Making Lemonade

a masterclass for a time of isolation

Pianists and isolation

Pianists are used to being alone. We practice (for hours) alone. We perform alone. A lot of the pieces we want to play are for piano alone. So you might say we are practiced at being alone.

Still, this isolation business is a bit hard to bear. We are in the season when pianists and other musicians come together to play chamber music—perhaps the most wonderful thing a musician can do. We should have been gathering to sample the delights of the companionship of music. Instead those gatherings, by and large, have been canceled.

So, when life hands you lemons.....

Back in May, I was feeling sorry for one of my advanced students. Her contest, for which she'd been preparing for months (in isolation!) was canceled. Then her summer program was canceled. It was sad to think that this year, she wouldn't have a chance to get to know other advancing pianists her age and to hear them play. It was disheartening to think she would miss the chance to learn from highly-advanced pianists/teachers and to imagine a path for herself as she advances her skills at the piano.

Then one day I woke up with the solution to our problem in my mind. I could ask Ratko Delorko to teach over zoom while my student and I participated from the newly-opened Davis Hill Studio studio. I met Ratko on Charles Street in Baltimore when we were both in that fair city to attend a piano teacher's conference. Since then, we have kept up a correspondence and exchanged ideas about teaching and composition. Ratko Delorko is a sought-after clinician and piano coach at a collegiate and professional level. He has traveled the world teaching piano to dedicated students. He established an on-line teaching studio several years ago and so he has a lot of experience guiding students without being able to access any of our profession's tried-and-true hands-on methods. Ratko agreed to set up a masterclass. He will be hosting our first zoom session on Friday, June 19th. (Eastern Standard Time)

I think we should all get ready for the best lemonade ever. It will be as refreshing to hear some new ideas about how to have fun playing the piano as it is to drink a tall glass of freshly squeezed lemonade after a long bike ride--motor powered or otherwise. There is a little foreshadowing in that last sentence; some of you may recognize it. We will enlighten you all on the day of our class. I hope to "see" you there. 

In order to manage the zoom session well, I want to send out invitations to people who are planning to attend. If you would like to attend, please send me an e-mail by Thursday, June 18th at 6 PM. I will be checking my e-mail and will send you a zoom link as soon as I receive a communication from you. Now I'm off to practice. I hope you are, also. 

in pianistic solidarity,

Ellen