Professional Reflection of Teaching

 

All previous paths taken in life have led me to Room 436 of the Fox Fine Arts Music Building.  Piano lessons, music classes and all other endeavors of trying to become the best performer and teacher have gotten me this job.  Although performance and service are directly connected to my role at UTEP, I find that my biggest passion lies in the teaching of music and mentoring students at the collegiate level.  I also am the first to admit that my biggest challenges also therein lie.

 

One of my strongest beliefs as a professor of applied piano studies is truly that of being a mentor.  Although I can share my knowledge, spark new thought and guide a student in one direction or another, my true hope is that students will not need any direction from me whatsoever by the time they graduate.  Please do not misunderstand that statement: I am always available for any students’ inquiries, problems, concerns, questions…at any point.  However, I am working to provide students with the basic tools they need to become successful pianists and pedagogues once they leave our institution.  “And what are some of those tools?” one might ask.  Please allow me to share a few of the things that I find to be important in the field of music.

 

Possessing the basic fundamentals of reading music.  Upon arrival to El Paso as Professor of Piano at UTEP, I quickly learned that not all of the piano majors from the region could read music at a high level.  I soon discovered that with an Open Door policy as part of the missionary statement at UTEP, anyone who wanted to study piano could do so, whether he or she could read music or not.  At first, I did not know how to relate to this type of student, as I have always been affiliated with universities where admission into the music program was through a selective process.  But one thing became alarmingly clear: the students who do not learn to read music, but can play the piano from the rote method of teaching (which is basically just mimicking what one’s professor does), will not be successful in the field of music.  These students will forever be dependent on a teacher to provide the example first.  A piano major that does not read can never open a score written by Beethoven and play even one of his simple, charming German waltzes.  A piano major that does not read can never know the joy of making music with another instrumentalist or vocalist because he or she will never be able to keep up with others.  Therefore, one of the primary goals of all students in my studio is to improve their reading skills.  We have worked on this issue in several different ways over the semesters that I have been teaching at UTEP; ending each lesson with sight reading examples, requiring students to spend at least thirty minutes a day sight reading on their own and even holding a weekly class where the studio meets collectively to improve reading skills together.  Sight reading is now a part of every piano major’s jury, where a segment of this “final exam” (juries are a performance test at the end of each semester) is assessed by the Piano Faculty, and comments are given as to how the student is progressing on his or her sight reading ability.

 

Keeping all doors open. Gone are the days when a pianist can make a living solely from being a solo concert pianist.  No great pianist that I know is merely that—a great pianist.  He or she is also a master teacher, chamber musician, a music therapist or involved in music and technology.  I personally believe that by providing students with the chance to combine aspects of various activities in music, they will have more opportunities beyond UTEP.  In order to prepare students for what might come next, we focus on those very features mentioned above.  As part of the studio requirements, students must attend and participate in a weekly master class, where prepared piano majors play for each other and receive constructive criticism.  In addition to the heavy emphasis of solo performance, students are also required to investigate such topics found in the required piano pedagogy and chamber music courses.  Projects involving technology (making websites, publicity information, and head shots, for example) are also assigned to my students.  It is very stimulating and active for them, and their growth in these areas has sky-rocketed since I first arrived to UTEP.

 

Click here to see select lectures on various topics discussed in master class.

 

Learning about one’s community and contributing to that environment.  As music is to be shared and heard, I encourage and require my students to become active in the community.  One of the best ways to enforce interaction is to develop relationships with community members and to unite all at the UTEP Fox Fine Arts Music Building.  For example, my first Piano Area event to connect El Paso’s past and present was a Commemorative Celebration, acknowledging the generous gift of music scores from El Paso piano pedagogue Claude Herndon’s library.  This large collection of piano music was donated to the UTEP Special Collections Library by Mr. Michael and Mrs. Wilma Salzman, and I organized a special ceremony to mark the occasion.  Many of the local piano teachers and former Herndon students were dispersed amongst the current UTEP piano majors who were required to attend the event.  Listening to the emotional speeches about community, piano study and relationships between teacher and student made a huge impact on all who attended.  As a pianist, finding this sense of historical legacy is important – if one reads the biographies of any performing pianist, there is sure to be some connection to his or her piano legacy.  I believe it enforces the belief that music and music teaching is to be shared and that one holds a responsibility to the community.  Other outreach projects include regular piano concerts by students at the Monte Vista Retirement Community and collaboration with the Kroger/Whalen Piano Duo: a standing-room-only performance for the MacDowell Auxiliary Group at the historical Women’s Club building on 1400 North Mesa. 

