Piano Explored

Welcome to the Piano Explorer Podcast. My name is Benjamin Harding, and on this podcast and in the Piano Explorer community, we explore everything about the piano. If you are at all curious about the piano, You have come to the right spot. Please visit my website, www,benjaminharding.net and sign up for my newsletter, A weekly newsletter that gives you insight into the world of the piano with tips and tools and how to listen, practice and make your own music.

You can also visit my website for great deals with my affiliate links. These are companies that I enjoy and believe in.

And also coming this spring is the Piano Explored Academy. This is 2023 and this spring the Piano Explored Academy is coming into being featuring courses on how to learn the piano from beginner to intermediate to advanced, and tutorials on pieces common in the repertoire.

I want to help you to succeed in learning the piano, maybe learning some of your own music that you have stored up in your heart and mind. I want to help you bring that to life. Sign up for the newsletter so you can get early discounted deals as it relates to the piano explored community and the Piano Explored Academy.

You can find more information on the Taubman Approach at www.golandskyinstitute.org

Welcome to the Piano Explorer Podcast. My name is Benjamin Harding, and on this podcast and in the Piano Explorer community, we explore everything about the piano. If you are at all curious about the piano, You have come to the right spot. Please visit my website, www,benjaminharding.net and sign up for my newsletter, A weekly newsletter that gives you insight into the world of the piano with tips and tools and how to listen, practice and make your own music.

You can also visit my website for great deals with my affiliate links. These are companies that I enjoy and believe in. 

And also coming this spring is the Piano Explored Academy. This is 2023 and this spring the Piano Explored Academy is coming into being featuring courses on how to learn the piano from beginner to intermediate to advanced, and tutorials on pieces common in the repertoire.

I want to help you to succeed in learning the piano, maybe learning some of your own music that you have stored up in your heart and mind. I want to help you bring that to life. Sign up for the newsletter so you can get early discounted deals as it relates to the piano explored community and the piano Explored Academy.

On today's episode, I want to outline some tips and strategies in connecting with your audience during a concert. And if you are curious about learning the piano, I would love to hear from you, especially. 

I've done lots of concerts both private and public, and I've had the opportunity to interact with my audience members to find. What was meaningful and how did they connect with the music? I think it's really important for us as pianists to figure out where our audience is and to meet them right where they're at and help them to discover this amazing art! 

On today's episode we explore Sergei Rachmaninoff's Prelude in D major, op. 23 no. 4.
This piece demonstrates the untranslatable word into English from German 'sehnsucht' which C.S. Lewis draws our attention to in his writings.
This episode is also available in video format on my Youtube channel here:
A full performance of this piece is also available here:
Thank you for joining us today on this journey through this magical piece.
You can listen to a full recording of this piece here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-VglrXlWQk
Visit Piano Explored on YouTube as well here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyBM6epo6Wm2bW7_2vqN_oQ

Welcome to the Piano Explored Podcast!
I think that everyone can and should learn the piano especially if you are thinking of being a professional musician or a music major in college. This episode will get you started playing too!

We are launching a video format of this podcast and you can visit the following link for that video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDUBMHPCv_o

