Klarinet Archive - Posting 000174.txt from 2001/08

From: "Jennifer McKenna" <mai_lin@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Amature musicians article
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001 09:12:09 -0400

I thought that some of you would enjoy this - speaks true about all of the
'amateur musicians' out there.

Enjoy!

Jennifer McKenna

COMPETITION SHOWS PIANITS LOVE OF MUSIC
----------------------------------------

By Ellen Pfeifer, Globe Correspondent, 8/14/2001

CAMBRIDGE - When he last competed - about 18 years ago in the Frinna
Awerbach International Piano Competition in New York, Victor Alexeeff got
mugged. He showed up to play at 7 p.m. instead of 7 a.m. And while he was
performing, a jack hammer was ripping up pavement outside.

''It was the worst nightmare of my life,'' says the graduate of Toronto's
Royal Conservatory of Music. ''Then, it was back to pest
control.''

Alexeeff, 43, who has worked as an exterminator and landscaper and now does
video production in Hilliard, Ohio, had quite a different experience over
the weekend. The Nova Scotia native triumphed over 33 competitors, winning
both first prize and the special audience prize at the first Boston
International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs.

In the final round at Sanders Theatre, the irrepressible and gangling
pianist dazzled listeners with Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op. 32, No. 12; the
Chopin Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61; and the Prokofiev Sonata No. 3 Op. 28. He
will carry home a $2,000 cash prize plus CDs and a gift certificate. Each of
the other four finalists also received cash rewards, CDs, and gift
certificates.

Founded six months ago by Robert Finley, an electrical engineer at General
Dynamics and resident of Northborough, the competition was intended ''to
increase the opportunities for gifted amateurs to play before an
appreciative audience.'' A pianist himself, Finley had taken part in last
year's Van Cliburn competition for amateurs and decided to try to replicate
it on the East Coast.

For the first edition, he attracted pianists from New England, California,
Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, and Canada. The contestants performed in
preliminary and semifinal rounds on Friday and Saturday at Boston
Conservatory's Seully Hall. The jury of five professional pianists was
Michael Lewin, Janice Weber, John Bell Young, Norma Fisher, and Marianna
Rashkovestky.

What is an amateur? WCRB radio announcer Laura Carlo, host for the
competition, pointed to the Latin root of the word meaning ''love.'' She
described an amateur as ''a lover, devoted friend, devotee, someone who
practices his avocation not for the money but with heart and soul.''

Michael Lewin, chairman of the jury, also spoke of how the judges wrestled
with the category. Should amateurs be evaluated as ''pale copies of
ourselves or should we allow them to be what they are?''

Listening to the five finalists, one observed that the difference between
professional and amateur attainment came in various guises. Although all the
players were well-schooled, some lacked just the slightest degree of
technical command and brilliance. But, for most, the crucial difference was
their relative inexperience playing for an audience. A pro plays in public
all the time. An amateur may play a recital once a year. The resulting
stress took its toll, whether in the emotional nakedness of the players'
faces, the number of split keys, or - the performer's worst fear - the
memory lapses.

Alexeeff's victory recognized his magisterial command of both fingers and
nerves. From the first moment onstage, his confidence was apparent. Not only
did he play with impressive virtuosity but also with great musicality. It
was a spectacular performance, particularly when one considers that this
artist practices at home on a ''tiny baby grand piano.'' (It replaced a
Currier upright he called the worst instrument on the planet.)

No matter when these pianists' paths diverged from the professional track,
they had a story to tell - a story that was both poignant and inspiring.
Take Michael Collier, 51, a software salesman from Yorktown, N.Y. He
received fifth prize for his performance of Schumann's ''Kreisleriana.''

Having started playing the piano at age 6, he plugged away at a music career
until he was 31. Then, a graduate of the Mannes School of Music, he decided
to ''get an education so I could put food on the table.'' His first child
was on the way. ''You know,'' he said, ''you can go to law school and finish
in the middle of your class and go on to a successful practice.'' A
musician, by contrast, must ''finish on top of the heap.'' In the big
competitions, ''nobody remembers who finished second.''

Now, he comes home after a 13/4-hour commute and practices after dinner and
on weekends. About once every 18 months he plays a recital. That gives him a
goal and a deadline for which to strive.

Then there's Milton Farbstein. A clinical microbiologist from Prescott,
Ariz., Farbstein played a beautiful Schubert sonata movement and Ravel's
''Ondine,'' but got derailed in a Bartok etude. Excusing himself, he got his
music and played the rest of the performance from score. Referring to the
''train wreck'' in the Bartok, he spoke later of how ''he just couldn't keep
it memorized. I could tell you all the notes in a relaxed setting, but I
just can't hold it under stress.''

Happily married, with three grown sons, Farbstein also plays cello and
violin. He and his wife, a sometime clarinetist, also run a summer music
camp for kids in grades 7 through 12. Farbstein won fourth prize and
received the jury's special award for best performance of a 20th century
work - Stravinsky's ''Petrushka.''

In describing his musical life, Alexeeff probably summed it up for all his
amateur colleagues. ''I play everyday. I love it. Life takes us in many
directions, but always you have to keep that which is closest to your
heart.''

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