Thibaudet On Location Residency, cont'd
The Artist as Master Teacher
"I always say yes
whenever I'm asked to teach a Master Class," he told us, adding "It's
one way of giving back - I attended many Master Classes myself as a student
and learned a lot from them." These words show that Thibaudet is a pianist
with heart.
And
a big one - as he amply demonstrated at the Master Class
for Pianists held at the Zipper Hall of the Colburn School of Performing Arts
in Los Angeles on November 30, 2001.
He had just performed Grieg's Piano Concerto, with barely an hour to catch his
breath for the next chapter of his residency with the LA Philharmonic. He entered
the hall, understandably a bit late; so instead of taking the circuitous way,
he bounded onto the stage with his sprightly long legs, and following a brief
introduction, took on the role of Master Teacher.
For almost two hours, five students took turns trilling or pounding at the grand
Steinway that had been set on the stage for the occasion. Handing the score
to Thibaudet as she (or he - there was only one) walked on to the stage, each
student then sat at the piano and played a short piece from memory. The works
were by Bartok, Muczynski, Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Prokokiev.
Thibaudet listened intently at all times, and when he rose at the conclusion
of each piece to give his comments, you knew right away that for this celebrity
pianist, it was not a time to show off but to teach and share. He was quick
to praise where it was deserved, and where he saw weaknesses, he went over them
without intimidating - point by detailed point: showing one how to move the
wrist, for example, to better the trill, or how much pressure to put on the
pedal to produce the right color... and so on until the student could replay
her piece or a part of it to an audibly improved level of mastery. Indeed, Thibaudet
conducted this Master Class with such remarkable patience that the dean of the
school felt compelled to suggest the teacher was spending too much time with
each student.
This Master Class was a rare learning experience for the audience as well. Open
free to the public, it could have been better attended than it was. What could
one who was there say but: "Pity those (piano students, most especially)
who were not there!"
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