 

Click here to see the Claude Herndon Commemorative Celebration program.

Click here to read my speech, given at the Herndon program.

 

Developing writing and speaking skills.  I have always thought it is nearly impossible to describe with written or verbal words the following things: 1) love and 2) music.  Although music students are required to write papers and answer essay questions for their music history classes, I believe that one can never devote too much time and energy in learning how to write and speak about music.  It is daunting—putting into words precisely how one feels when listening to or playing a piece of music.  And yet, it is a vital skill for today’s successful musician.  Some ways to encourage students to develop these useful tools include requiring introductory verbal statements about the pieces they are performing, written concert reviews utilizing critical thought (What are they hearing?  How do they describe what they hear? Do they like what they hear?  Why or Why not?), mock press releases promoting their own concerts and scholarly term papers with correct footnote and bibliographical reference notation.

 

Click here to see an “A” student essay with my constructive criticism.

Click here to see a “C” student essay with my constructive criticism.

 

Not accepting mediocrity and pushing for excellence.  Being on time.  Dressing professionally.  Walking with confidence.  Smiling brightly and looking someone directly in the eye.  Always speaking with respect.  Supporting your colleagues.  Coming to work prepared.  These are topics appropriate not only in the field of music but also in life.  During the 2005 NCAA basketball “Final Four” tournament, there was a Duke University publicity commercial, featuring successful basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.  “…the winningest active coach in college basketball today, having led his Duke University Blue Devils to back-to-back national championships and maintained a top-notch basketball program throughout his 21 years at Duke. He's taken teams to the NCAA's coveted Final Four eight times--even when the media discounted his small team as too small or inexperienced” (taken from the article Success,  Feb, 2001  by Debbie Selinsky).  At the beginning of the commercial he is shown with the coach’s whistle in his mouth, looking out on the basketball court as the athletic college students race by him.  It cuts to his face and he says, “I don’t see my job as teaching these students lessons in basketball, but rather lessons in life.”  Although six of the nine UTEP graduating piano majors from my studio are now involved in continued study, performance or the teaching of piano, this is an amazingly uncommon statistic.  Many music majors at the undergraduate level will change to other disciplines after obtaining the Bachelor of Music degree.  Why?  Because Music demands a lot, as does life.  And yet studying music is never wasted time, even if one does find work in a different field.  Music teaches excellence.  It is perhaps the goal of pushing for excellence that drives me the most as a piano teacher.  Like Coach K, I hope I am offering my students lessons in life there in Room 436 of the Fox Fine Arts Music Building. 

 

 

Teaching load information

 

Courses Taught  

When                          What                                 Enrollment

 

Summer 2007             Music Appreciation                 19

 

Spring 2007                 Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1285                         2

                                       MUSA 1295                         7

                                       MUSA 3391                         3

                                       MUSA 5381                         1

                                    Piano Class B for Non Majors

                                       MUSA 1270                         11

                                    Piano Chamber Music

                                       MUSA 1165                         7

 

Fall 2006                     Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1295                         7

                                       MUSA 3295                         1

                                       MUSA 3391                         2

                                       MUSA 5281                         1

                                       MUSA 5381                         1

                                    Piano Class A for Non Majors

                                       MUSA 1269                         15

                                   

Summer 2006             Music Appreciation                 16

 

Spring 2006                 Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1290                         3

                                       MUSA 1295                         2

                                       MUSA 3391                         4

                                       MUSA 5381                         1

                                    Piano Class II for Majors

                                       MUSA 1272                         22

                                    Piano Chamber Music

                                       MUSA 1165                         3

 

Fall 2005                     Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1390                         1

                                       MUSA 1391                         2

                                       MUSA 3391                         5

 

                                    Piano Class I for Majors

                                       MUSA 1271                         17

 

                                    Piano Class I for Non Majors

                                       MUSA 1271                         10

 

                                    Piano Chamber Music             4

                                       MUSA 1265

 

Summer 2005             Music Appreciation                 19

 

Spring 2005                 Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1281                         1 (mentoring graduate teaching assistant.)

