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Upcoming Performances

March 29
12:30 pm Eastern

Lenten recital, Corinth Reformed Church, Hickory, N.C.

April 5
12:15 pm Eastern

Duo organ/piano recital with Ling Yu Hsiao, National City Christian Church, Washington, D.C.

April 7
3:00 pm Eastern

Duo organ/piano recital with Ling Yu Hsiao, First Presbyterian Church, Statesville, N.C.

May 10-22
Collaborative organist, Choir tour to Ireland and Scotland, Church of the Holy Comforter, Charlotte, N.C.

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Tuesday
Jan112011

Recital programming

With the obvious exception of an all-one-composer or other specialized program, here are my three Musts for recital programs:

1. BACH. Bach can start, end or fill out a program; he fits anywhere. Once he is chosen, the rest of the program fits around him. No ‘routine’ recital should be without Bach.

2. Start with a bang, and not too long. The audience wants to know if you’re worth listening to for the duration. Give them a Yes to that question with a rousing first piece, and then you can do what you want. (I do make exceptions to this rule, but only dramatic ones such as starting off with the Roger-Ducasse Pastorale or the Davies Solemn Melody.) In ANY event, start with PLAYING, not with SPEAKING.

3. End with a bang.

These days I have a temporary, fourth Must: FRANCK. I’m in the middle of playing the complete works, scattered thinly across several recital seasons. It makes for wonderful programming, and I highly recommend it.

Those are the Musts. Now, here are my remaining Try To’s for developing a program:

1. Second piece a quiet one. Let the audience know that you are on their side for variety and for preserving their hearing.

2. Vary styles and style periods. Sometimes you have to eat your vegetables with all that dessert.

3. Vary piece lengths.

4. Vary dynamics, for goodness’ sake.

5. Don’t worry about key relationships between pieces. Applause, speaking, and/or just a bit of time will “cleanse the palette” for the next piece.

6. Know your audience. Plan for them!

7. Know the event. Is it a gala? An AGO dinner meeting? A convention? A Christmas concert?

8. Know the time of year. D’Aquin Noëls are wonderful, but is there really a burning need to play them in May?

9. Know the instrument. Are you playing on the Tannenberg at Old Salem or the Ruffatti at Davies Hall?

10. Know your geography. Know if you have played in that area before, so that you don’t play the same things.

11. Have fun with overlapping repertoire to be learned, repertoire ready to be played, and repertoire to be retired for the time being. This is where I have the most fun. I use my faculty recitals on the “home turf” to “try things out” before taking them on the road. The audience here does not mind being guinea pigs, and I am happy to keep bringing out new music for them.

12. Requests: I have discovered that requests usually involve one of two pieces named 'toccata.' But I have also discovered that the requester usually does not request those pieces out of favoritism for them but rather out of concern that the program contains palatable, tuneful, tonal music for the audience. Well, we have arrived at my dual specialty! On one hand, I love tonal music, and I love audiences; so there’s no problem there. On the other hand, if there is something “weird” on the program, the program notes provide the indispensable link between the composer and the listeners. Never underestimate the usefulness (yea, even the power) of program notes! This is why this web site contains an entire section devoted to examples of my program notes. I'm a believer!

Happy recital planning.

 

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