.:: Newsletter ::. Previous Issues Tuning Up A Newsletter of the Rockland County Music Teachers Guild P.O. Box 283, New City, NY 10956 http://www.RCMTG.org May 2012, Op. 50, No. 10 50th Anniversary Edition WEDNESDAY MAY 6th, 10am, at the Nyack Library: HEAD and HEART -in 15 minutes or 25 words! with RCMTG Member TAMMY LUM In a Masterclass the teacher has 15 minutes to advise a student and in a competition the teacher may be limited to 25 words of advice. How lucky we are to have students week after week. At our May meeting, Dr. Tammy Lum, with 20 years of experience on "both sides" of the piano will discuss preparing students to make music with head and heart in performance. She will also share with us the contents of her piano pedagogy program at Nyack College. This program will be of interest to all teachers who prepare students for performance. A native of Hong Kong, Dr. Tammy Lum has conducted Masterclasses in the USA, Hong Kong and China for young children, college students and professionals. She has performed as soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Augusta Symphony Orchestra in Georgia, the Sarah Lawrence Symphony Orchestra, and the Manhattan School of Music (as competition winner). Dr. Lum holds B.M., M.M. degrees from the Eastman School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music. Her teachers included Barry Snyder, John Perry, Herbert Stessin and Constance Keene. Tammy is the founder and artistic director of the Annual Hudson River Pianofest (see page 4 for details). PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE This is always such an incredibly busy time: the studio is full of activity and our lives are too. Every day there is some miracle of rescheduling required due to lacrosse, softball or the play. Maintaining equilibrium for students and teachers is often impossible. Triage becomes a way of life: give up trying to get it all done and focus on who or what is most in need of immediate attention. Not a bad approach to practicing, come to think of it. Those endless "play throughs" take up valuable time...meanwhile the sloppy passegework in the development has flatlined. Reprint from the New York Times, April 13, 2012 by Phillip Lutz (abridged) You might associate libraries with hushed tranquility rather than lively music, but the gradual transformation of many libraries into de facto cultural community centers is changing that. Offering the intimacy of clubs...without the distractions - no clinking of glasses or paying of checks during the set - library music rooms are attracting enthusiastic audiences for first-rate folk, modern jazz and classical concerts..... Few in the audience in the wood-paneled Carnegie Room of the Nyack Library in Rockland County will likely have heard what the pianists Christopher Oldfather and his wife, Fredrica Wyman, are planning for their four-handed piano recital on April 29. Aside from works by Mozart and Ravel, they will offer "Three Pieces," a recently composed suite by Dan Cooper that incorporates a fox-trot, blues and boogie-woogie into a contemporary context. Such works may fall outside the comfort zone of some in the...audience, but they are standard fare for Mr. Oldfather, a leading exponent of new music and an advocate of it in the library series. Mr. Oldfather’s advocacy has been supported by the chief programmer of the series, the pianist Yashar Yaslowitz. Although Mr. Yaslowitz performs classical war horses - his playlist in Nyack last month included three Beethoven sonatas - he schedules his share of pianists who favor Stockhausen over Schubert. While those concerts do not always sell out - with a top ticket price of $25, the 100-seat room was half full in February for Mr. Oldfather’s account, more than two hours long, of Messiaen’s "Vingt Regards" cycle - Mr Yaslowitz said he was starting to create a community of patrons for such works. Since Mr. Yaslowitz took over as director of the Nyack concert series in 2008, a year after it moved to the Carnegie Room from St Paul’s United Methodist Church, the number of concerts has tripled, to three a week. The status of some programming, notably in the jazz arena, has arguably been elevated as well since the Rockland County Jazz and Blues Society agreed to curate last fall. The arrangement has yielded sellout crowds for solo turns by world-class pianists like Cedar Walton, prompting the society, which had been searching for a location for its concerts, to pencil in acts at the library at least into July, said the pianist Richard Sussman, the society’s president. "This is what we’ve been trying to do for years," Mr. Sussman said. Christopher Oldfather and Fredrica Wyman at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday April 29 at Nyack Library, 59 South Broadway. Tickets $4 to $25. Information (845) 608-3593 or carnegieroom.org. ROCKLAND SYMPHONY BENEFIT CHAMBER CONCERT - Mozart, Jacob and Beethoven - at Grace Episcopal Church, Nyack, Sunday May 6, 3:00 pm. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED  to play piano, guitar or other instrument sing-a-longs for the residents of the Summit Park Nursing Home, any time Monday - Friday between 11 am and 3 pm, at the Nursing Center in Pomona. Call Cathy del Fierro or Shari Feldstein at 364-2848 or 364-2846. David VanCampen  has the following items for sale: YAMAHA U3 52" Professional Upright, Polished Mahogany with Sostenuto Pedal - $3,500 BALDWIN Spinet in Walnut finish - $900 CRUCIANELLI 120 Bass Accordian $600. 358-2415 Message from our TREASURER: I am pleased to announce that our guild is in sound financial condition and we will continue to keep our dues at the current rate.

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