Department of Music Blog

Courtesy of Natalie and  Eugene Phillips, the Department of Music now owns a clavichord. Donated by the Phillips from their personal collection, the clavichord will be a welcome addition to a departmental  collection which already includes two fine harpsichords. Popular from the 14th through the 18th centuries, the clavichord produces a much subtler, softer sound then its contemporary, the harpsichord. And while we expect that the instrument will be used primarily by our piano students, no doubt some ambitious young composers will come up with novel applications for their original scores.

Natalie Phillips is a retired Senior Lecturer in piano and continues to teach several piano students on a part-time basis. Eugene is well known as a composer, had an illustrious career as a violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. We are grateful to the Phillips for donating their clavichord to the Department.

Spring is always a time of change and transition for any academic institution, but that change is more acute than ever as the Department of Music wishes a fond farewell to Professors of Musicology Don Franklin and Mary Lewis. Professors Franklin and Lewis have been pioneers in their fields, of Bach scholarship and Medieval and Renaissance music respectively, and intellectual anchors in the life of the music department. There is no doubt that their contributions to and passion for the Department’s goals will be sorely missed.

The Department of Music held a celebration for Professor Franklin in January and for Professor Lewis in April. Both professors were joined by family members, former staff, graduate and undergraduate students, and administrators from the University for time to celebrate with shared memories and wishes for an invigorating future.

(L-R) Dean N. John Cooper with Don and Joan Franklin

Mary Lewis (C) with  former Dept. of Music staff members Paul Riemer (L) and Patricia Cochran (R)

Professor Don Franklin has provided international leadership in understanding the music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries. From his service as president of the American Bach Society, to holding professorships at leading universities in the Germany and the United States, to his numerous publications exploring temporal procedures in 17th and 18th-century music, Franklin has left an indelible mark on his field. Locally, he is perhaps best known for his leadership, with John Goldsmith, of the Bach and Baroque series through which he performed many of J.S. Bach’s cantatas, passions, the B minor Mass, and, in a fitting finale, the Christmas Oratorio to sold-out audiences. Professor Franklin’s twelve years of service as Chair (1978–84 and 1990–96) helped shape the Department’s exceptional reputation for music scholarship.

Professor Mary S. Lewis has contributed ground-breaking research in early music and music of the Renaissance. Her three-volume work Antonio Gardano, Venetian Music Printer 1538-1569: A Descriptive Bibliography and Historical Study (Garland Press) received The Music Library Association’s  2007 Vincent H. Duckles Award, given annually for the best book-length bibliography or other research music tool. She is the recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, Bunting Fellowship, and many more. Professor Lewis’ energy in recruiting for the department’s graduate programs is the stuff of legend, and her persistence when engaging prospective students brought many promising young scholars to the music department. (more…)

On his return to Pittsburgh, John Goldsmith supplied us with some of his own photos of the from Heinz Chapel Choir’s successful tour of China.

The Choir at Victoria’s Peak in Hong Kong

(more…)

David Hidek’s solo project The Worthy Ghosts received a glowing review in a recent edition of Pittsburgh’s City Paper. As a music major at Pitt, Dave emphasized composing and technology. He began working at Treelady Studios in Turtle Creek during his student days and continues there as Chief Engineer. He’s also in the second year of a graduate program in composition and theory at Duquesne University. Congratulations to Dave on a successful solo debut!

Update:  The Boston Globe reviewed Moe’s Kick & Ride. You can read the full review online here.

“Eric Moe’s “Kick & Ride,” a brawny concerto for drum set and orchestra written for the brilliant percussionist Robert Schulz. He drove the piece forward with muscular rhythms, which the orchestra followed with angular, stop-start commentary. The first movement hints at big-band music while the second, marked “Tempo di Wipeout,” contains some well-hidden allusions to that masterpiece of surf rock”

—David Weininger

Boston Modern Orchestra Project will premiere Eric Moe’s Kick & Ride, concerto for drumset and orchestra Friday, May 22, at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Another of Moe’s works, Dead Cat Bounce for chamber ensemble, will be premiered by contemporary music group counter)induction at Merkin Concert Hall on June 15. Moe continues to enjoy performances of his existing works, including the recent performance of his Pulaski Skyway Waltz by virtuoso pianist Amy Briggs and the upcoming performance of Strange Exclaiming Music by pianist Geoffrey Burleson and violinist Mary Rowell during the 2009 Tribecca New Music Festival in June.

Guest blogger Tim Parenti reports for the Heinz Chapel Choir as they tour China…

Well, I’m still as jet-lagged as ever (getting over it a bit, but I’ve got a ways to go).  Anyway, it’s been four days at home now, so it’s about time I write about our final day.  Of course, I’m multitasking at the moment, watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with my mother on TV, but that’s beside the point.  Anyway, let’s get on with it.

Day 15 – Tuesday 12 May 2009
日15：2009年5月12日（星期二）

You wouldn’t ordinarily expect a day of long flights to be all that eventful, and for the most part, it wasn’t.  But the day wasn’t without hiccups.

After a quick final breakfast at the hotel, we packed up and said goodbye to our local tour guide, Yvonne.

