Piano 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 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…

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…

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…

Meet Dee Spencer, Jazz Professor and Music Director

August 3, 2020

Lolly Lewis

AMN mentors, Jazz and Beyond - Non-Classical Music, Piano

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This is a guest post by Nancy Friedman, an AMN volunteer. On August 15, the multitalented Dee Spencer—teacher, performer, music director—will offer an online workshop in jazz-piano improvisation through our Amateur Music Network at Home series. We caught up with her by phone just before she headed out to an evening gig at San Francisco’s Catch restaurant, which had recently reopened for outdoor dining. What was your early musical life like? I grew up in a musical family in Wilmington,…