                                       MUSA 1391                         3

                                       MUSA 3391                         5

                                       MUSA 5391                         1

                                    Piano Class II for Non Majors

                                       MUSA 1272                         12

                                    Graduate Class

                                       MUSG 5399                         1 (Recital/Thesis)

                                                                                       

Fall 2004                     Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1381                         2 (mentoring graduate teaching assistant)

                                       MUSA 1391                         5

                                       MUSA 3391                         4

                                       MUSA 5391                         1

                                    Piano Class I for Non Majors

                                       MUSA 1271                         17

                                    Graduate Class

                                       MUSG 5399                         1 (Recital/Thesis)

 

Summer 2004             Music Appreciation                 16

 

Spring 2004                 Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1391                         10

                                       MUSA 3391                         4

                                       MUSA 5391                         1

                                    Piano Class II

                                       MUSA 1272                         23

                                    Graduate Classes

                                       MUSG 5336                         1 (Independent Study)

                                       MUSA 5398                         1 (Recital/Thesis)

 

Fall 2003                     Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1391                         12                   

                                       MUSA 3391                         4

                                       MUSA 5391                         1

                                    Music of Spain

                                       MUSL 3228                         28       

 

Spring 2003                 Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1390                         1

                                       MUSA 1391                         12

                                       MUSA 3391                         4

                                       MUSA 5391                         2

                                    Piano Pedagogy

                                       MUSE 4394                         6

                                    Piano Repertoire

                                       MUSA 1192                         17       

 

Fall 2002                     Applied Piano Lessons

                                       MUSA 1390                         4

                                       MUSA 1391                         7

                                       MUSA 3391                         5

                                       MUSA 5391                         2

                                    Piano Repertoire

                                       MUSA 1192                         15

SYLLABI

Click here to see a representative syllabus of Applied Lessons

Click here to see a representative syllabus of Piano Four-Hands Chamber Class

Click here to see a representative syllabus of Music Appreciation

Click here to see a representative syllabus of Music of Spain

Click here to see a representative syllabus of Piano Pedagogy

Click here to see a representative syllabus of Class Piano I

Click here to see a representative syllabus of Class Piano I for Non-Majors

 

EXAMPLES OF MIDTERMS, JURY SHEETS and PRE-RECITAL HEARINGS

1)  Click here to see an example of midterm feedback to the students.  This performance exam is to let them know where they stand in regard to jury or recital performances at the end of the semester.

 

2)  With the help of Dr. Curtis Tredway (specialist in Music Education), I developed the Piano Area’s jury sheet, used to assess the students’ performances at the end of the semester.  Click here to see my assessment of a student jury.

 

3)  Click here to see example of my pre-recital hearing assessment of student (outcome=failed)

 

Individual Student Contact

 

Current Teaching System

I currently am teaching one-hour, weekly piano lessons to the piano majors and minors.  We also meet as a collective Piano Area group, once a week for the Piano Area Master Class or Recital.  The Master Class meeting is devoted to piano performance, in which any student who is prepared to play a piece of music by memory presents their work to the class.  We then open up the floor for constructive criticism, should the performer accept comments.  This critical thinking situation—how the students listened to their peers in addition to how they evaluated their own performance—was not offered in this manner to the students in previous years.  They have been very receptive of this opportunity and all of them have performed and received comments at least twice each semester.  We all can learn from someone’s performance and from the constructive criticism and praise that follows.

 

Average Office/Contact Hours per week

Number of hours in piano instruction per week                                             10-13 hours

Number of office hours per week for students                                                1.5 hours

Number of hours in Piano Area Master Class/Recital per week                    1 hour

Number of hours in Piano Area Master Class/Recital preparation                1 hour

Number of hours in Academic Classes                                                            3-6 hours

Number of hours in Music of Academic Class preparation                            5 hours

Number of hours in Committee Meetings per week                                      ave. 2

Number of hours involved in Piano Area Administration                             ave. 10 hours

Total hours per week                                                                                      anywhere from 34.5 to 39.5 hours

 

Advising

I recently have been named the Piano Area Advisor.  I meet with all applied piano students and oversee course degree plans, ensuring that they are taking the appropriate classes in the proper timeframe.  However, advising my own applied piano students goes beyond overseeing their course registration.  Please see Mentoring below.