We bade farewell to Hong Kong, lined up to check in, and made our way to the plane for our departure.

Unfortunately, there were some issues with the airline staff over the serving of peanuts on our flight… something I’m amazed wasn’t taken care of beforehand by the touring agency.  Nevertheless, it prevented one of our number from flying with us.  Because of her severe peanut allergy, our friend was waylaid in Hong Kong a while longer.

A few stayed behind for support and to help sort things out, including Mr. Goldsmith and his wife, and eventually everyone got back, even if it was a day later than expected.  And now, the truly weary travelers have returned to the States, many stories in tow, ready to share their experiences with their families, their friends, and the rest of the world.

A very few pictures from Day 15 can be found here.  But honestly, how interesting is a long flight?

Coming up: Pictures galore!  Give me some time to get them all online, but they’ll be there, and you’ll be soon to know… stay tuned!

Guest blogger Tim Parenti reports for the Heinz Chapel Choir as they tour China…

Well, not really mainland China, per se.  But Hong Kong works, too.

Days 12, 13, and 14 – Saturday 9 through Monday 11 May 2009
日12～14：2009年5月9～11日（星期六，日，一）

What better way to end the tour than with a big chunk of largely unstructured time in Hong Kong?  Having been a British colony until 1997, Hong Kong is extremely western when compared to the rest of our experiences in mainland China.  Upon arriving at the hotel early Saturday afternoon, many of us went straight to places like Pizza Hut, where my group of seven easily spent HK$502 (US$64.77) on lunch.

And so now I’ll have a story to tell about when we spent five hundred dollars at Pizza Hut.  Only once I get the incredulous looks will I mention that I mean Hong Kong dollars.

On Sunday, we dad have a little bit of a structured time.  We spent the large part of the morning taking a bus tour around Hong Kong, to the market at Victoria Peak (which was conveniently the starting point of a charity walk that morning) and to the beach at Repulse Bay.  We then spent the afternoon at Stanley Market, where many of us scoped out some last-minute deals for family’s gifts and others had a leisurely lunch (I had very British fish and chips this time, no imitations).  Afterwards, many of our members enjoyed the vibrant nightlife of Hong Kong.

Monday was almost completely free, and so many went out into the 31 °C (88 °F) sunshine back to the beach.  I got a bit burnt in places (as is inevitably the case), but it’ll be tolerable.  I took care not to burn myself in places that would be inconvenient on a long flight home the next day.  After a whirlwind tour, Hong Kong was most certainly the place we could kick back and relax, and so we did.

Our final event was a buffet dinner at the hotel, followed by a time of reminiscing about all of the memories we’ve made together: The first of what will likely be many story-telling sessions in the months and years ahead.

Apologies there aren’t any pictures, but I wasn’t going to miss out on relaxing myself!  They’ll certainly be online in the near future, and if you keep watching this blog, you’ll be quick to know when they are.

And so this morning (Tuesday), we had our wake-up call at 05:30.  Right now I’m doing my final packing, getting ready to head home, as we leave for the airport within the hour at 07:00 HKT.  Our departure will be bittersweet, but we’ll have so many memories of the times we’ve had — good and bad, funny and embarrassing — in China.

Coming up: Our homeward flight departs Hong Kong International Airport at 09:30 HKT and is due to land in New York City 15 hours, 40 minutes later, at 13:10 EDT.  Personally, I’ll be on another flight back to Pittsburgh later on, due to arrive at 17:58 EDT, where my father will take me home.  It’ll be a long day, but we’ll be reflecting on memories the whole way home.  And that will make it be worth it.

Guest blogger Tim Parenti reports for the Heinz Chapel Choir as they tour China…

I’m going to cut right to the chase and give you the good news.  My roommate, Sam, has been gracious enough to lend me his camera for the last day-and-a-half.  So, though I may still be getting a new one, it’s slightly less urgent… and I can show you some photos in the meantime, but we’ve got an early morning, so it might not be so many, as I’m really tired and just figuring things out was hard enough.

Apologies for all this extra “drama” on my end of things, but I suppose it keeps you coming back, right?  After all, you never know quite what you’re going to get!

Day 11 – Friday 8 May 2009
日11：2009年5月8日（星期五）

It is fairly obvious that we have been “taking it easy” a bit more the last couple of days.  We haven’t had quite as much of the hustle and bustle of Beijing, which is refreshing, and also much-needed since it’s so easy to get tired now.

We went to Yu Yuan Garden in Shanghai… we started in the actual garden, but then we made our way to the shops outside which bear the same name.  Many people tried their hand at bargaining one more time, while others enjoyed the comforts of some familiar American brands.

After spending the morning there and eating lunch, we returned to the hotel for a free afternoon to prepare for our final concert at He Luting Music Hall at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

The concert was incredible, and though we were incredibly unprepared for an encore (we eventually settled on just doing the final number faster), it was probably one of our best performances of the year.  It’s good to go out on a high note, I think, and we did just that.

At dinner, we thanked our guides, who will be staying in mainland China, for their wonderful help over the last ten days and just generally unwound, since the tour is coming down the home stretch.

