Grant Event - Piano Methods from Around the World
2025-02-07 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Salem Public Library, Loucks Auditorium, 585 Liberty St SE, Salem, OR, 97301
Location parking: (3 hrs of parking is free in the Library Parkade)
Presenting District: Salem
Presenters: Dr. Ricardo de la Torre and Dr. Lark Powers
Program Description: Much has been written about the value, advantages, and disadvantages of piano method books for beginning students. However, few comparative studies on the methodology of different international approaches exist. The objective of this joint session is to present, discuss, and contrast piano methods at the beginning level from different pedagogical traditions by authors from France, Germany, Hungary, Cuba, and Japan. Elements discussed will include the approach to introducing note-reading, how technique is built, the structure of rhythmic exercises, and the introduction of general musicianship, as well as the use of fanciful elements that engage children. We will compare and contrast these approaches to ones used in English-speaking countries, particularly American piano methods. Teachers may find inspiration for teaching specific skills through the analysis of these method books, as well as gaining increased awareness of what texts are used worldwide, while enjoying a lively discussion of pedagogical merits and cultural values.
Presenter Bios: In demand as a solo and collaborative artist as well as an adjudicator and presenter, Dr. Lark Powers has performed at such venues as Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the 92nd Street Y in New York City and at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Internationally she has been heard in Europe, Mexico and Canada. In addition to numerous collaborations with ensembles, including the Tacoma Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony, the Washington-Idaho Symphony, and the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, she appears in frequent two-piano concerts as part of the duo she forms with pianist Ricardo de la Torre. Locally she is a frequent performer on the Listen Live at Lunch series at the First Lutheran Church of Tacoma, the Second City Chamber Series, and the faculty artist series at Pacific Lutheran University.
Dr. Powers received a DMA in piano performance from the University of Colorado Boulder, and holds three Master’s degrees (in piano, theory pedagogy and in harpsichord) and a graduate performance diploma in piano from the Peabody Institute. Her undergraduate studies occurred at the University of the Pacific, where she earned a BM in piano performance, summa cum laude, after which she attended the Conservatoire National de Région de Paris for three years where she won a premier prix.
A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and a Washington State Visiting Artist, Lark teaches at Pacific Lutheran University where she instructs applied lessons and accompanying, and coordinates the group keyboard program. Dr. Powers has presented on topics including managing performance anxiety, the creativity inherent in the Baroque repertoire, the pedagogy of keyboard harmony, and more. She is a proponent of new music, specializing in the music of Latin American composers, and can be heard on recordings with the Pan Pacific Ensemble on Albany records and the Cherry Creek Flute Duo.
In demand as a performer, teacher, adjudicator and presenter, Dr. Ricardo de la Torre currently serves as piano instructor for the Community Music Program at the University of Puget Sound, where he was also staff accompanist for the School of Music. Ricardo has played in concert venues in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain, Austria, and France. A finalist and prize winner in several competitions in Mexico and the U.S., he received second prize at the Eleventh Annual Competition in the Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America, sponsored by Indiana University’s Latin American Music Center and the Embassy of Spain. The recordings he made as a result of this competition were included in a two-CD collection released by the LAMC. Together with his wife, Dr. Lark Powers, Ricardo forms a piano duo that has performed internationally, was a finalist of the United States International Piano Duo Competition in Colorado Springs and received a Silver Award at the first international competition of the Carles & Sofía Foundation of Spain. Born in Mexico City, Ricardo attended Escuela Superior de Música in his hometown, where he received a Bachelor’s degree cum laude. He continued his studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree and went on to graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he worked as a teaching assistant. An active presenter, he has participated in numerous local, regional, national, and international conferences and the results of his research have been published in specialized journals in the U.S., Mexico and Colombia. He is a visiting artist for the Washington State Music Teachers Association’s Music Artistry Program and has served on the faculties of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, and East Central University in Ada, OK. After being pianist at First Lutheran Church in Tacoma and directing its summer concert series Listen Live at Lunch, Ricardo currently works as Curator of Art and Music at Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood, WA.

Grant Event - Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies
2025-02-11 10:45 - 12:15 | OR
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Dr. Brian Hsu
Location: Studio of Bonnie Esbensen
Program Description: Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies have been popular with students and performers over the last few decades. In this presentation, Dr. Hsu will briefly survey the origins of these rhapsodies and how the music of the Roma People inspired Liszt to write this beloved collection.
Presenter Bio: Since his concerto debut at the age of 16 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwanese-American pianist Brian Hsu has gone on to establish himself a pianist of great energy and unusual communicative ability. Critics have described his performances in surperlatives, noting his “breadth of expression and technical ability.” An experienced performer, Mr. Hsu has performed throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. US performances include Boston, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Dallas, as well as many others. He has appeared as concerto soloist with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, and University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a guest on WQXR radio station in New York several times. Mr. Hsu has performed in various music festivals including Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy; Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan; Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain; Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina; Banff Festival of the Arts in Canada; PianoFest in The Hamptons in Long Island, New York. His US debut solo recording, Night at the opera: Part I, which consist of opera transcriptions for solo piano, was released in the fall of 2018. In addition to his competition successes, Mr. Hsu was the recipient of numerous awards while attending Juilliard, Yale, and Michigan.
Mr. Hsu frequently appears as a guest artist/teacher, presenter, and jury member in various Music Teachers National Association contests and other major competitions, such as the New Orleans International Piano Competition, Nanyang Academy of the Arts in Singapore. He often performs and has taught masterclasses at various colleges and universities throughout the United States and Asia. An avid chamber musician and collaborator, Mr. Hsu continuously performs with colleagues throughout the music world. Mr. Hsu participated in the world premiere of Paul Schoenfeld’s Piano Quintet with members of the Pro Arte’s Quartet, and in the spring of 2014, a recording was released by Albany Records. Along with voice alumni of Loyola University New Orleans, Mr. Hsu participated in the debut of Logan Skeleton’s Letters to Santa in 2016. As a member of the piano trio, Ensemble Peri, he participated in its inaugural tour which took place in Korea during the summer of 2019. Mr. Hsu is also a founding member of Key 2 Inclusion, an intercollegiate initiative to promote and teach piano music written by Black American and other minority composers.

Grant Event - Finding Musical Expression in the Music We Play
2025-02-22 10:00 - 12:00 | Groth Recital Hall, Eastern Oregon University, One University Blvd, La Grande, Oregon, 97850
Presenting District: Blue Mountain
Presenter: Dr. Barbara Baird
Program Description: How do we play Baroque music expressively, in a way that shows stylistic awareness, and yet in a way that accommodates the instrument being used? CPE Bach wrote in his treatise on Keyboard Playing: “Play from the Soul, not like a trained bird. Endeavor to avoid everything mechanical and slavish.” We all know that a musical performance is much more than just realizing the notes on the page. But how do we find the meaning of what is being expressed in the notation of a musical composition and bring that to life in our playing? Looking at keyboard repertoire from the Baroque, learn the basics of how to read beyond the notes in the score to better understand and present the character and personality of the music.
Presenter Bio: Dr. Barbara Baird has recently retired from the music faculty of the University of Oregon, where she taught organ, piano, and harpsichord for over 35 years. A critically acclaimed performer, Barbara has concertized throughout the United States, as well as in Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. A frequent adjudicator and clinician, she regularly conducts workshops and master classes for keyboardists, particularly on Baroque and Classical Period Performance, and Keyboard Pedagogy. She also enjoys working with young pianists who are learning the art of making music.
