Quiz: how many of these school musical instruments can you name?
Some of them strange, some of them wonderful. Some of them sound great, some might need more coaxing. But can you remember what they were called? We couldn’t in every case.
The Washington International Piano Festival is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to the performance and teaching of classical music at the highest standard. The festival takes place every summer on the beautiful campus of the Catholic University of America, as well as at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. Young aspiring concert pianists, teachers, amateurs, and piano lovers of all ages from all over the world are invited to participate in this inspiring and unique one-week festival.
The goal of our festival – the first and the only piano festival in Washington, D.C. – is to provide the best learning experience for everyone by combining an intensive educational program with an outstanding concert series presented by world-class classical pianists. We invite you to become part of the festival either as an active participant or an observer (see registration). All participants will have the opportunity to work with prominent piano pedagogues in daily one-on-one private lessons and to participate in a piano competition, recitals, educational workshops, lectures and master classes that will focus on both piano solo and piano ensemble repertoire. Selected WIPF participants will also have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in two concerts at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. Both concerts are webcast live at www.kennedy-center.org. In addition to the intensive program offerings, participants will have the chance to enjoy and explore the cultural and historical sights of Washington, D.C. including museums, galleries, memorials, monuments, theaters and restaurants. A special sight-seeing city bus tour will be offered to our festival participants and guests.
In addition to presenting some of the best internationally-renowned pianists in recital (see ticket information), we are excited to offer again to the festival participants and audiences the Young Pianist Showcase concert series. These 30-minute concerts, preceding our guest artists’ evening concerts, will feature an array of extraordinarily talented young pianists who are prizewinners of local, national and international piano competitions.
During the last seven editions of the festival we welcomed more than 450 participants, faculty, and guest artists from all over the world including Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, Singapore, U.A.E., Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, France, Italy, and the U.S. They all made our festival become one of the most successful additions to the nation’s capital’s summer cultural life.
For more information or tickets, visit http://www.washingtonpianofest.com/
This past Wednesday 7/13, Jordan Kitt’s Music was proud to host “Technology to Improve Student Motivation” featuring clinician Linda Christensen, Ph.D.
There was a great turnout from teachers looking to stay engaged with students during the summer months using modern technology to keep them practicing, even while on vacation.
Linda Christensen received her Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, where she studied pedagogy with E.L. Lancaster and Jane Magrath. After over 20 years as a Professor of Music and Music Technology, she is now the Institutional Sales Director for Maryland/DC for Jordan Kitts Music in Rockville, Maryland. She is a frequent presenter for MTNA, NCKP, and many other national and international conferences.
To get on the mailing list for future education seminars, contact us at info@jordankitts.com
Helping kids develop the ability to disregard potential distractions…
via psmag.com, by Tom Jacobs
The term “cognitive inhibition” doesn’t sound particularly attractive, but it describes a vitally important mental process. It refers to our capability to tune out irrelevant information and focus our attention on the matter at hand.
Obviously, this ability to concentrate is more important than ever, in a world where we are constantly beckoned by a wide range of distractions. So how can you help your child develop it?
New research suggests one answer is music lessons.
Belgian researchers report 9- to 12-year-olds who had been taking regular music lessons displayed “enhanced cognitive inhibitory control” compared to a group of same-age peers. Their study, in the journal Musicae Scientiae, adds to the already large body of evidence showing cognitive benefits of musical training.
The study featured 63 Dutch-speaking students from Flanders, ranging in age from 9 1/2 to 11 1/2. Thirty-two of them “had been taking music classes since the age of 5 were younger,” specifically studying the Suzuki method with qualified teachers.
Does cutting music programs still seem like such a great way to balance the budget?
Their parents filled out a form noting how many years they had been playing an instrument, and the average amount of time they spend each day on music training. In addition, they reported the education level of the children’s parents, which was roughly equivalent for the two groups.
To measure inhibitory control, all of the children completed the “Simon task,” in which they were asked to press a certain key when a specific color appeared on a computer screen in front of them.
