Cecilian Music Club Co-Sponsors Piano Master Class

A master class is an
opportunity for both teachers and students to benefit from the
expertise, talent, and insight of a renowned concert artist. On
Saturday, October 13th, 1918, members of the Cecilian
Music Club, Shore Music Educators, and the Golden Key Festival, had
the privilege of attending a master class led by Boris Berman,
Professor of Piano at Yale University. Marina Strakovsky, President
of the Cecilian Music Club, hosted the class at her home in Rumson.
Special thanks go to Helen Benham, George Borisov, Marina Strakovsky,
and Alan Wasserman for their organization of this event.

Danielle Tseng, 15, a
student of Yining Wang's, performed Mozart's “Variations

in D Major,” K373.
Gordon Li, 14, a student of Dr. Julia Lam's, performed the first
movement of Beethoven's piano sonata in A Major, Opus 31 No. 1, and
the first movement of Mendelssohn's “Fantasy in F# minor,” Opus
28. Meghan Jin, 16, a student of Gloria Chu's, played the first
movement of Beethoven's piano sonata in Eb Major, Opus 31 No. 3.
Jenna Cooley, 16, also a student of Gloria Chu's, played Alban Berg's
Piano Sonata, Opus 1. All four of these young musicians gave lovely,
commanding performances.

Professor Berman listened
carefully to each performer – even turning his back at times to
concentrate on the sound alone – and offered invaluable advice to
each participant. He demonstrated how to achieve depth of tone, and
how to group notes together to form a musical sentence. He emphasized
more than once that a performance can be “too faithful” to the
composer's score. Performers are not merely following orders; they
are bringing a piece of music to life, making use of the composer's
directions to do so.

A lovely feature of this
master class was a performance of the first movement of Beethoven's
Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major, Opus 96 No. 10, by two
professional musicians, Joel DeWitt on violin and Dr. Jan Dash on
piano. Not only did the audience get to experience their delightful
playing, but the young students had the opportunity to see that even
expert, adult performers can benefit from the ideas and experience of
a concert artist like Professor Berman.

Boris Berman is a
dedicated teacher and performer, and gives master classes throughout
the world. He has published two books and recorded all the solo piano
works of Prokofiev and works by Mozart, Schumann, and Brahms. His
complete discography can be found on his website,
www.borisberman.com.

The Cecilian Music Club,
founded in 1883, is an organization of performers, teachers, and
music lovers dedicated to the study and performance of classical
music. For more information, or to be become a member, visit our
website at www.cecilianclub.org.