence their music had on his own compositions. It has been an interesting experience working on this program - I feel as though I have been inhabiting a very atmospheric world of suggestive language these past few weeks. You can find the program and press release for the concert to download from my site here (in Spanish). If you’re in Madrid and have time that evening to go to the beautiful Conde Duque hall, I hope to see you there.

2. Sarah Canice Funke wrote an article about me for Suite 101 this weekend, focusing on my integration of the web with my music life, and wrote a bit about my blogging and photography. I have always been written about in terms of my music and performances, and have to admit that I am blushing a little because I somehow feel as though I’ve been recognized for my small, modest blogging and photography efforts…which is nice.

Other news and links:

I spent some time this weekend exploring the blogosphere, and am once again amazed at all of the “good stuff” out there. Here are some links that I enjoyed:

1.The Collaborative Piano Blog: Chris has a great blog that covers everything from collaborative piano work, pianists, and the state of the classical music field.
Two recent posts brought up interesting questions regarding our field:

http://collaborativepiano.blogspot.com/2008/03/good-times-bad-times.html : links and news about the classical field in the US, including the situation in Columbus.

http://collaborativepiano.blogspot.com/2008/03/free-ebook-manifesto-on-trust-economies.html: References another Chris (Chris Brogan - see below) and his recent ebook manifesto with Julien Smith, and the questions raised by the new media/technology and how it affects classical musicians.

2. The Well-Tempered Blog: Bart’s blog covers all things piano related, with interesting tidbits and links.
Recent interesting and amusing posts include:

http://pianophilia.blogspot.com/2008/03/king-of-bling-liberace.html : “King of Bling” is a very apt title.

http://pianophilia.blogspot.com/2008/03/pyrophones-intonarumori-and-things-that.html: Interesting find.

http://pianophilia.blogspot.com/2008/03/rocket-or-piano.html : About the new Schimmel Pegasus Piano which quite simply, frightens me.

3. Solitude in Music: Jeff, a classical guitartist in Singapore, shares his lovely thoughts about music.
One I enjoyed recently:

http://solitudeinmusic.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-am-amateur.html : Something I have often thought about.

4. Chris Brogan
I’m putting up a general link for Chris’ site because I enjoy his posts and ideas. Enthusiastic, passionate about social media, and an all-around extraordinary engager, Chris consistently provides food for thought, whatever field you may be in.

Hearing is a passive act. We hear things around us all the time - the car screeching on the street, voices in conversation, the TV in the background, children running down the street. When we make music, hearing is useless. We can hear ourselves playing phrase after phrase without processing anything, without any artistic value or commitment, without any understanding.

Listening is an active state. It is an act of exploration, of search and discovery - to find the music that lies deep within the instrument, beyond the notes and score, and the sounds which can remain hidden until the performer brings them to life. Listening stems from a process within us that is way beyond our hands or ears. It demands another level of concentration and self-commitment in order to discover for ourselves that elusive source from which artistic interpretation is born. Making music requires us to listen.