“Of the trials, 50 percent were congruent, meaning that the position of the circle on the screen matched the position of the required response button,” the researchers explain. “The remaining 50 percent were incongruent, with the position of the circle not matching the position of the required response key.” Participants were scored on whether they pushed the correct buttons, and how long it took them to respond.
The researchers, led by Marie-Eve Joret, found “the magnitude of the congruency effect” was “significantly larger in the control group compared to the music group.” In other words, the young musicians performed significantly better in a task that had nothing to do with music, but required focused attention, quick thinking, and rapid responses.
These superior scores “might be explained by several elements related to music training,” the researchers write. “Playing a musical instrument requires high levels of selective attention. Hence, children need to focus their attention on playing music while ignoring other distracting elements.”
via helenair.com, written by John Dorr, a piano technician and private music instructor
I get a lot of calls from people who just obtained a free, giveaway piano. They’ll want me to come out and tune and/or inspect it with an eye towards its restoration. Sometimes these pianos are real gems; they’ll tune up nicely and play well. Good deal! However, often a giveaway piano is given away because it hasn’t been played in years or the owner knows that it is need of some repairs and is not interested in putting any money into it.
(Non)Buyer Beware! That long-neglected piano is almost assuredly so far from being “at pitch” that a tuning will likely involve a pre-tuning pass known as a pitch, or pressure, correction — maybe two — before it’s tuneable. That’s an added expense.
An extra-charge tuning is just the beginning of the possible bad news, though. If there are repairs to be made, such as action adjustments, bear in mind that a five-minute repair on ONE key equals almost four hours when you multiply it by 88 if that repair/adjustment is needed on ALL keys. Small things necessary for your new free piano can soon become larger investments!
The above scenario assumes that you have a tuneable piano, too. Sadly, sometimes when I look at a customer’s new “free” piano, I have to inform them that it just USED TO BE a piano, but now it’s only a piano shaped object. Certain structural defects can render a good-looking piano untuneable. Pinblocks can be too loose, plates can be broken, soundboards may have severely separated ribs and cracks, and strings can be rusted, worn, and ready to break when pulled up to pitch. Some of these problems can be fixed, some are feasible; you could buy a NEW piano for the costs of some of these repairs.
If you get the worst news as described in the paragraph above, now you undoubtedly have three or four strong friends who helped you move it to your house who’ll swear never to move a piano again! Especially YOURS.
So how do you pre-check a free piano and get an idea of whether it’s useable or not? Or how much it may cost to get it to perform up to your expectations? First — don’t just the piano by its case. “Case in Point” (pun intended): I have a BEAUTIFUL old upright piano that is a “piano shaped object” only. Matter of fact, anyone reading this who aspires to make a bar, a toolbox, or other use of this piano is welcome to call me and I’ll give it to you for free.
The best thing to do with any used piano purchase, or giveaway piano, is to have a piano technician inspect it before you take it. Many people rely on their piano teachers to look at the prospective pianos and evaluate them. Truth is, there aren’t many judgments a teacher can make about the mechanics and the structure of the piano. Teachers generally just play and listen. If all the keys play well and reliably, and if the sound of the piano is reasonable, it may get no further inspection. A technician may take from 30 minutes to an hour to disassemble much of the piano to make a thorough inspection and present you with a condition report, so you’ll know what to expect when he or she comes to service it. There will be a charge for this service but it’s cheap insurance against expensive disappointments. And sometimes, the charges for the inspection may be credited against future repairs.
Read more here
Make Music Day is a global celebration of music that takes place each year on June 21st. Launched in 1982 in France as the Fête de la Musique, it is now held in more than 700 cities in 120 countries.
On June 21st of 2016, Make Music Day is making its debut in Washington, DC. Musicians of all genres, skill levels and ages are urged to share their talents. Virtually any venue can participate. Registration is free, easy and commitment-free.
Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music Day is open to anyone who wants to take part. Every kind of musician — young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion — pours onto streets, parks, plazas, and porches to share their music with friends, neighbors, and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public.
Stop by Jordan Kitt’s Music during Make Music Day to learn how to play a song, and get a free piece of sheet music!