Thanks for joining me, Dr. Benjamin Harding, on the Piano Explored Podcast. Follow us at www.benjaminharding.net.
I am so thrilled to welcome Dr. Paul Barnes on the podcast today. His website is at www.paulbarnes.net
Praised by the New York Times for his “Lisztian thunder and deft fluidity," and the San Francisco Chronicle as “ferociously virtuosic,” pianist Paul Barnes has electrified audiences with his intensely expressive playing and cutting-edge programming. He has been featured seven times on APM’s Performance Today and on the cover of Clavier Magazine with his recordings streamed worldwide.
Celebrating his twenty-five-year collaboration with Philip Glass, Barnes commissioned and gave the world premiere of Glass's Piano Quintet "Annunciation." The work is Glass's first piano quintet and first work based on Greek Orthodox chant. Barnes recording of the quintet with string quartet superstars Brooklyn Rider was released in October of 2019 to critical acclaim.  ResMusica in Paris wrote: "Paul Barnes, whose pianistic lines are always clear, is a marvel of dialogue with Brooklyn Rider."
Barnes twelfth CD New Generations: The New Etudes of Philip Glass and Music of the Next Generation has also received rave reviews. Gramophone Magazine wrote, "Pianists of Barnes's great technique and musicality are a boon to new music." And American Record Guide commented, "This disc provides further proof of Barnes's ability to communicate new music with flair and passion." Produced by Orange Mountain Music, the recording features the world-premiere recording of Dreaming Awake, a selection of Glass’s etudes and works by N. Lincoln Hanks, Lucas Floyd, Jason Bahr, Zack Stanton, Ivan Moody, and Jonah Gallagher.
Barnes is Marguerite Scribante Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music. He was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Lied Center Piano Academy which welcomes several high-school pianists to Lincoln each summer for an intensive week of piano, composition, improvisation and collaboration. He will also be teaching this summer in Greece at the Piano Plus Summer Institute. In great demand as a pedagogue and clinician, Barnes has served as convention artist at several state MTNA conventions, most recently at Virginia and was recently named "Teacher of the Year" by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association.
Barnes latest recital Illumination features a contemplative and cathartic program of piano works inspired by the mystical world of chant. Barnes, also a Greek Orthodox chanter, has collaborated most recently with Philip Glass and Victoria Bond to create piano works based on ancient byzantine and Jewish chant. New chant-based works by Native flutist Ron Warren and David von Kampen were also given their premiere performances. Barnes gave the world premiere of Victoria Bond’s Illumination on Byzantine Chant at New York’s Symphony Space in April of 2021. Barnes released his fourteenth recording last fall on Albany Records entitled Illumination: The Piano Works of Victoria Bond including the world-premiere recording of Illuminations on Byzantine Chant. American Record Guide wrote "he sings with haunting musicality...and plays with fervid virtuosity...the music is calm and meditative, perfect for these troubled times." 
Barnes' recordings are available on Spotify, Pandora, ITunes, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Piano Explored Podcast! Thank you for your support.
Please visit www.benjaminharding.net for more information about the podcast and products that I really enjoy.

I met Dr. Whitehead at the University of Maryland, College Park in the studio of Bradford Gowen. We were both DMA students at the time. Annalee's husband is in the State Department and they have lived all over the world. While raising a family, she has found time to explore teaching and piano playing in Costa Rica and Kenya - to name a few places that she has lived!

As a notable soloist and chamber artist, pianist Annalee Whitehead has thrilled audiences everywhere with her ability to convey modern repertoire with riveting emotion, leaving audiences inspired to further explore contemporary music. She produced two albums of solo piano music composed during her lifetime to promote contemporary composers around the world. She was invited to perform these works abroad as an international guest artist at The Escuela Superior de Musica y Dansa in Monterrey, Mexico and the Safaricom House Classical Concert Series in Nairobi, Kenya. As a recurring solo artist on the concert series at the Washington DC Temple Visitors Center, she was invited back to perform some of these contemporary works as well. Ms. Whitehead’s lifelong collaborative experiences range in breadth from working with vocalist and choirs, to chamber groups, theater productions and dance studios. Notably, she was a guest artist with the string ensemble Zeze, accompanist for Stephen Schwartz’ masterclasses, accompanist and organist for the Nairobi Music Society and theatrical accompanist for the show Musical Love Lives which toured throughout Kenya and Tanzania. 

Dr. Whitehead received her BM degree in piano performance and pedagogy from Brigham Young University, and her Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland. She studied with Doug Humphreys, Irene Peery, Alice Rybak, Bradford Gowen and Andre Watts. With twenty-five years of teaching experience, Ms.Whitehead is a highly sought out piano teacher and adjudicator in the communities where she has lived. Many of her students are winners of local competitions and festivals and are accepted into university music programs. While living in Costa Rica, she discovered a new musical passion directing a 250 person children’s choir while teaching general music at Country Day School.
 
