AMN mentors Archives - Amateur Music Network

Meet Pianist and New-Music Mentor Sarah Cahill

November 30, 2020

AMN mentors, Composers, Piano, Talking about Music

What better way to ring out 2020 and ring in a new year than with Sarah Cahill, a renowned pianist and advocate for new music? On Saturday, December 5, Sarah will join us via Zoom to talk about her multifaceted musical life, which spans performing, commissioning and premiering new works, writing about music, and hosting “Revolutions Per Minute,” a long-running radio program on KALW-FM in Berkeley. We chatted with Sarah via email, eager to learn more about her influences, her…

Meet ‘Weird Sounds’ Clarinet Mentor Jeff Anderle

November 9, 2020

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AMN mentors, Woodwinds, Workshops

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Ever wonder what your clarinet could sound like if it didn’t have to sound “perfect”? On November 21, clairnetist Jeff Anderle will take you on a journey of musical discovery in our online “Weird Sounds for Clarinet” workshop, which promises to be fun, funky, and surprisingly practical. We reached Jeff at his Oakland home to find out more about his own life in music—weird and traditional. Jeff Anderle When did you start playing the clarinet? I grew up in Walnut…

Meet Eric Zivian, Piano and Fortepiano Mentor

October 17, 2020

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AMN mentors, Piano, Workshops

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We’re concluding our Early Music for Modern Instruments series with an October 24 online workshop with acclaimed pianist, fortepianist, and composer Eric Zivian. To learn more about the secrets of the fortepiano—the predecessor of the modern piano—we reached Eric at the Berkeley home he shares with his professional and life partner, the cellist Tanya Tomkins; and three pianos of different vintages. Photo by Jeanette Yu What is your musical background? Who were your teachers? I grew up in Toronto in…

Meet William Skeen, Baroque Cello Mentor

October 9, 2020

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AMN mentors, Early Music and Period Instruments, Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Workshops

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Our Early Music for Modern Instruments series continues with an October 17 online workshop taught by William Skeen, a principal cellist with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and American Bach Soloists. (Register now for the workshop.) Bill is also the co-founder of the New Estherhazy Quartet, whose repertoire includes more than 150 string quartets performed exclusively on gut strings. He spoke with us from his home in Oakland to give us a glimpse into the life of an early-music specialist. William Skeen…

Meet Elizabeth Blumenstock, Baroque Violin Mentor

September 29, 2020

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AMN mentors, Early Music and Period Instruments, Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Workshops

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We’re launching our Early Music for Modern Instruments month with a very special four-workshop series taught by Baroque violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock. The series begins Tuesday, October 6, at 7 p.m. PDT, and continues on Tuesday evenings through October 27. (Register now for the series.) Elizabeth is a longtime concertmaster, soloist, and leader with the Bay Area’s Philarmonia Baroque Orchestra and American Bach Soloists; concertmaster of the International Handel Festival in Goettingen, Germany; and artistic director of the Baroque Music Festival…

Meet John Santos, Afro-Latin Percussionist and AMN Mentor

September 24, 2020

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AMN mentors, Percussion, Workshops

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From jazz to salsa to samba, the San Francisco Bay Area is a vibrant hub of Afro-Latin music—and one of the reasons is percussionist John Santos, who for 45 years has played an essential role in bringing the full range of Afro-Latin music to a wide audience. On October 3, John—a generous teacher, performer, and recording artist—will join us in an online conversation about some fundamental Latin percussion instruments: tumbadora (conga drum), guiro, claves, cowbell, and chekeré. You don’t need…

Playing in Harmony: What Makes a Successful Musical Collaboration?

September 19, 2020

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AMN mentors, Piano, Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Workshops

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What does it take to collaborate musically? How do you find a musical collaborator who’s right for you? In anticipation of our September 26 online conversation about collaboration with pianist Gwendolyn Mok, we chatted with Robert Howard, who will moderate the conversation. Robert is an accomplished cellist who has collaborated with Gwen and other pianists in performance and on recording; during the workshop, he and Gwen will play excerpts from Beethoven’s Cello Sonata in g-minor and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in g-minor…

Words and Music: A Workshop with Tenor Nicholas Phan

September 15, 2020

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AMN mentors, Vocal and Choral Music, Workshops

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We’re delighted to be hosting Nicholas Phan—praised by the Boston Globe as “one of the world’s most remarkable singers”—in an online Words and Music workshop Saturday, September 19. An avid recitalist and proponent of vocal chamber music, Nick founded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago in 2010 to promote art song and vocal chamber music. He has also performed with many of the leading orchestras in North America and Europe, and has sung the title roles in Bernstein’s Candide, Stravinsky’s…

A New Way to Perform Old Music

September 12, 2020

Lolly Lewis

AMN mentors, Early Music and Period Instruments, Piano, Talking about Music, Workshops

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This is a guest post by Nancy Friedman, an AMN volunteer. You’ve played Bach, Vivaldi, and Haydn for years on your modern instrument. But have you ever wished to play that music in historically-informed style … without investing in costly period instruments? Now you can! Throughout October, Amateur Music Network is presenting Early Music for Modern Instruments, a series of online workshops for skilled amateur musicians taught by early-music mentors Elizabeth Blumenstock (violin), Eric Zivian (piano and fortepiano), and William…

Rufus Olivier and the Musician’s Toolbox

September 9, 2020

Lolly Lewis

AMN mentors, Talking about Music, Woodwinds

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This is a guest post by Nancy Friedman, an AMN volunteer. We hope you’ve registered for our October 10 online conversation about “the musician’s toolbox” with the accomplished and delightful Rufus Olivier Jr. A consummate musician and educator, Rufus is principal bassoonist with the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet, and a former member of the San Francisco Symphony. We chatted with him on a warm September afternoon while he was taking a break from a nonmusical activity:…