Piano recital

I attended a piano recital this morning, given by a piano teacher who teacher primarily adults, and primarily older, retired adults. Most had been studying only a year or so, and the teacher was very enthusiastic about their progress. Another teacher attended, older and retired herself, to play a duet with the host teacher.

And they did sound pretty good to me. I have taken piano lessons myself, so was familiar with some of the pieces (Fur Elise, the Moonlight Sonata, for instance). The pianists stumbled a bit here and there, varied the tempo, and occasionally started over, but all in all it was a great recital--and probably easier to listen to than a recital by cellos students taking lessons for the same period of time!

I've been wanting to write about the joys and benefits of playing music for older adults, and this group is perfect for such an exploration (I didn't want to write exclusively about people I play with). The oldest student is 83, and just started playing a few months ago.

Of course, by the end of the social hour following the recital, I had agreed to come back and play cello with them (students and teachers) at the next recital. I was hoping they'd ask.

Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute

Today's Boston Globe has a great article about the Kneisel Hall Adult Chamber Music Institute in Blue Hill, Maine, written by a clarinet player who attended last year. It is a one-week program for musicians at intermediate level and above. One woman attended after only one year of cello lessons because she was told there was a shortage of cellists. She found it challenging. This year's program is Aug. 12-19.

The article includes information on other summer programs, including SummerKeys, which I attended a few years ago after one year of cello study. Blue Hill isn't quite so far a drive for me, and this camp seems better in the sense that multiple instruments are included in the same week, housing (cabins) and food are onsite, and, earlier in the summer, Blue Hill is a camp for talented and accomplished "pre-professional" musicians, so it has great facilities: practice cabins, a concert hall, a chamber music center and library. It also sounds more demanding than SummerKeys, which, at least when I went, was primarily a place to work on your own music, with ensemble playing as an extra.

The article is at: Pack Up Your Viola and Play, Play, Play

I'd like to go in a couple of years, once I feel more securely intermediate, in terms of Beethoven quartets.

"Two Pianos, Four Hands"

We went to see to see a local production of "Two Pianos, Four Hands" last night, a story of two pianists from the age of about 7 to 17, as they struggle to learn to play the piano. Lots of amusing stereotypes of rambunctious young students, persnickety teachers, demanding parents, elitist conservatory and jazz faculty, a piano bar performance for a drunken spectator, and a middle-aged adult student who uses her lesson for therapy, talking all the way through it. And wonderful piano playing. All characters and piano playing were done by only two actors, changing roles throughout.

It was fun, but both students were disillusioned by the process, giving up hopes of being serious pianists by the age of 17. They meet later, when they are 42, wondering if they could have been great performers had they continued. They decide that they are "two of the best pianists in the neighborhood." Then they play Bach together, flawlessly, joyfully. An affirmation of the joys of amateur music.

42 Percent?

One of the String Magazine articles I mentioned a couple of days ago states that 42 percent of adults between 35 and 50 play a musical instrument. This strikes me as very high! I searched the Internet and found this story:

Gallup Organization Reveals Survey Results, which also quotes that figure, and says 20 percent of those 50 and older play an instrument.

On the other hand, Jamming with the Mamas and Papas says that 42 percent of the people who play musical instruments are between the ages of 35 and 50, which is an entirely different statistic!

Though all in my family and most of my friends play an instrument, I know this is a very select group. Still, I think Blair Tindall's figure, in her recent Los Angeles Times article, that 1.8 percent of Americans play an instrument in their leisure time seems much too low.

Maybe it depends on how you define "play an instrument." For years I played the flute only at Christmastime. I'm not sure that counts as much as a daily involvement in music.

Maybe it depends how you define "play an instrument in their leisure time." Maybe she is not counting any professional musician, or those who occasionally gig, or those of us amateurs who consider the cello one of our primary occupations, not something we do in our "leisure time."

I'd like to see some more definitive research. If you know of any good sources, please let me know!