She is currently working towards licensure to teach choir in a K-12 classroom setting. Dr. Whitehead lives in Ashburn, VA with her husband and four children where she runs a private piano studio and is a member of the VMTA, NVMTA and Fairfax/Loudoun Fellowship. She serves her community as an adjudicator, accompanist and collaborative artist and anticipates the release of her contemporary recordings on various streaming platforms. 

Welcome to the Piano Explored Podcast! 

I’m your host, Dr. Benjamin Harding. You can follow us on Instagram and get involved in a group discussion on Facebook. Just search for Piano Explored Podcast. 

You can also find my website at www.benjaminharding.net for special offers from my affiliate links. I’ve got special offers there for you from a variety of companies and shops that I absolutely love.  

I hope you gain a glimpse into the great work that the Golandsky Institute is doing for musicians and especially, pianists. Founded by my guest today, Edna Golandsky, the Golandsky Institute has given insight to millions into how to play the piano pain-free.

Edna Golandsky is one of the premiere students of Dorothy Taubman. Visit her websites listed in the descriptions below.

Edna Golandsky is a world-renowned piano pedagogue and the leading exponent of the Taubman Approach. She has earned wide acclaim throughout the United States and abroad for her pedagogical expertise, and for using the Taubman piano technique. She is also known for her extraordinary ability to solve technical problems and for her penetrating musical insight.

​Ms. Golandsky started piano study in Israel at the age of eight. A gifted pianist, she played recitals at the age of ten and was performing with orchestras by the age of twelve. Ms. Golandsky came to the United States when she was sixteen years old, and was immediately accepted to the Juilliard School in their Preparatory Division.  

She remained at Juilliard for the next eight years, studying with Jane Carlson, Rosina Lhevinne and Adele Marcus, and graduating with bachelor and master’s degrees in piano performance.

​She has been featured in The New York Times,Classical Music UK, Authority Magazine, Piano & Keyboard Magazine, The Clavier Companion, New Work Weekly, Thrive Global and has written for The Strad, Interlude, TopMusic, Piano Marvel, and The Cross-Eyed Pianist among others.

The Golandsky Institute was established in 2003 by Edna Golandsky, John Bloomfield, Robert Durso and Mary Moran to bring high-level training in the Taubman Approach to the musical community. This Approach has proven to be highly effective in the resolution of technical limitations and playing-related injuries. The aim of the Institute is to provide musicians with a foundation that allows for full artistic expression and the development of virtuosic technical ability.
The work of the Golandsky Institute is presented internationally through private instruction, lectures, master classes, workshops, performances and symposiums by a team of expertly trained faculty members and teachers who are all highly regarded in their own right. In addition, the Institute produces critically acclaimed learning materials, including several series of DVDs, a photo-rich book, and videos of lectures, master classes, and seminars available as downloads or through the digital subscription streaming service.

Welcome to the Piano Explored Podcast! 

I’m your host, Dr. Benjamin Harding. You can follow us on Instagram and get involved in a group discussion on Facebook. Just search for Piano Explored Podcast. 

You can also find my website at www.benjaminharding.net for special offers from my affiliate links. I’ve got special offers there for you from a variety of companies and shops that I absolutely love. 

Today's episode is a conversation that I had with Zakary Reynolds. We met at the Csehy Summer School of Music. You should visit this wonderful program's website at: www.csehy.org.

Zakary is a freshman at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, pursuing a major in Piano Performance under the direction of distinguished performer and teacher, Dr. Daniel Paul Horn. Zakary began his musical studies at age five in Chambersburg, PA at the Cumberland Valley School of Music with Susan Matson. Along with these studies, Zakary performed regularly, participating and competing in local competitions as a soloist and in state competitions as an accompanist. In 2020, Zakary placed third in the All-State Accompanist Competition and was awarded the opportunity to play alongside the All-State Orchestra of Pennsylvania. In March of 2021, Zakary and his colleague, Lauren Swain, placed first in the United States International Duo Piano Competition in Colorado Springs, CO. Outside of his piano studies, Zakary enjoys singing in the Men’s Glee Club, performing with the Symphonic Band, and playing the organ. 

