Echoes of a Musical Life - The Musings of a Pianist and Teacher
Anton at the piano
Greetings to everyone brave or bored enough to venture this deep into my website. I guarantee that it will at least be edifying and hopefully more entertaining than doom scrolling on your favorite social media app. I have always liked blogging which I have very inconsistently done since high school (starting with a site hosted by my cousin, and later on tumblr). And yet, when it came to blogging about piano specifically…well have you heard of that thing called perfectionism-procrastination complex? I thoroughly enjoy discussing music, pedagogy, philosophies of interpretation, and so on and so forth, but the idea of making anything I say “permanent” by posting it on the internet has been someone intimidating. Maybe its the paranoia and insecurity from years of music grad school and feeling my writing wasn’t always up to snuff and some of my ideas lacked development. However to stay true to the millennial zeitgeist: YOLO (You Only Live Once).
So I’ll attempt to wage war against my demons, a couple of them being indecision and insecurity. I’m going to write, and write, and write in the hopes of getting better. I have several blogposts on deck covering a variety of topics.
My Online Piano Teaching Journey
One of the things I am most interested in discussing is online piano teaching. Since the pandemic, it has been a consistent part of my freelance work as a piano instructor. However, navigating the technology can be intimidating and finding ways to compensate for virtual learning where student and teacher don’t share the same acoustic space can be daunting. I hope to provide plenty of anecdotes, insights, and actionable strategies that will boost the confidence of students unsure about trying online piano lessons as well as empower fellow instructors to incorporate zoom lessons in their work routine.
The International Chopin Competition Breakdown
I’ve never really kept track of piano competitions, but having been an avid listener of Ben Laude’s Chopin Podcast motivated me to tune in to the 2025 International Chopin Competition. So many pianists! I didn’t have a chance to listen to all the participants before the medals were awarded (Congratulations to fellow American, Eric Lu for taking the Gold!) but I am slowly catching up and have started jotting down my impressions and reflections inspired by the competition. Stay tuned for my ramblings about the Chopin Competition and musings about the state of modern piano playing.
Interpreting Classical Music
The topic that has been my preoccupation for well over a decade has been piano interpretation and what we can learn through a survey of historical recordings. From Rachmaninoff’s inimitable tone and daring rubatos to Horowitz’s whimsical shifts in color, Hofmann’s unexpected inner voices to the dramatic sweep of Cortot…that “golden age” individuality and idiosyncratic approach to music has been lost in a modern era that favors an clean lines, symmetrical shapes, and reliably consistent reproduction of a particular interpretation. If I can organize all the thoughts percolating in my mind, I guarantee that there will be a deluge of articles on the matter of breathing new life into old musical texts.
Elite Piano Practice Strategies
I’ve lost count of how many times I have been praised for being so talented, and how my accomplishments were out of reach. While I am grateful for such high praise, it always left me feeling uncomfortable because I am certain its blatantly inaccurate. I’ve never felt talented at the piano, and if I have a talent for anything it is for finding an emotional connection with music and crafting a highly individual concept for a performance of a given work. But it is a painstaking process to navigate my instrument, sort out fingerings, diagnose mechanical issues, and ensure that my memory remains robust in the moment of performance.
I am absolutely convinced that pianistic success is more about time well spent rather than raw talent. I survived nearly a decade of graduate school in music because of passion, determination, and intelligent practice techniques, techniques that I plan to write (and film videos) about in order to equip aspiring pianists to achieve their maximum potential.
I hope you’ll join me in this blogging journey AND hold me accountable. If I stop writing, please nag me to keep on keeping on. And while you’re at it, send me more topic ideas or any questions you might have about classical piano and online music lessons.
Cheers!