 

Student Recruitment

I feel that student recruitment is of the utmost importance to the Department of Music.  It is vital to the development of our piano programs to promote academic and musical offerings of the highest levels of excellence to in and out-of-state students.  To meet future objectives in regard to number and strength of piano majors, I target possible piano students from the local, state, national and international levels.  I have nurtured a relationship with the local piano teachers organization, the El Paso Music Teachers Association, attending as many of their events as possible in addition to judging a few of their music contests and competitions.  I composed an outreach music program which was implemented in the Spring 2004 semester, targeting local high schools.  I have also nurtured a liaison with the University of California at Irvine, California, the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign, Illinois and El Centro Municipal de Las Artes, Juárez, México.  Publicity in regard to not only our Piano Area program but also other Department of Music programs leave my office in multiple ways: web site construction, development and maintenance utminers.utep.edu/dkjones/Index.html; publicity posters to national and international universities, as well as to the Texas Music Teachers Association convention; and phone calls and emails to interested students and family members are just a few of the venues targeted. 

 

Students Recruited

Transferring Student, Spring 2007, Sowon Joung, El Paso Community College

Entering Freshman, Fall 2006, Evelyn Rios, El Paso, Texas

Entering Freshman, Fall 2005, Nathanial Schocker, El Paso, Texas

Entering Freshman, Fall 2004, Anna Montoya, El Paso Community College

Entering Freshman, Fall 2003, Esdras Mendivil, Nogales, México

 

Mentoring

I feel that the studio master classes and Piano Area recitals are invaluable.  This forum is the place where the student can “try out” repertoire under performance pressure.  I believe that there is no substitute for this experience, and no pianist will be able to succeed without mastering the inevitable nerves that come with performing.  Attendance to both forums is required.

 

In addition to training students to become better pianists technically and musically, I believe it is my responsibility to provide students with the necessary skills to succeed in a very competitive music world, whether that be through performing solo repertoire, collaborating with other musicians or teaching piano themselves.  A professional appearance helps to develop more confidence and therefore students in my studio must come appropriately dressed for the Piano Area recitals.  We have discussed several ways to promote one’s performance career, and the students have written their own short biographies, thought about press releases and professional photographs, as well as have created web pages.  The students have also had a collaboration requirement in certain semesters, and our Piano Area found visiting musicians joining our class: vocalists, trumpet performers, saxophonists, flautists, clarinetists and string students practiced and performed for me and the other piano students, all receiving constructive criticism and positive remarks. 

 

When I am required to be out of town for a performance, I offer make-up lessons in order to be sure each student receives the allotted time for the semester.  I have held recording sessions with my upper level students so that they will have a high quality CD to promote their playing for summer music festivals, out of town competitions or entry into graduate programs.  I encourage all of my students to attend the various musical concerts, lectures and events found both on and off campus, for insight and motivation.  In the summers of 2004, 2006 and 2007, students have accompanied me in attending the Texas Music Teachers Association National Convention, where they see the real world application of piano pedagogy and performance (topics I am bringing them at UTEP). 

                                               

Theses Completed

Spring 2007                 Geralyn Mitchell, MM in Vocal Performance, Margaret Bonds: A Comparative and Theoretical Study of Her Greatest Vocal Works, Thesis  Completed, May 2007 (Geralyn studied applied piano with me for a year.  Her aim was to improve her piano skills to accompany her vocal performance and pedagogy abilities.  During these lessons she also informed me of her research on the music of Margaret Bonds.  The following semester she asked me to participate as a member of her thesis committee).

Spring 2004                 Miah Lee, MM in Piano Performance, Alberto Ginastera: An Examination of Objective Nationalism and the Danzas Argentinas, Thesis Completed, May 2004.

