MusicBasics4Keyboard

Today I'm reflecting upon my past public performances as a vocalist and keyboard advisor for Jordan Kitt's in Annapolis after graduating from The King's College in 1992 formerly located in upstate New York (not the UK). Today, The King's College is located in lower Manhattan. Read all about it in my books From Piano to Puccini and Songbird at the Shopping Mall. Find them on Amazon and other online bookstores. Thanks for watching on Spotify and listening on Anchor.

For a perfectly cooked quiche and a pie crust that won't burn loosely cover the entire glass pie plate with foil during the cooking process. Set the oven at 325 degrees and cook the covered quiche for about 40 minutes. This dish was made with eight whole eggs and about 3/4 cup 2% milk. See You Soon by Otis McDonald from the YouTube Audio Library. Thank you for watching and/or listening.

Greetings from my kitchen! Today, it's all about matzo ball soup for Passover and rugelach. Delicious to eat and fun to make, rugelach (pronounced rug-a-lah) are miniature crescent-rolled pastries posing as cookies. They're made by rolling a triangle of dough around a sweet filling of fruit, nuts, chocolate or pretty much anything your heart desires.

Medium-textured matzo meal is about the same texture as cornmeal. It is used for baking, as a coating for fried foods, to thicken, and to make matzo balls from. Some folks refer to matzo as the "bread of affliction" because it represents our suffering as slaves, or as lechem oni, "poor man's bread" in Hebrew. .... Matzah is a food which man makes and bakes, no external element beyond wheat flour and water defines or influences its form."

Can I use flour instead of matzo meal?

For most applications, flour is not recommended as a replacement for matzo meal. Flour is much finer and, unlike matzo meal, hasn't been baked. During Passover, you can use approved flours like almond flour, quinoa flour, or teff flour for thickening sauces, breading, and some baked recipes.

What is the most important day of Passover 2022?

Passover for the year 2022 starts on the evening of Friday, April 15th and ends the 7 day festival at sunset on Friday, April 22nd for Reform and progressive Jews living inside Israel who follow the Biblical text.

Itzhak Perlman, (born August 31, 1945, Tel Aviv, Palestine [now Tel Aviv–Yafo, Israel]), Israeli-American violinist known for his brilliant virtuoso technique. His refinement of detail led many to regard him as one of the finest performers of the major violin repertoire of his time.  Perlman was drawn to the violin after hearing it on the radio when he was three. His musical education was interrupted, however, when he contracted polio a year later (which left his legs with a permanent disability). After recovering, he showed great skill on the violin and later entered the Tel Aviv Academy of Music.

His first public concert was in Tel Aviv when he was 10. In 1958 he went to the United States to study at the Juilliard School in New York City with the renowned teachers Ivan Galamian and Dorothy DeLay; in that same year he performed before a national television audience on the Ed Sullivan Show.  He made his Carnegie Hall (New York City) debut in 1963 and won the prestigious Leventritt Prize a year later, which brought him immediate engagements with major American orchestras.

(The Leventritt Foundation awarded its violin and piano prizes only sporadically; the rarity of the prize and the value of the guaranteed engagements that came with it separated the Leventritt from other competitions.) As well as performing virtually the entire classical concert repertoire, he occasionally played with klezmer (traditional Jewish dance music) and jazz groups. He also played the solo violin passages in John Williams’s Oscar-winning score for the movie Schindler’s List (1993).

As a conductor, he worked with many of the great orchestras. He held the position of principal guest conductor with the Detroit Symphony from 2001 to 2005 and was music adviser of the St. Louis Symphony, Missouri, from 2002 to 2004. Perlman was also a teacher, regularly giving violin master classes and cofounding in 1998 (with his wife, Toby) the Perlman Music Program to encourage gifted string players aged 12 to 18.

He received 15 Grammy Awards between 1977 and 1995, and in 2008 he was given a Grammy for lifetime achievement. Perlman was also a recipient of the U.S. Medal of Freedom (1986), the National Medal of Arts (2000), a Kennedy Center Honor (2003), and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2015). Itzhak (2017) is a documentary about his life and career.  SOURCE: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Learn more at britannica.com  

Three Blind Mice is an English-language nursery rhyme written by Thomas Ravenscroft in 1609. The modern version of the song was first included in children’s literature much later, at the beginning of 19th century, and its lyrics are different than the original one. The farmer's wife refers to the queen who with her husband, King Philip of Spain, owned large estates.

QUESTION: Am I playing from memory or reading sheet music? Memory and with both hands. A real milestone this week.

Love expresses itself in many different ways. You hear a song. Suddenly a wave of emotion comes over you, remembering days, months (years if you're lucky) of love, desire and intimacy with someone in the past. This is one of those songs by Gordon Lightfoot. If You Could Read My Mind released in 1970. See the videos on YouTube. Source: Lyrics.com.

If you could read my mind love What a tale my thoughts could tell Just like an old time movie About a ghost from a wishing well In a castle dark or a fortress strong With chains upon my feet You know that ghost is me And I will never be set free As long as I'm a ghost you can see  If I could read your mind love What a tale your thoughts could tell Just like a paperback novel The kind the drugstore sells When you reach the part where the heartaches come Come the hero would be me Heroes often fail And you won't read that book again Because the ending's just to hard to take.

When did Gordon Lightfoot write if you could read my mind? Answer: In 1969  "It catches the cadences of a hurt lover not used to words that cut too close" (Maclean's, 1 May 1978). The song has been recorded more than 100 times, first by the composer for his LP Sit Down Young Stranger.

Renting a practice room has many benefits. It provides a space to practice without distractions. Weekly rentals mean you may give advanced notice to reschedule without being charged. You will be asked to pay for "no shows". What is the policy about recording equipment? Is there an extra charge to bring a friend? Are the practice rooms sound proof? Thanks for stopping by.

Call a music store for information. Are there teachers for hire and, if so, are they available to schedule new students? If so, make an appointment to meet with the teacher ASAP. Take a songbook(s) you're working in dear friends and be prepared to play one song. Consider this an audition. That's what it is. The teacher will advise you on the spot. Thanks for listening.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a 1967 American musical comedy film based on the 1961 stage musical of the same name, which in turn was based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book. The film was produced by United Artists and directed by David Swift, with original staging by Bob Fosse. Synopsis: J. Pierpont Finch (Robert Morse) is a lowly window cleaner with dreams of making it big in the business world. After finding a copy of the book "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," Finch decides to apply the tactics in the book to his own life. Soon, he's working as a mail-room clerk at the World Wide Wicket Company and quickly fighting his way up the corporate ladder with relative ease in this quirky musical based on the hit Broadway production.

Success in life begins with a dream. This is what I know about success. Self-confidence is contagious. Many people find this quality attractive in others without realizing the attraction. When it comes to dreams, sooner or later you'll find out if you're on the right path or not. Believe in your dreams, ask a lot of questions and keep going. A few people who share your dreams will ultimately become your advocates and may even wind up offering support. Accept it. Thanks for listening.

Would you be interested in knowing more about my public performances as a vocalist/musician?? If you are, please check out Songbird at the Shopping Mall and From Piano to Puccini. I am the author of these coffee table books available on Amazon. Who is Bessie Smith? She was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. In this podcast, I reminisce about an evening with Bessie Smith on Broadway. Thank you for listening.