Music Educators Association of New Jersey

The Annual Piano Competition Committee is proud to present the 2022 APC interactive syllabus. The theme is "Discovering Women Composers". We hope you will find the repertoire fresh and exciting. Since much of this music is lesser known and difficult to find, detailed information on where you can get the scores is included in the syllabus.  Just click on this link 2022 APC Interactive Syllabus and enjoy!

Check your MEA email from Membership Chair, Lisa, for the Zoom link.

 Acclaimed for the heartfelt intensity and technical mastery of his playing, pianist Joseph Kalichstein enthralls audiences all over the globe, winning equal praise as orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician.

As an Australian critic exclaimed: “ To hear Kalichstein play is to fall in love with music all over again!”

With his diverse repertoire of works ranging from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms to works by Bartok, Prokofiev and others, Mr. Kalichstein has collaborated with such celebrated conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, James Conlon, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Lawrence Foster, Zubin Mehta, Andre Previn, Leonard Slatkin, Edo de Waart, David Zinman and the late George Szell and Erich Leinsdorf. He has performed with the world’s greatest orchestras, from the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras to the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony, from the NHK and New York Philharmonic to the Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Kalichstein has also been a frequent guest pianist with the world’s most beloved string quartets, including the Guarneri and Emerson Quartets, with whom he played the Shostakovich Piano Quintet in their Shostakovich Cycles in London and Washington.

A favorite of New York concertgoers, Mr. Kalichstein has appeared in several recitals on Carnegie Hall’s “Keyboard Virtuosi” series. His latest CD releases include music of Schumann and Brahms (on Koch International) and of Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schubert (“The Romantic Piano”, on Audiofon). He serves as the Chamber Music Advisor to the Kennedy Center and is the Artistic Director of the Center’s Fortas Chamber Music Concerts. He continues to hold the inaugural Chamber Music Chair at the Juilliard School, where he also teaches a limited number of advanced piano students.

Born in Tel Aviv, he came to the United States in 1962. His principal teachers included Joshua Shor in Israel and Edward Steuermann and Ilona Kabos at The Juilliard School. Prior to winning the 1969 Leventritt Award, he had won the Young Concert Artists Auditions, and as a result he gave a heralded New York recital debut, followed by an invitation from Leonard Bernstein to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the New York Philharmonic in a nationally televised concert on CBS.

Joseph Kalichstein is a founding member of the famed Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, now in their 38th touring season. The Trio continues to play in major music capitals as well as on all the great university concert series. Its most recent recording project is a CD devoted to works that the eminent American composer Ellen Zwilich had written for the Trio, just released on the Azica label. Bridge records has recently released their critically acclaimed 2-CD Schubert Cycle.

Kalichstein has been a Piano faculty member at Juilliard since 1983 and since 2001 had served as the Edwin S. and Nancy A. Marks Chair in Chamber Music Studies.

We are all in this together and your support and understanding are paramount. Thank you, Joan Bujacich, auditions@mea-nj.org

Thank you and best wishes for a great audition season!

Master Teacher: Joseph Kalichstein     

 Please Note: As is customary, entrants were heard by 2 judges

The Original Composition Festival was held on April 25th, via the zoom platform, with 32 student composers altogether from the ESOCC and the Festival representing 13 teachers.  The program included compositions for piano solo, piano four  hands, and piano with ensemble.   All student composers received a certificate.  The judges of the ESOCC were also able to attend and speak to the students.  Committee member Joan Bujacich acted as host on the upgraded zoom and conducted sound checks prior to the start of the program to optimize the audio experience.  All teachers were also sent audio tips/recital protocol, prior to the Festival to disseminate to their students.  Committee member Lisa Gonzalez took screen shots of the composers.  The program was a huge success and there were many positive comments from teachers, parents and the students themselves. Congratulations to all the student composers!  Stay tuned for next year, you will not want to miss this!

 Original Composition Committee, Kathy Knittel, Chair

This session was devoted to the creative and obsessive motivation behind the two versions of Schumann's Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 14.  Yang  offered a performance of one version while exploring the height of Schumann's manic genius in his choice of pianistic orchestration, metric variation, obsessive drive, and sense of tormented and expressive beauty through cyclical motivic repetition.  To learn more about Ms. Yang visit her website Here.

For over 15 years Mr. Forrest has been adding visuals and stage elements to symphony orchestra concerts and for classical artists. The long list includes working with Itzhak Perlman, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Houston Symphony, The Little Orchestra Society and The New Haven Symphony and more. Elliott will talk about his work producing for the stage. To read more about Mr. Forrest's impressive careeer visit his website Here.

There are two periods to register students for theory; October 1-21 and March 1 - 21. You can receive the tests via email or hard copy via snail mail and administer them at your leisure. You can register students online using the interactive registration form listed under Member Documents on your Member Homepage or you can mail in a downloadable registration form which can be be found under the link Forms/Downloads from our MEA Homepage Here.

For more info contact Marcia Maull, MEA Theory Chair:  Theory@mea-nj.org

Beethoven's Piano Sonatas are central to our repertoire - but they were even more central to his. This presentation selectively explored how the Sonatas fit Beethoven's own way of playing; how they fit his shifting musical and career goals; and how these works might be seen as one great musical autobiography.
Read the Highlights from this wonderful meeting Here. 

To learn more about Mr. Wunsch visit his website Here. 

Debussy’s Many Worlds of Sound

Richard Allaway, and his staff, bring us another great issue of The Glissando  with Opus 93, No. 3! If you are not getting your e-letters via email blast, contact Lisa@mea-nj.org.  The Glissando is also posted under: Forms /Downloads.

Concert pianist, writer, lecturer and inspiring teacher Paul Roberts performed the three Petrarch Sonnets from Liszt's Italian book of the Années de pèlerinage, with readings from the poems, and explored how an understanding of the literary context can aid interpretation. Enjoy the Highlights HERE.

Paul Roberts Website

In connection to the MEA Annual Piano Competition 2021, Beatrice Long presented a lecture on the music scenes in Vienna from 1750-1899, and the lives of nine Viennese composers whose works are featured in the 2021 competition’s syllabus:  Haydn, Mozart, Diabelli, Schubert, Beethoven, Czerny, Hummel, Johann Strauss II and Brahms.

This presentation was held via Zoom. Beatrice did a wonderful job with the technology and topic! All the guests fortunate enough to attend were inspired by the joy shared through the music, her live performances and the many interesting stories told. Be sure to read the highlights written by Bertha Mandel Here.

The 2020-2021 Membership Directory can be found on your Member Homepage. Log on and take a look. It is listed under Downloadable Documents. You can view or Download. 

Thank you Lisa Gonzalez, Membership Chair, for putting this together for the membership each year!