Spring 2003                 Nayeli López, MM in Piano Performance, Overview of Selected Piano Works for a Master’s Recital, Thesis Completed, May 2003

 

Development and Scholarly Activity using Technology

Fall 2005                     Development of numerous PowerPoint Presentations to assist in the teaching of the Piano Chamber Music course

Summer 2004-5           Development of numerous PowerPoint Presentations to assist in the teaching of the Music Appreciation Class

Fall 2004                     Development of numerous PowerPoint Presentations to assist in the teaching of the Music of Spain course

Fall 2002                     Development of the Piano Area Website, utminers.utep.edu/dkjones/Index.html, which contains the Piano Repertoire course syllabus and a   listing of all Piano Area Recitals

2002                                                        Development of numerous PowerPoint Presentations on the Historical Keyboard Instrument Development

2001                                                        Development of PowerPoint Presentation on the Life and Works of Joaquín Rodrigo

1998 to present           Use of Recording Equipment for CD projects

 

Click here to see a representation of technology in teaching (taken from the course, The Music of Spain)

 

Present Activities of my UTEP Graduates

August 2007                Gema Valencia, Bachelor of Piano Performance Recipient.

May 2007                    Gabriela Zamora, Bachelor of Music Education (Piano, Primary Instrument) Recipient.  Ms. Zamora is currently applying to Class Piano Instructor positions with numerous public schools throughout the city of El Paso. She is also contemplating further studies in Music Education.

May 2006                    Daniel Fraire, Bachelor of Piano Performance Recipient.  Mr. Fraire is currently working with Vastago Producciones, composing, arranging and performing contemporary Christian music throughout much of Latin and Central America.

May 2005                    Miah Lee, Master of Music in Piano Performance Recipient.  Ms. Lee is currently finishing the teaching certification for public school teaching, focusing on music education.

May 2005                    Grace Castañeda, Bachelor of Organizational Communication and Public Relations with a Minor in Piano Performance Recipient.  Ms. Castañeda has obtained an internship with a local news television station. 

May 2004                    Thomas Azar, Bachelor of Piano Performance and Theory/Composition Recipient.  Mr. Azar obtained the Master of Music in Piano Performance in the Spring 2007 semester from the University of Arizona.  While at the U of A, Thomas was awarded a teaching assistantship (class piano), first place honors in the concerto competition (performing Liszt’s Totentanz with the university orchestra in Tucson, Arizona and in Hermosillo, Mexico), one of six scholarships for summer study at SUNY New Paltz Piano Festival (which included a solo performance at Steinway Hall in New York), and participation in the Jacob Flier International and Shreveport Piano Competitions.  He will begin the Post-Graduate diploma in Piano Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in September, 2007.

May 2004                    Laura Aguirre, Bachelor of Music Education (Piano, Primary Instrument) Recipient.  Ms. Aguirre is currently teaching class piano at Montwood Middle School.  In the summer of 2006, she attended workshops to better her skill in piano teaching with technology and is working to help her school purchase equipment for a new piano lab.

May 2003                    Nayeli Lopez, Master of Music in Piano Performance Recipient.  Ms. Lopez is one of the instrumental faculty that have started a new Bachelor of Music degree at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez, where she is Professor of Applied Piano Studies.

May 2003                    Diane Kenney, Bachelor of Music Education (Piano, Primary Instrument) Recipient.  A wife of a U.S. serviceman, Mrs. Kenney recently returned to Fort Bliss/El Paso from Hawaii, where she actively performed in a community college and pursued graduate studies.  She is investigating her options in music education at the public schools and also contemplating music therapy for servicemen, servicewomen and military families.

 

Select Student Recitals

Spring 2007                 Senior Solo Piano Recital, B. M. degree requirement, Gema Valencia, Piano Performance Major

                                    Senior Solo Piano Recital, B.M. degree requirement, Adrian Sanchez, Piano Performance Major

November 6, 2006      Piano Area Recital, showcasing over fifteen piano students

Spring 2006                 Senior Solo Piano Recital, B.M. degree requirement, Daniel Fraire, Piano Performance Major

                                    Senior Solo Piano Recital, B.M.E. degree requirement, Gabriela Zamora, Music Education Piano Major

                                    Junior Solo Piano Recital, B.M. degree requirement, Adrian Sanchez, Piano Performance Major

December 2005           Junior Solo Piano Recital, B.M. degree requirement, Gema Valencia, Piano Performance Major

October 10, 2005        Piano Extravaganza!  Music for Four-Hands, Sponsored by the MacDowell Club

Spring 2005                 Master of Music Piano Recital, M.M. degree requirement, Miah Lee, Piano Performance Major

                                    Solo Piano Recital, Graciela Castañeda, Piano Minor

                                    Junior Solo Piano Recital, B.M. degree requirement, Sonya Boureslan, Piano Performance Major

                                    Honors Recital, featuring Graciela Castañeda, Piano Minor

December 5, 2004       Student Composition Recital, featuring Gema Valencia, Piano Performance Major

December 2, 2004       Piano Chamber Recital II.

