The Royal Conservatory launches Aspects of Oscar

By Penny Johnson, Contributing Author

On October 30, The Royal Conservatory launched Aspects of Oscar, a five-part series of concerts celebrating the legendary Oscar Peterson, internationally renowned Canadian jazz pianist, and Laureate of The Third Glenn Gould Prize (1993).

Dedicated to the memory of the late Peterson – himself an honorary fellow of The Royal Conservatory – Aspects of Oscar offers an in-depth exploration into the legacy of the pianist Duke Ellington once referred to as the “Maharaja of the keyboard.” Long-time artistic collaborators and friends of Peterson will be showcased alongside various rising star jazz musicians. Each of the five concerts will include a conversation between guest artists and Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of Performing Arts at The Royal Conservatory. All concerts will take place in Koerner Hall and are as follows:

Oscar’s Songbook – Saturday, October 30, 2010
Oscar Solo – Saturday, December 11, 2010
Oscar’s Trios – Saturday, January 21, 2011
Oscar Swings – Saturday, March 5, 2011
Oscar’s Blues – Saturday, April 2, 2011

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McGill-Queen’s University Press soon to release English translation of Partita for Glenn Gould

By Penny Johnson, Contributing Author

It has been nearly three years since the release of Georges Leroux’s Partita pour Glenn Gould: Musique et Forme de Vie, a non-fiction work mingling biography, autobiography, life writing and musicology. Published by Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal in October of 2007, the work went on to receive the Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal (2007) and was a finalist for the French Language Category of the Governor General’s Literacy Award for Nonfiction (2008). On November 1, 2010, McGill-Queen’s University Press will release Donald Winkler’s English translation of Partita for Glenn Gould.

Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), the now retired Georges Leroux taught Ancient Philosophy, Platonism and Neoplatonism, as well as History of Religions. He served on the faculty at UQAM from 1969 until his retirement in 2006. Leroux has published numerous studies on the Platonic tradition, as well as a translation of Plato’s The Republic.

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Glenn Gould Prize Laureate, R. Murray Schafer named Composer-in-Residence at The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School

By Penny Johnson, Contributing Author

With a new academic year in full swing, The Royal Conservatory recently announced that the iconic Canadian composer and laureate of the First Glenn Gould Prize (1987) R. Murray Schafer, has been named Composer-in-Residence at The Glenn Gould School. The announcement came from Dr. Peter Simon, President of The Royal Conservatory, and James Anagnoson, Dean of The Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School.

As Composer-in-Residence, Schafer, 77, will coach a number of school ensembles including the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. According to the website of The Royal Conservatory, he will also be composing new works for faculty and students, as well as teaching a course in twentieth and twenty-first century music for students in the post-secondary Performance Diploma Program.

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From a Pianist’s Perspective: Observations on Learning Gould’s 2 Pieces (1951-52)

By Penny Johnson, Contributing Author

In an effort to bolster my repertoire of works by Canadian composers as well as to gain an understanding of the compositional processes of Glenn Gould, I recently embarked on the task of learning his 2 Pieces for Piano (1951-52). Written in the twelve-tone style fashioned by Arnold Schoenberg – whose music Gould had been introduced to by his teacher, Alberto Guerrero, around 1948/49 – the work represents one of several composed during the early 1950’s at a time when the young pianist was vigorously exercising his compositional abilities in the post-tonal arena. Other works include the Sonata for Bassoon and Piano, a String Trio, 2 Pieces for Organ (each written in 1950) and the 5 Short Piano Pieces (1951). The following text and audio samples display some of the observations I have made throughout the course of my studies. Clocking in at a fashionably ‘Webernesque’ two minutes and forty seconds, the work contains a host of clues leading to an understanding of the factors that influenced the musical aesthetics of the nineteen year-old.

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Referencing Glenn Gould at the RCM’s recent Keyboard Pedagogy Professional Development Summit

By Penny Johnson, Contributing Author

I recently attended the two-day Keyboard Pedagogy Professional Development Summit held at The Royal Conservatory’s TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning in Toronto. I believe I was one of several hundred piano teachers from across North America who have congregated to hear noteworthy figures in the field, as well as to network and advance our ideas for further personal and professional growth. We have already been exposed to presentations on such topics as “Piano Pedagogy 101: In Consideration of the Basics” (Dr. Marvin Blickenstaff); “A Creative Spirit: Pieces” (Dr. Andrew Hisey); “Not Just in Theory: Making the Most of Repertoire Study” (Dr. Janet Lopinski); “Learning How to Learn” (Dr. Kent McWilliams). Yet even with all of our energies focused on piano pedagogy and not on such Gouldian themes as contrapuntal radio, solitude, north or Art of Fugue, Glenn Gould's name came up three times in a very short while. Given the fact that Gould's work as a pioneer of recording techniques is finally realizing it's rightful place in the realm of twenty-first century methodology, I find it reassuring to know that so too in the teaching studio does his manner of performance and interpretation continue to influence piano pedagogues.

Throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s, I recall Gould being mentioned frequently by piano teachers, particularly when discussing a student’s interpretation of a work by Bach. During my undergraduate and graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music, Gould would be referenced both in the teaching studio and master class setting, as well as informal listening parties with friends, not to mention the countless teachers who played his recordings as part of their lectures. Similarly, a trip to the listening desk at Eastman’s Sibley Music Library just wouldn’t be complete without a Gould disc, which were almost always in circulation.

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