Newsletter
November 2014
In This Issue
Greetings
Teachers' Master Class
Teachers' Exchange
Teachers' Recital NEW LOCATION
Recital/Competition Applications
New Members
Peg Bachelder Honored
Volunteering...
Parking
Music Sale
UPCOMING EVENTS
 

 

Monday, Nov 10

JOHN PERRY 

Master Class with NEPTA Teachers

First Parish of Watertown

9:30 AM  

$20 Members 

$30 Non-members

Payment accepted 

at the door

 

Monday, Dec 8

TEACHERS' EXCHANGE:

"How to Prepare to Play Musically & A.B.R.S.M. Piano Exams and Concerto Preparation" 

Wellesley Library

9:30 AM  

 ~ Member Coffee Hour ~

9:00-9:30 AM 

 

Monday, Jan. 26

"NEGLECTED CORNERS OF THE PIANO REPERTOIRE"

NEPTA Editions Committee

The First Parish of Watertown

9:30 AM

MEMBER NEWS


Sunday, Nov. 9
2 PM
"Exploring the Fantasie"
Featuring works of 
Schumann, J.S. Bach, and Chopin 
NEPTA Member
Kathryn Rosenbach
Newton Free Library

***

NEPTA Member
Wanda Paik presents an All-Chopin Piano Recital
Program to include:
Sonata No. 2, Scherzo No. 4, Barcarolle, Chant Polonais, Impromptus, Nocturnes

Sunday, Nov 16
3:00 PM
Goodnow Library 
21 Concord Rd, Sudbury

Sunday, Nov 23
3:00 PM 
Middlesex Community College
Springs Road, Bedford


 

Friday, Dec 5
2:30 PM
Bemis Hall, 15 Bedford Rd, Lincoln, MA
Admission is free

***

 

Wednesday, Nov. 19
8 PM
Faculty Piano Recital at BU
Pavel Nersessian
Works by Hindemith, Schubert, and Liszt
Tsai Performing Arts Center

* * * 

January 25, 2015
7:30 PM
NEC Annual Composers
Anniversary Series
Celebration 25th Gala
Ron Della Chiesa, WGBH, host

Masterpieces from past years: Gershwin, Verdi, Khachaturian, Liszt, Glinka, and others.
Scriabin's great-grandson
pianist Elishe Abas, 
as well as
NEC Faculty
NEC Youth Symphony Masterworks Chorale

Tickets at NEC Box office
Tatyana Dudochkin, founder and artistic director

***

 

PIANO FOR SALE 

Steinway Grand Piano Model L (5 feet 10 inches) For Sale:
Beautiful finish, ivory keys, circa 1950, original owner. For more information, call 781.489.5030. Please reference the November 2014 NEPTA newsletter.

***

Please submit member news for inclusion in the next newsletter by December 20th to gelmanpiano@aol.com.  
 
 
Irina color pic NOVEMBER GREETINGS

Dear NEPTA Members,


 

Hope you are all enjoying the beauty of the New England fall season!


 
Our October 27th program was very well-attended and featured a fascinating presentation by Dr. Rachmanov, "Scriabin, the Russian Prometheus!"  We all enjoyed our guest speaker, who generously shared with us his talent as a soulful performer and a very knowledgeable Scriabin scholar. We have available for you expertly prepared notes written by the NEPTA Recording Secretary Bert Yocom and posted on the NEPTA website by Tina Liu.

Please join us for an exciting Teachers' Masterclass featuring John Perry, distinguished artist and teacher, on Monday, Nov. 10 at 9:30AM at The First Parish of Watertown.  Payment will be accepted at the door. Members: $20, Non-members: $30, Students/Seniors: $15.  Proceeds will benefit the NEPTA Scholarship Fund.
 
Our upcoming Teachers' Exchange on Monday, Dec. 8 promising to be a very interesting event. The NEPTA Members' Coffee Reception to welcome new members and to enjoy the company of NEPTA friends and colleagues, will take place from 9:00 to 9:30AM at the Wellesley Library. There will be a presentation by Thuyen Phiet and Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian "The See-Hear-Play Piano Method."  Winnie Ip and Robert Finley will discuss all aspects of ABRSM and how to prepare students for concerto and chamber music performances.

It was my great pleasure to see everyone at the Speaker Series, and I hope that you are planning to attend our exciting November and December events!

Kind regards,

Irina Y. Gelman
President
TEACHERS' MASTER CLASS WITH JOHN PERRY NOV. 10

Our Teachers' Master Class with John Perry will be Monday, Nov. 10 at 9:30 AM at The First Parish of Watertown. 
Mr. Perry, a distinguished artist and teacher, earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the Eastman School of Music where he was a student of Cecile Genhart. His full bio may be found on the NEPTA website at www.nepta.info.

 Three NEPTA members are playing:
 
Armine Karapetian, Mozart's Fantasia in C Minor K396; 
Victoria Sucholdoski, a movement from Prokofiev's Sonata No. 2; and 
Ellyses Kuan, Beethoven's 32 Variations. 

Pre-registration is online at www.nepta.info. Payment will also be accepted at the door. Members: $20, Non-members: $30, Students/Seniors: $15. Proceeds will benefit the NEPTA Scholarship Fund.
TEACHERS' EXCHANGE MONDAY, DECEMBER 8

Please join us at the Wellesley Free Library (530 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA) on Monday, Dec. 8 at 9:30 AM for our Teachers' Exchange.  This event will be preceded by a 
Members' Coffee Reception beginning at 9:00 AM. 

