This last week was the second of two January online examining weeks for me, and it was a pleasure hearing so many fine young musicians. One of the biggest challenges for me this week was helping candidates get set up with their video and audio at the start of the exam. This was the first online performing experience for many of them, and they were a little unfamiliar with using Zoom for music-making, specifically, with the need to turn on the original audio settings for Mac, PC, iOS, or Android. Important note to teachers: if you're sending a student to an online recital or exam, please familiarize yourself with the basics of original audio settings on Zoom so you can explain it to students ahead of time.
Finding new, inspiring, and efficient ways to practice has been a lifelong quest of mine, so I was more than glad to hear Bebop Mädchen's conversation with Danish drummer Jens Emil Jensen on using Pomodoro-based time management for managing time when practicing. So far my students have been quite amenable to this method for practicing, as most of them have already heard about using time-blocking and Pomodoro for study sessions.
Summer 2022 (keep your fingers crossed 🤞🤞) will mark a return to in-person summer festivals, and the Summer Collaborative Piano Institute at LSU has a strong lineup of faculty including Anne Epperson, Martin Katz, and many more. February 15 is the early bird deadline for collaborative pianists interested in attending this summer in Baton Rouge.
Some noteworthy articles from around the web:
- Revisiting Richter - Alan Jacobs explores his fascination with the overtly Romantic Well-Tempered Clavier recordings of Sviatoslav Richter and the ambiance that the large room gives these recordings.
- How should you talk to think better? - Some thoughts from Tyler Cowen on how to craft your speaking and non-verbal cues, not in order to look better, but to think better while you're speaking.
- Formats Unpacked: Wordle - From Hugh Garry, an exploration of Wordle, what makes it tick, and why we're so obsessed about it these days.
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This week's photo is a detail from Wendy Hatala Foley's "Winter Blossoms" (acrylic on canvas, 48x36). You can find this painting and more on our website.