Having just finished a 3-week tour, covering 8 states (and crossing into 3 others), a few reflections are in order on truly the most important aspect of concertizing - the meals!

Many of the states I played in are integral parts of the national food chain - Kansas, Iowa, the Dakotas and Montana. I saw lots of fallow fields, awaiting the spring planting, and many pastures of cows, buffalo and

Crossing into South Dakota, I did a double take on the highway sign. The state silhouette surrounding the highway number was Connecticut (my adopted home state)! Actually, it was Connecticut in reverse - the little tail of Greenwich that reaches towards Manhattan is on the lower left, and South Dakota's tail reaching towards...nothing in particular, is on the opposite side. Plus, SD is about 15

Finally, the moment I was waiting for - the results of three weeks of travel and listening - was here, and there were a few surprises, and a number of reflections, as always.

 

The first reflection was how closely the four jury members came together in voting for the majority of the 24 candidates - most of them were unanimous or almost unanimous choices.

Second, that regional and national

There are over 600 international piano competitions today, and among the best is the Liszt Competition of Utrecht. It deserves that description because of its professionalism, its independence, its commitment to the laureates, its larger vision of where classical piano playing can fit into the modern way of life.

I was delighted to be asked to be part of the jury for the preliminary auditions,

Prokofiev was also a world-traveller, who held a unique place in history as the only composer of note to leave Russia and then return. Though his music was performed internationally even before his return to Russia at the eve of the Stalinist purges, he found his true voice only within the folds of his maternal country. Writing the music for the film Lt. Kije was a key moment of recognition for

Chiu On This

The Case for Collaboration

by Frederic Chiu

 

"...And on the topic of mental toolkits. How many different analytical frameworks do you think you actively use? Scott Page shared his research on the importance of diversity in decision making. That is, having a diverse group of people with different mental toolkits. We all use different mental modules to look at the world. Physicists

Chiu On This

Invading Memories

by Frederic Chiu

 

Memories have been on my mind recently, as I bring back a work that I learned and last played during a particularly difficult period of my life.

 

As I practice, images and feelings from that time have come racing back, thoughts that I have not thought about in many, many years.

 

Rather than have these thoughts be felt as interruptions, I have