RÜCKBLICK: NEW PIANO MUSIC INSPIRED BY BRAHMS: Ann DuHamel,  The depth of programming and playing in DuHamel's latest album, which introduces newly commissioned works inspired by Johannes Brahms' oeuvre, is striking. Casual listeners will enjoy snippets of his most beloved melodies, while astute connoisseurs will be delighted by the cleve...

(S6) THE ETUDES PROJECT, VOLUME ONE: ICEBERG curated by Jenny LinPianist Jenny Lin partnered with ten New York City-based composers to assemble this imaginative and engaging selection of new piano etudes. From the introduction to the score, "The Etudes Project is an ongoing exploration of the tradition and transformati...

As you read this review, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere; I expect the days are warm, possibly humid, and you're enjoying, I hope, being outside in the sunshine. As I write this, I'm ensconced in blankets, a warm sweater, and scarves (yes, multiple), with a steaming cup of tea on my writing table. It's bitterly cold on t...

 (S) Five Easy Piano Sonatas and (S6) Five Famous Piano Sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven When new piano majors come to my college studio for their first lessons, one of my initial tasks is to discuss and assign them new repertoire. Unfortunately, many of these students were previously conditioned to work from photocopies, si...

Dennis Alexander's Concertino for the Young is an attractive and engaging solo with piano accompaniment that closely mimics classical concerto style. This work, accessible for a later-elementary piano student, is written in typical concerto form with fast first and third movements and a slow second movement. Traditional concerto elements also inclu...

In the introduction to his revolutionary Teaching Piano Pedagogy: A Guidebook for Training Effective Teachers, Courtney Crappell states that the "book is not about teaching piano; it is a book about how pedagogy students become teachers."1 Why revolutionary? Despite the current availability of many other pedagogy textbooks, none of them really addr...

(S4) TOCCATA "HYGAGAN," OPUS 229by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee From the FJH Contemporary Keyboard Sheets, Toccata "Hygagan" by Dianne Goolkasian Rahbee is an engaging and virtuosic late-intermediate piano solo.Born in Massachusetts, Rahbee is a first-generation Armenian American. She was a piano major at Juilliard, and a self-taught composer who ...

In Transformational Piano Teaching: Mentoring Students from All Walks of Life, Derek Kealii Polischuk provides an overview of various student populations we might encounter as piano teachers, and offers snapshots of how to work with and engage these seemingly disparate groups. "The book examines the role of mentor, a r...

Review by Ann DuHamelDebussy's Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Époque, by Catherine Kautsky.  The first time I heard Professor Catherine Kautsky speak at a conference, I was utterly entranced: she gave a captivating, lively, and energetic session that I still remember years later. Her enthusiasm for French music was palpable, and she provi...

 The Contemporary Piano: A Performer and Composer's Guide to Techniques and Resources, by Alan Shockley.  The introduction to Alan Shockley's The Contemporary Piano: A Performer and Com- poser's Guide to Techniques and Resources indicates that the "book is designed as a resource for composers writing for the piano and for pianists in...

 (S1-3) Imaginations Books 1 and 2, by Kevin Olson.  Kevin Olson has a knack for creating fresh and original sounds at every teaching level. While incorporating the reading, rhythmic, and technical skills needed to advance the piano student, Imaginations offers a wide variety of appealing pieces. With titles like "Android Attack," "Pengui...

Six Progressive Sonatinas for the Piano Forte, Op. 36, by Muzio Clementi. Authentic Revised Edition ("With Considerable Improvements"), edited by Arthur Houle. This volume presents Clementi's ubiquitous Op. 36 Sonatinas in "the first and only definitive critical edition based on all the primary sources, with extensive notes on performance practice ...

by Ann DuHamel Adaptive Strategies for Small-Handed Pianists is a revolutionary, pioneering work that addresses small-handedness in an extraordinarily comprehensive manner. The book, by Lora Deahl and Brenda Wristen, examines the many facets of pianism affected by small-handedness, and it provides numerous excellent suggestions on playing with what...

(SE3-4) Fantasia del Tango: 6 Original Piano Solos and 1 Duet, by Eugénie Rocherolle. Fantasia del Tango augments The Eugénie Rocherolle Series with a volume of tangos by a perennial favorite pedagogical composer. Dedicated to Kathleen Theisen, the seven pieces in this collection (six solos and one duet) pres...