Or, to participate, volunteer, or find out more information, visit here!
Following Jordan Kitt’s Music special presentation of Awadajin Pratt at the Woodburn School for the Fine & Communicative Arts, one student was so moved by the performance that she was inspired to create this wonderful piece of art commemorating the occasion.
Isabelle Campen, a 6th grade student at Woodburn, painted a 3 dimensional work of art created in layers titled “Awadagin’s Notes” and presented it to Chris Syllaba, President of Jordan Kitt’s Music.
This wonderful artwork is proudly on display at the Rockville location, so look for it next time you visit!
Students at the Woodburn School for the Fine & Communicative Arts received a special treat courtesy of Jordan Kitt’s Music and the Fairfax Symphony! On Thursday, April 28th, Jordan Kitt’s Music and the Fairfax Symphony partnered together to bring famed pianist Awadagin Pratt to give a special concert just for the students and the faculty of the innovative school.
“The Woodburn School has a wonderful mission of infusing the daily curriculum of their students with a healthy dose of the fine arts. Those in our field understand the importance the arts play in education and the role it plays in a student’s development. This matches our own commitment to music education and our vision of improving students lives through music. It was our privilege to support the Woodburn School and their students, and to see how Mr. Pratt’s performance has touched these children.”
Awadagin Pratt has been the subject of numerous articles in the national press, including Newsweek, People Magazine and New York Newsday. He was named one of the 50 Leaders of Tomorrow in Ebony Magazine’s special 50th anniversary issue and has been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday Morning and Weekend Edition. On television, Mr. Pratt has performed on the Today Show, Good Morning America and Sesame Street, been profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and was one of the featured soloists on PBS’s “Live from the Kennedy Center – A Salute to Slava.”
The piano Mr. Pratt performed on was a special Avant Grand by Yamaha and provided by Jordan Kitt’s Music. The instrument provides a concert level performance while being small enough to meet the size restrictions in most homes and schools. More information about the instrument is available here
Time Magazine names Yamaha Clavinova one of the 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time
You could argue the Minimoog did far more for music tech, or that the Fairlight was cooler, but visit average U.S. households from the 1980s forward and you’re most likely to encounter the Clavinova. Yamaha’s popular digital piano married the look and compactness of a spinet (a smaller, shorter upright piano) with the modern qualities of a modest synthesizer. With a plausibly pianistic weighted action and space-saving footprint, it’s become a staple for parents looking to bring maintenance-free musicality—you never have to tune it—into households, all without sacrificing huge swathes of living space.
Read more here…
via NBC News
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Days before his death, Prince tweeted a photo of a custom-made purple piano intended to be a centerpiece of his scheduled tour.
The piano, which was delivered to Prince’s home at Paisley Park in Minnesota a few weeks ago, was a rush job that had to be completed in about three months, said Chris Gero, vice president of Yamaha Entertainment Group, based in Franklin, Tennessee.
“We were on the top end of the idea, but it accelerated so fast,” Gero said Friday, revealing the behind-the-scenes work that went into its manufacture.
The acoustics of the piano were fine-tuned to Prince’s specifications. The artist, 57, who was found dead in his suburban Minneapolis home Thursday, had intended it for his Prince, Piano and a Microphone tour.
Image: Yahama purple piano for Prince
Customized purple piano for Prince. Ben James / Yamaha Entertainment Group
“So the piano is an acoustical piano, but it also has a tone generation system internally that can go out to a secondary audio source that all the sounds internally are highly modified just for him,” Gero said. “They are EQed (equalized) a certain way. There were certain sounds that were made just specifically for him.”
Prince also wanted the manufacturer to match the color to a couch in his home.
“The color purple was specifically chosen by him to match an item in his house, which was actually made of several different colors of purple that made one specific color of purple,” Gero said.
The company searched everywhere for the exact shade, ultimately painting it with paint used for cars.
Gero said he was surprised to see that Prince tweeted a picture of the piano and then over the weekend unveiled it to an audience at a show at his compound.
“It was really the last big performance he had done publicly in which he unveiled it and he was very proud of it,” Gero said.