The 3nd Annual Fall Course
Creating Young Artists – Teaching Style for Students in Early Intermediate through Early Advanced Levels – We value the commitment of piano teachers to serve our students with professionalism and teaching expertise. Committed to education, we proudly present this complimentary three lecture series on wellness. To ensure the health and safety of our clinicians and participants, this year’s programs will be available to attend in-person and via live stream. Students who are available to participate due to flexible remote learning schedules are also welcome to attend! The live stream link will be available on our website at www.ruggeropiano.com prior to each presentation. These workshops are complimentary – we invite you to join us in-person or via Live Stream!
Friday, October 1st – 10AM – Noon
Teaching Stylistic Artistry in the Baroque and Classic Repertoire featuring Dylan Savage, DM, NCTM, Professor of Piano, UNCC
Dr. Savage will demonstrate stylistically correct performance practice of music in the Baroque and Classical periods using commonly-known intermediate, advanced-intermediate, and advanced level repertoire representing a wide range of composers. Playing numerous examples, Dr. Savage will cover: articulation, phrasing, dynamics, pedaling, ornamentation, tone quality, tempo markings, Urtext versus edited scores, expanded practices, and the reasons (musical logic) behind each. Additionally, he will demonstrate specific techniques for how to develop and practice different levels of articulation with a simple, easy-to-remember system. Known for his clear, fun, informal delivery which is jam-packed with information and helpful tips, Dr. Savage will welcome questions and audience interaction throughout the presentation.
Friday, October 15th – 10AM – Noon
The Inevitability of the Romantic Era and a Discussion of Style and Pianistic Developments featuring Dr. Vincent van Gelder
The Romantic Era was an inevitable result of developments in the Classical era. In this presentation I will discuss, with examples, works by Beethoven, Clementi, and others that foreshadowed the era. This will be followed by a look at the specific stylistic traits of the era, as well as the boundaries of it. Pushing the boundaries would eventually lead to new styles. Another important part of the presentation will deal with the era’s developments in piano technique, piano schools (French, Russian), and how we can apply this to teaching intermediate to (early) advanced works to our students.
Friday, October 29th – 10AM-Noon
From Boogie to Expansive Harmonies: Teaching Students to Thrive in Modern Styles featuring Dr. John Salmon, Professor of Piano, UNCG
Sometimes younger piano students have a difficult time relating to musical styles of the 20th and 21st centuries. This workshop will present an array of “modern” compositions that might be appropriate and attractive to students in early intermediate through early advanced levels. An enormous variety of compositional idioms were used between 1900 and 2021: neoromantic, impressionistic, atonal, neoclassical, aleatoric, jazzy, and on and on. This workshop will cover an assortment of works from this time period, organized according to three difficulty levels—early/mid intermediate, mid intermediate/late intermediate, and early advanced. Composers of the canon, such as Bartók and Prokofiev, will be juxtaposed against lesser-known composers such as Nikolai Rakov (1908-1990) and distinguished composers of a younger generation such as Lera Auerbach (b. 1973). Piano music from Africa and the African diaspora, China, and the Americas will be covered as well. Of course, there is no way to cover 120 years of worthwhile music in a two-hour workshop. But, hopefully, this event will ignite curiosity and spark further exploration of this gigantic topic.
