Aloha International Piano Festival Presents Masterclass with Sara Davis Buechner

Dec. 22, 2011 - PRLog -- HONOLULU - The Aloha International Piano Festival (AIPF) is pleased to announce a piano masterclass with acclaimed concert pianist Sara Davis Buechner at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at Hawaii Public Radio’s Atherton Studio, 738 Kaheka Street, Honolulu. Ms. Buechner will discuss the genesis of “The Master School of Virtuoso Piano Playing” by Alberto Jonás (1868-1943), which was the leading piano technique compendium of its era. Ms. Buechner will explore the origins of Professor Jonás' work, as well as her own approach to using these books with intermediate to advanced piano students. Admission is only $5 and is available to the public. Music teachers and students are especially encouraged to attend; everyone is welcome! Tickets are available at the door.

“The Master School of Virtuoso Piano Playing” was originally printed in seven volumes by Carl Fischer between 1922 and 1929. This unique set of books presents a systematic approach to the mastery of the piano based on its technical components: scales, arpeggios, double-notes, octaves, etc. It is accompanied by original keyboard exercises by the leading artists of the piano's Golden Age: Busoni, Godowsky, Cortot, Lhevinne and many more. There are also numerous excerpts from the keyboard masterpieces of Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt etc. with observations and commentary on important performance points.

The first two volumes of this incredible work of pedagogy have just been re-released in handy paperbound format by Dover Publications with a new foreword by Ms. Buechner, who is also chief music consultant for Dover.

“The Master School of Virtuoso Piano Playing” Volumes 1 and 2 is now available through Amazon.com, and Ms. Buechner will bring a few copies for perusal and sale to Honolulu as well.

AIPF extends its warmest thanks to the Atherton Family Foundation for its generous support of the quarterly masterclass series. AIPF also thanks Hawaii Public Radio for donating the use of the Atherton Studio.

About Sara Davis Buechner
Pianist Sara Davis Buechner is one of the leading keyboard artists of our time. She has been praised on four continents for her “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (New York Times), “fascinating and astounding virtuosity” (Philippine Star), and “thoughtful artistry in the full service of music” (Washington Post). “Buechner has no superior,” says Japan’s InTune magazine. Winner of a bouquet of prizes at the world’s great piano competitions – Reine Elisabeth of Belgium, Leeds, Salzburg, Sydney and Vienna – she established her early career with the Gold Medal of the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and a Bronze Medal in the 1986 Tschaikowsky International Piano Competition in Moscow. Now residing in Canada, Ms. Buechner enjoys a vibrant international performance and recording career.

With an active repertoire of over 100 piano concertos ranging from A (Albeníz) to Z (Zimbalist), she has appeared as soloist with the world’s prominent orchestras: New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Montréal, Vancouver, Victoria; the CBC Radio Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic, City of Birmingham (U.K.) Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Kuopio (Finland) Philharmonic, Slovak Philharmonic and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León (Spain). Audiences throughout the world have applauded Ms. Buechner’s recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Prague’s Dvorák Hall and Kyoto’s Alti Hall; and she enjoys a special following throughout Asia where she tours annually.

Ms. Buechner’s numerous recordings have received prominent critical appraisal. The New York Times greeted her Koch International CD of piano music by Rudolf Friml as a “revelation,” and devoted the front page of its Sunday Arts & Leisure section to her world première recording of the Bach-Busoni “Goldberg” Variations. Her George Gershwin album was selected as a “Record of the Month” by Stereophile magazine, and her recording of Hollywood piano concertos by Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman won Germany’s Deutsches Schauplatten Preis for best soundtrack. Current projects include a multi-CD collection of Bach’s keyboard works in the 1919 edition of Ferruccio Busoni, the complete violin-and-piano music of Joaquín Turina, and the first major recording of piano music by American composer Ray Green. Ms. Buechner’s discography includes extensive recording work for the Yamaha Disklavier and PianoSoft systems.

Ms. Buechner has commissioned new works, and given premières and prominent performances of important new music and film scores by Larry Bell, Dorothy Chang, Stephen Chatman, Pierre Charvet, John Corigliano, Richard Danielpour, Ray Green, Miriam Hyde, Dick Hyman, Henry Martin, Jared Miller, Joaquín Nin-Culmell, David Raksin, Miklós Rózsa, Yukiko Nishimura and Wim Zwaag. She is one of the few pianists to actively perform piano scores to silent movies, including notable restorations Battleship Potemkin and Ben-Hur, performed at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Ms. Buechner has also collaborated on dance projects with choreographer Neta Pulvermacher, performance artist Nori Nke Aka and mimist Yayoi Hirano, and toured extensively with the Mark Morris Dance Group.

Ms. Buechner studied piano with some of the most formidable keyboard virtuosos of the Twentieth Century – Filipino pianist Reynaldo Reyes; Americans Ann Schein, Phillip Evans and Beveridge Webster; Canadian pianist William Aide; Busoni pupils Edward Weiss, Gunnar Johansen and Mieczyslaw Münz; and legendary keyboard masters Byron Janis and Rudolf Firkusny at the Juilliard School. She has inherited, and proudly continues, their pianistic mantle.

About the Aloha International Piano Festival
Founded in 2006 by pianist Lisa Nakamichi, the Aloha International Piano Festival (AIPF) is a non-profit organization committed to educating Hawaii’s children and teachers. AIPF addresses three main needs: the need for music teacher training, the need for low-cost music concerts and music education opportunities, and the need for high-caliber classes and lessons for piano students. AIPF strives to elevate the awareness of classical music in Hawaii while offering people of all ages the opportunity to experience music in a welcoming and educational setting. As a result of volunteer efforts and work to minimize administrative costs, AIPF has consistently offered programs at low and affordable rates for more than five years. Visit http://www.alohapianofestival.com and connect with AIPF on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AlohaPianoFestival for more information.

SAVE THE DATE! The Seventh Annual Aloha International Piano Festival: June 16 to June 23, 2012. In 2012, pianists Kevin Kenner, Jon Nakamatsu, John Bayless, Lisa Nakamichi, and Sara Davis Buechner will lead masterclasses, workshops and concerts in a week of inspirational learning. Students and teachers of all ages and abilities can enrich their love of the piano in this non-competitive, nurturing environment. The Festival’s popular and low-cost recital series welcomes the greater community and features a free community concert on Sunday, June 17, 2012.

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Founded in 2006 by pianist Lisa Nakamichi, the Aloha International Piano Festival (AIPF) is a non-profit organization committed to educating Hawaii’s children and teachers.