Some more pictures from Day 11 can be found here.  Thanks again to Sam for the camera usage.  You’re a great guy.

Coming up: On Saturday, we wake up at 04:30 again, this time in preparation for our morning flight to Hong Kong (which is, for all intents and purposes, an international flight).  Once there, we’ll meet our new tour guides, who will take us on an orientation tour before lunch on our own.  The rest of the day is free, and the weather promises to cooperate: Brilliant sunshine is forecasted, with a high of 28 °C (82 °F).

Guest blogger Tim Parenti reports for the Heinz Chapel Choir as they tour China…

I must start today’s post with very sad news (although in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that bad).  If you’re someone who’s been following my personal blog since well before this trip, you’d know that I’ve been working with a half-broken camera this whole time (and I bet you didn’t even notice).  It’s been tough at times, but I’ve made do for several months now.

And so, it is with regret that I must inform you that my camera is, for all intents and purposes, dead.  It started acting weird mid-morning and died at lunch on Thursday, and though we tried other batteries and just about everything we could think of, it just wouldn’t work.  It took about five minutes and a lot of patience just to get the lens to close.  Sadly, it doesn’t look like it will be coming back anytime soon, if at all.

I’m half-tempted to just buy another camera here in Shanghai if I get the chance, but who knows what cans of worms that could open?  Besides, our tour guide says that for electronics, despite how many of them are made in China, they are much cheaper in the U.S. for the same quality.

So, although I know that a lot of choir members’ parents having been playing “Find My Child!” with my photos, I’m afraid that will have to wait at this point until something can be figured out.  My apologies.

Nevertheless, it is still my duty to tell you what we’ve been up to, so here’s a short narrative:

Day 10 – Thursday 7 May 2009
日10：2009年5月7日（星期四）

We started Thursday by heading to the Lingering Garden in Suzhou, a five-acre traditional house that was owned by a wealthy family.  The small entrance to the huge house proves the humbleness of the Chinese people despite this family’s wealth.  Designs on the pathways symbolized the balance between spending money and earning it.  If you’re always earning money and never spending it, then you don’t get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.  If you’re always spending but never earning, then disaster occurs.

After spending some time lingering in the Lingering Garden, we made our way to a local silk factory, where we learned how silkworms are raised, how silk is extracted from them, and how that silk is then turned into the silk products we use.  We also learned how to differentiate between real silk and fake polyester “silk.”

We walked around the gift shop area of the silk factory for a time before walking upstairs to a restaurant in the building for lunch.  Some people were freaked out by the snakes in jars that welcomed us along the sides of the entryway, but everyone was able to get through okay and eat.

Outside the factory, we discussed the museum issue from Wednesday.  Did everyone want to go?  The consensus was no, we’d all like to go directly to Shanghai, and so we did.

Once in Shanghai, we went to Nanjing Road, which is basically one big shopping district, 5 km (3 miles) long.  We walked around many shops, and although a few of us bought things, most of us just soaked in the atmosphere and looked at what there was to be sold.

After an early dinner, we then made our way to an acrobatic performance, entitled “Era: Intersection of Time.”  Ironically, photos and video weren’t allowed at this performance anyway, but I can link you to their website.  Everyone was amazed at all the different acts, some with trampolines, some with bicycles, others with pottery, and ending with eight motorcycles in a spherical cage.

Yes, that’s right.  Eight.

It was mind-boggling, and everyone loved it.  We talked about it all the way back to the hotel.

Coming up: On Friday, we travel to Yu Garden in the morning, spend the afternoon in another Shanghai shopping area, and conclude the evening with our final performance of the tour (and of the year), at Shanghai’s Conservatory of Music.

Guest blogger Tim Parenti reports for the Heinz Chapel Choir as they tour China…

Another quick post.  After nine days of travel, it’s very easy to get tired quickly.  Sorry about that, but it’s better than nothing, right?

Day 9 – Wednesday 6 May 2009
日9：2009年5月6日（星期三）

First thing in the morning, we boarded our coach and travelled about two hours by highway to Suzhou, making one stop along the way.  We went directly to Han Shan Temple, where we saw many Buddhist prayers and wishes tied to trees around the temple itself.

After lunch, we travelled to Suzhou Museum, only to discover that flip-flops aren’t allowed inside, which would have excluded about a third of our group.  So, we hung out for a while whilst alternative plans were made.

We went to the Grand Canal for a boat tour through parts of Suzhou, seeing a teahouse and some residents living on the canal.

We then got back on the buses (although that didn’t deter the “mosquito” vendors), and went back to the hotel before dinner.  After dinner, we had the evening free to explore Suzhou in our own ways.  My friends and I went to the nearby streets of Suzhou, first in search of lip balm, but then we found some clothing stores with amazing “Engrish” shirts.  Even though they were way to small for any of us, we couldn’t help but buy a few… only ¥19 ($2.79) each.

More pictures from Day 9 can be found here.

Coming up: On Thursday, we travel to Lingering Garden and Silk Factory, and return to Suzhou Museum before heading to Shanghai in the afternoon.  Once there, we will attend an acrobatic performance before heading back to the hotel.