Today it's cold and rainy - a perfect day to stay in the house with the dog and the cat, eat almonds, and drink spiced tea, which is what I have been doing!
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of adjudicating a division of the Raleigh regional North Carolina Music Teachers Association. I was delighted to hear so many young students who had their music solidly memorized, performed with excellent attention to the various markings on the score from articulations to dynamics, and who did so with distinct personality!
I tried to follow the criteria given on the evaluation form very precisely. The difference between "Superior" and "Excellent" was essentially that the superiors did what the excellents did, only with imagination. That extra spark of imagination, of personal connection with the music, makes you want to listen and causes you to find the playing satisfying and sometimes even surprising.
This was a good refresher course for me in what musical talent really is - physical, mental, and personal.
Specific repertoire notes:
I heard numerous young people play "Jimbo's Lullaby" by Debussy. I was moved by the luminous and tender sonority of the first appearance of the theme every time.
Another piece on the official list was a short Ligeti work which features several sudden changes of musical direction and dynamics. The young people did a great job with it.
I was also struck by how well many of the youngsters played their Baroque selections very well. I usually think of Baroque music as being a big challenege for students because of the counterpoint and the requirement of meticulous attention to fingering. But many of these budding pianists mastered these challenges.
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