October 14, 2004        Piano Area Recital and Presentation of the Michael Salzman Excellence Endowment in Piano Performance

May 5, 2004                Piano Chamber Recital I.

Spring 2004                 Senior Solo Piano Recital, B.M. degree requirement, Thomas Azar, Piano Performance and Composition Major

March 26-27, 2004      Young Artist Competition, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Azar and Luis del Villar, competitors (Thomas Azar won the competition)

November 17, 2003    Senior Solo Piano Recital, B.M.E. degree requirement, Laura Aguirre, Music Education Piano Major

April 25-26, 2003        Young Artist Competition, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Sanchez, Nayeli Lopez, Thomas Azar and Christopher Merritt, competitors

April 18, 2003             Senior Composition Recital, B.M. degree requirement, Thomas Azar, Piano Performance and Composition Major

April 12, 2003             Senior Solo Piano Recital, B.M.E. degree requirement, Diane Kenney, Music Education Piano Major

January 18, 2003         University Undergraduate Concerto Competition, Las Cruces Symphony, Thomas Azar and Christopher Merritt, competitors (Thomas Azar won third place)

 

Click here to see a student’s Senior Recital program (program notes are a requirement within my studio).

 

Click on a student’s name below to hear performance level upon graduating:

Nayeli Lopez, M.M.          (Piano Performance)  Grieg Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 Allegro Molto Moderato

Thomas Azar, B.M.          (Piano Performance)  Rachmaninoff Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, Moderato

UTEP Orchestra, Professor Lawrence Gibson, conductor

Both during Nayeli and Thomas’s lessons, we worked on virtuosic expression within the solo parameters of a piano concerto, as well as playing as a “member” of the orchestra.  Although both students had memory slips, they were able to continue through the entire work, maintaining its basic fundamental structure and integrity.  These two piano concerti are large, competitive works within the solo piano field and both students now have that experience of performing with the orchestra.  To date, these two students are the most “successful” graduates from my studio—that is, both in the performance and pedagogy arenas.  Nayeli performs frequently in Juarez and throughout Mexico, and Thomas is performing both as soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S.  Nayeli is a professor at the newly established music program at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez, and Thomas recently finished a teaching assistantship both in regard to class piano, individual instruction and outreach programs while completing his Master of Music degree at the University of Arizona.

   

Daniel Fraire, B.M.         (Piano Performance)  Chopin Polonaise in C Minor, Op. 40, No. 2

Daniel is an example of how our open door policy at UTEP can work for our students.  He was a self-taught pianist, whose reading skill was very low when I entered UTEP.  In his time studying piano with me at UTEP, we worked on his reading ability and refining his musical skill.  With an amazing work ethic, Daniel was able to conquer the entire repertoire he performed—usually playing without major memory slips.  He played weekly in master class, offered pieces in Department Recitals and began accompanying.  All of these tasks he did with complete devotion and passion.  Although Daniel possessed an innate feeling for any type of music, we tackled issues such as voicing (playing the right hand louder than the left, for example), different uses of touch (legato ­or smooth playing, versus staccato or short playing), pedaling, and shapes of phrases and dynamics.  He has left UTEP quite successfully, working for the top Contemporary Christian Band in Mexico, where he plays keyboard and guitar, writes songs and arranges works.

 

Gaby Zamora, B.ME.       (Music Education)  MacDowell’s Winter from the set of Four Little Poems for the Piano, Op. 32

Gaby has extreme performance anxiety.  Or I should say “had” extreme performance anxiety, which practically crippled her playing.  She was unable to play forte (loudly), with expression or with "fast fingers" because of so much insecurity.  In order to combat this fear, we worked immensely on technique and also got her out there playing weekly in class and in every Piano Area recital possible.  I also found Edward MacDowell’s Four Little Poems for the Piano to be a great match for her.  Each piece is preceded by a poem and this imagery allowed Gaby to free herself from paralyzing thoughts of complex notes, form and structure.  Instead, she began playing the piano to paint a picture through sound.  The following poem, Winter, precedes the last movement of the set, and is written by English Romantic novelist, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851), who was most famous for writing Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus.