Thuyen Phiet and Lilit Karapetian-Shougarian will speak on "The See-Hear-Play Piano Method: How Students Learn During the Lesson and Continue to Practice at Home." The first movement of the Mozart's Sonata in G Major, K283, will be part of the demonstration. Videos will be shown of an actual practicing student. This piano method was developed by Thuyen Phiet and puts forth the Cortot Technique of "relaxation and concentration." 
Winnie Ip and Robert Finley will discuss all aspects of ABRSM (repertoire, sight-reading, and ear training). They will also discuss how to prepare students for concerto and chamber music performances.

NEW LOCATION FOR TEACHERS' RECITAL      


The location for our Annual Teachers' Recital in February has changed to Steinert's, 162 Boylston Street, in Boston. The date remains the same: Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015. Thanks to Donna Gross Javel and Robert Finley for spearheading the research for the new location.

The recital will consist of piano solos, piano duets, piano duos and a small number of chamber works with other musicians. Please mark your calendar and contact Robert Finley if you would like to play in the concert. You may reach Robert by email (rsfinley@charter.net) or by phone (508.393.6740).

Donations will benefit the Susan B. Demb Teacher Enrichment Fund, which awards NEPTA members every other year for use in pedagogy courses and conferences. If you are unable to attend but would like to contribute to the Susan B. Demb Teacher Fund, please send your check to Lindsey Robb, Treasurer, 40 Montvale #3, Roslindale, MA 02131.
RECITAL AND COMPETITION APPLICATIONS ONLINE

The recital and competition season is coming up soon! NEPTA recital and competition applications for the 2014-2015 season are now available to members who are in good standing at NEPTA's website, at www.nepta.info. Please log in using your user name (the first part of your email address) and your password to view and download the applications. Please contact Recital/Competition chairs with your questions.
NEW MEMBERS, AND MEMBER COFFEE HOUR

NEPTA gives a warm welcome to our new members:

Tong Liu  of Watertown
Heather Blais of Allston
Julia Chung of Lexington

We formally welcome these and other new members at our Member Coffee Hour Monday, Dec. 8 at 9:00 AM at the Wellesley Free Library, just before our Teachers' Exchange. Please come, warm yourself with a cup of coffee, and introduce yourselves to our new members. 
PEG BACHELDER HONORED 

Former NEPTA President Peg Bachelder, who passed away after a two-year battle with cancer in 2012, was featured in an Oct. 5 Opinion piece in the Sunday New York Times, written by Dr. Atul Gawande. The Best Possible Day is a beautifully written and moving story of Peg's end-of-life decisions, and the joy she found in her students and teaching during her last weeks and days.

The NYT article is excerpted from Dr. Atul Gawande's new book, Being Mortal. 
Dr. Gawande, whose daughter, Hunter, was a student of Peg's, is a surgeon at Brigham and Women's and has written about issues in medicine for The New Yorker magazine for many years. In this, his third book, Dr. Gawande writes about aging and end-of-life decisions and issues, especially in the context of US medical policy. The book chronicles not only Peg's journey, but that of Dr. Gawande's father and many others.

Being Mortal can be found at local bookstores and on Amazon. 

Peg's memory lives in all our hearts, and specifically within NEPTA through the Margaret C. Bachelder Award for Best Romantic Piece at the Alice Hamlet Competition.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEPTA
Fellow member Lindsey Robb is stepping down from his position of Treasurer. Please be sure to thank him for his years of faithful and humble service. If you would like to share in this generous NEPTA spirit, please consider filling his shoes. According to Lindsey, you don't need special qualifications. All that is required is the ability to balance a checkbook and to be willing to learn. (You will learn a lot!)

Other opportunities to volunteer with NEPTA include Program Booklet Chair. The Program Booklet Chair has the opportunity to prepare the NEPTA Program Booklet and Directory for distribution to members in the summer. 

Please contact Irina gelmanpiano@aol.com if you are interested in any of these positions.
PARKING ANNOUNCEMENTS
car-sales-lot2.jpg The Watertown Savings Bank has strongly requested that NEPTA members do not park in the bank parking lot for NEPTA events. Please be respectful of this neighboring business and leave the free parking for its clients.

Please be aware that Watertown has restricted parking on the side streets immediately surrounding the First Parish and thus eliminating any "free parking." The metered spots in the parking lot adjacent to the church can accept coins up to a maximum of 8 hours (blue meters only), thereby removing the need to go feed the meter during our meeting breaks, offering instead an opportunity to socialize with NEPTA friends and colleagues. 
MUSIC SALE  
Our Music Sale is back by popular demand, once again organized by Ruth Ross, Music Library and Donation Chair. Please join us prior to all regular meetings in September, October, January, February, March and May at The First Parish starting at 9 AM. Members are asked to bring their checkbooks and any music that they are willing to donate that morning.

The sale serves three purposes:
  • Teachers have access to music that, perhaps, has gone out of print
  • Standard teaching methods and collections can be acquired at a very reasonable price
  • All proceeds go directly to the NEPTA Scholarship Fund

Please direct any questions to Ruth Ross at rrosspiano@aol.com.

NEPTA'S FACEBOOK PAGE  
Remember that you can post your own up-to-the-minute concert listings and other items of interest for the Boston piano community on NEPTA's Facebook page. Visit www.facebook.com/NEPTApiano to see the latest news from your NEPTA friends! YouTube videos of your concert performances are especially welcome.