Welcome to the Piano Explored Podcast! 

I’m your host, Dr. Benjamin Harding. You can follow us on Instagram and get involved in a group discussion on Facebook. Just search for Piano Explored Podcast. 

You can also find my website at www.benjaminharding.net for special offers from my affiliate links. I’ve got special offers there for you from a variety of companies and shops that I absolutely love. 

I recently had the absolute privilege of recording the Piano Sonata of Gustav Hoyer. More information on Gustav's fabulous music is available at www.gustavhoyer.com. 

In this episode, I review three inspirational realizations as I recorded the sonata. I also share three insights you may be surprised to know in listening to a recording. 

On today's episode on Piano Explored, I have a conversation with Dr. Daniel Paul Horn who is professor and Chair of Keyboard Studies at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. I have been a long-time admirer of Daniel's career and teaching. We speak of our connection through Dr. Samuel Hsu, my undergraduate teacher, who Daniel met in 1980.  

The conversation opens with our shared joy in learning the piano music of Richard Danielpour. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. 

Don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook. 

An active and versatile pianist, Daniel Paul Horn is Professor of Piano and Chair of Keyboard Studies at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, where he was honored with a 2009 Senior Academic Achievement Award for sustained excellence in scholarship. As solo recitalist, he has appeared at colleges and universities throughout North America, at the American Liszt Society Festival, and in live broadcasts over WFMT-FM, on its Pianoforte Foundation Fazioli Salon Series and its 2010 Beethoven Piano Sonata series. As concerto soloist, he has performed with various Midwestern orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; in 2015, he made his European orchestral debut with the Sarajevo Philharmonic, performing Lumen by Wheaton alumnus Jacob Bancks.

 An avid chamber musician, he regularly collaborates with members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. With the MasterWorks Ensemble, he has played in Bermuda and at the 2010 Beijing Modern Music Festival; in addition, he has performed with the Ying String Quartet, the Rembrandt Chamber Players, cellists Leonardo Altino and Stephen Balderston;  pianists Alexander Djordjevic and Caroline Hong; and Guarneri Quartet violinist John Dalley. He also works with noted singers. Working with contemporary composers, he has premiered music by George Arasimowicz, Jacob Bancks, Delvyn Case, David M. Gordon, Neal Harnly, Patrick Kavanaugh, Daniel Kellogg, and Max Raimi. During the 2020-2021 season, he will give the world premiere of Seven Mysteries for solo piano, composed for him by Richard Danielpour through a commission made possible by a generous gift to Wheaton College.

 As an early keyboardist, he was harpsichordist in performances of Handel’s Messiah under the baton of John Nelson, and has twice performed on the Historical Piano Concert series at the Frederick Collection in Ashburnham, Massachusetts. In 1997, he recorded the critically praised disc “Wanderings” for Titanic Records on an 1829 Graf fortepiano, and in 2010 released Sehnsucht: Music of Robert Schumann; he also recorded for the Centaur label with CSO cellist Donald Moline, for the Canadian Music Centre with soprano Carolyn Hart, and for the Innova label with flutist Jennie Oh Brown.

 A Detroit native, Horn studied at Peabody with Walter Hautzig, and at Juilliard, where he studied with Martin Canin and Felix Galimir, and earned his doctorate. He has also coached with Jerome Lowenthal, Ann Schein, Joseph Bloch, Roy Howat, and Menahem Pressler, for whom he twice served as guest assistant at Indiana University. In addition to his duties at Wheaton, he has been a faculty artist at the Sewanee, Adamant, Blue Mountain, and MasterWorks summer festivals, and has served on the jury of the Chicago International Music Competition.