Playing the piano isn’t exactly a high-impact sport. And sadly we don’t get our cardio workout done for the day after a 30 minute piano practice session. (Although to be honest, sometimes it feels like it!) But playing the piano does have surprising mental health benefits. Here are 4 reasons why playing the piano is […]
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Several months ago, I had the idea to write a year cycle for the piano. Composers throughout time have done this (such as Fanny Mendelssohn and Pyotr Tchaikovsky); they wrote a short character piece for each month of the year that imitated the mood of that specific month. (Check out this post for some examples.) […]
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The Voices piano sonata is a very special composition to me. Writing this work gave me an opportunity to explore my own voice as a composer, but it goes deeper than that. Each of the three movements in the piano sonata Voices is based on a theme written by a female composer in music history. […]
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Hi friends! Today I am thrilled to share with you my newest album of original compositions: Voices. This groundwork for this album came from a concert I gave back in April of 2019. I wrote many new original pieces for the concert, so I decided to record and share some of them in album form. […]
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Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine (more on that later), was a Medieval nun of many talents. Not only was Hildegard a German Benedictine abbess – the female superior of a community of nuns – but she was also a composer, writer, philosopher, mystic, and one […]
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During the Romantic Era, women musicians did not generally perform in public. Especially not eleven-year-old girls. But that’s exactly what young Clara Schumann (née Wieck) did in 1830 after her father recognized her virtuosic abilities on the piano. Schumann grew up to be one of the most famous concert pianists of the time, constantly pushing […]
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When you think of outer space, you might be swept away by feelings of grandeur and longing. You might look up at the stars and feel small, wondering what exactly is out there for us to discover. You might even be swept away by the gorgeous colors and sensations of the unknown. And you wouldn’t […]
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In 1886, French composer (and organist/pianist/conductor) Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) composed and premiered his fun and humorous chamber work The Carnival of the Animals. Each of the 14 movements represents an animal, and when the movements are put together the work is a parade of color, sound, and images. One of the most famous movements of this work is […]
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In 1888, the eccentric French composer Erik Satie (1866-1925) published three short, atmospheric piano solos called Gymnopédies. The first, marked Lent et douloureux (“slowly with pain/grief”), is perhaps one of the most famous piano solos penned during the late Romantic era. Let’s dive a little deeper into Gymnopédie No. 1 and see what makes it so […]
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As a composer, sometimes it’s difficult to quickly come up with new ideas. Especially because new ideas require lots of hard work to transform into something amazing! For today’s composition tip, let’s look at how to revisit and reuse your old material to make it better than ever. Real Life Example: Heartbeat Here is my […]
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