Winter

 

A widow bird sate mourning for her Love

 

There was no leaf upon the forest bare,

Upon a wintry bough;

 

No flower upon the ground,

The frozen wind crept on above,

 

And little motion in the air

The freezing stream below.

 

Except the mill-wheel’s sound.

 

Gaby attended the Texas Music Teachers Association State Convention in 2006, where along with so many other activities, she judged pre-college music students in a small competition.  She offered the following email when we returned (permission given to reprint here):

 

Hi Dr. Jones,

 

     I'm sorry I haven't written to you before now.  I had a lot of catching up to do in my class. I'm still about five chapters behind in my reading, but thank you so much for the opportunity to go to the convention.  Not only was I brave enough to drive out of El Paso for the first time, but the convention was a great experience.  I had never seen a piano ensemble or even heard of one, and that was very inspiring.  I look forward to having my piano classes perform in that manner.  We also attended a workshop where the speaker had a Master's degree in both music and psychology.  If I hadn't become a music major I probably would have studied psychology, and so it was very interesting to see how she combined both. 

 

The judging was also very interesting.  There were a couple of students who played guitar, oboe and violin, and we had to grade them too.  I was just very sad to see only one Hispanic student out of about 75 people.  I hope I can some day have some of my students participate in those competitions.  I also bought a book with compositions by Heitor Villa-lobos. At the end of the semester I was thinking about playing something with Latin rhythms, and I happened to see this book at the convention. I was wondering if I could study one of his pieces next semester. I've been looking at two pieces, one called “Dansa” and the other called “Alma Brasileira,” but I think I like the second one better.  It looks difficult, but I think that if I work hard I'll be able to get it.  I looked to see what level it was classified under The Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching, but it wasn't there. I'm assuming it's an advanced piece.  Do you think I am ready for it?

Thanks one more time,

 

Gaby Zamora

 

(written on June 13, 2006) 

 

Gaby did study and perform the piece Alma Brasileira (Brazilian Soul) by Villa-Lobos, which combines twentieth century harmony with nationalistic Brazilian rhythms and folkloric effects.  Click here to hear her interpretation of it.

 

Select Honors Students

Spring 2007                 Scholarships (both University and Departmental) offered to Gabriela Zamora, Krista Snow, Evelyn Rios, Blake Duncan, David Moreno and Sowon Joung

Fall 2006                     Scholarships (both University and Departmental) offered to Gabriela Zamora, Krista Snow, Evelyn Rios, and Blake Duncan

Spring 2006                 Scholarships (both University and Departmental) offered to Gabriela Zamora, Gema Valencia and Krista Snow

Fall 2005                     Scholarships (both University and Departmental) offered to Daniel Fraire, Gabriela Zamora, Gema Valencia, Nathanial Schocker and Krista Snow

May 5, 2005                Pre-Commencement Award Ceremony and Reception, The College of Liberal Arts, Miah Lee, Outstanding Graduate Student in Piano Performance, Master of Music

April 24, 2005             Honors Convocation, Miah Lee, Outstanding Graduate Student in Piano Performance, Master of Music, UTEP

Fall ’04-Spring ’05       Scholarships (both University and Departmental) offered to Daniel Fraire, Gabriela Zamora, Sonya Boureslan and Luis del Villar

Summer 2004             Thomas Azar, Invited Student and Recipient of Financial Support from the Aspen Summer Music Festival and School

May 6, 2004                Pre-Commencement Award Ceremony and Reception, The College of Liberal Arts, Thomas Azar, Outstanding Senior in Piano Performance, Bachelor of Music

March 26-27, 2004      Thomas Azar, Winner, Young Artist Competition, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Work Performed:  Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, Moderato by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Fall ’03-Spring ’04       Scholarships (both University and Departmental) offered to Thomas Azar, Daniel Fraire, Gabriela Zamora and Sonya Boureslan