School of Music
Amount Awarded: $4,744.00
Awarded for 2018-19
Title: Performer/Scholar Dr. Kenneth Drake, Fortepiano and Historical Performance Practice & Pedagogy Masterclasses, Workshops, Lectures, and Concert
The aim of this project is to bring renowned Beethoven scholar and historical keyboard performer, Kenneth Drake, for Classical performance practice & pedagogy lectures, give masterclasses, present a Fridays with Faculty lecture/performance, and perform a fortepiano concert on campus. Drake will bring with him from Illinois his own historical instrument, a replica of a 1780 Viennese fortepiano, for teaching and performing, providing students an opportunity to create better informed keyboard performances of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and their contemporaries.
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A grant from the Council of Dee Fellows allowed me to bring respected fortepianist and Beethoven scholar Kenneth Drake (Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, from which school he received his DMA) to The University of Utah from March 25-29, 2019 as guest Artist-is-Residence. Dr. Drake is currently 88 years old, and has actively continued with his historically-informed research and performing career over the past two decades since his retirement. Over the years he has amassed a fine collection of original historical pianos by the English maker Broadwood that were built in 1806, 1816, 1829, and 1860. He also owns a c. 1800 Austrian-modeled fortepiano built in the 20th Century by John Lyon, and this is the instrument which he brought with him to the School of Music with him during his week-long residency. He and his assistant, conductor and fellow fortepianist Jun-Hee Han, drove a van from Illinois to Utah transporting, loading, and unloading this instrument for a distance of about 1,150 miles each way.
Dr. Drake specifically did the following activities for the School of Music:
- He worked extensively with members of my Doctoral Performance Practice Seminar class
[MUSC 7211] collectively and individually by teaching both class sessions during the week. He spent additional time coaching these students in preparation for performing for the two Classical concerts on Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30. - He taught two sections of Dr. Catherine Mayes' Music History II (Classical) undergraduate class.
- He taught two sections of Dr. Jie Lu's undergraduate and graduate piano pedagogy and advanced piano teaching seminar classes.
- He taught one section of Dr. Viktor Valkov's piano accompanying practicum class.
- He did numerous one-on-one coaching sessions with undergraduate piano majors.
- He presented a Fridays with Faculty Lecture to the SOM and also the general public.
- He was the guest performing artist at a concert on March 30, 2019 in Thompson Chamber Hall.
- As a gesture of community outreach and involvement, I publicized to the members of Utah Music Teachers Association (MTNA) details about Kenneth Drake's visit to Utah. As a result, we had members of MTNA in attendance at Drake's Fridays with Faculty lecture, and also his concert on March 30. Additionally, Dr. Yu-Jane Yang (Professor of Piano at Weber State University) and I were able to arrange for Kenneth Drake to visit WSU for a masterclass and concert on March 22 & 23, before his residency week began at the U. of U. on March 25.
In all of the above teaching situations, Drake would first play a classical piece first on the fortepiano, and then immediately play the same piece on the modern piano. He then directed the student to do the same. After going back and forth between the two instruments, he then would ask the student what had been learned, felt, and heard, etc. Along with participation on the concerts, this multisensory experience was probably the most important and helpful activities for students.
The culmination of this wonderful week of learning and making music on the fortepiano came to a successful conclusion with a series of two concerts. The Friday afternoon concert on March 29 was specifically organized to showcase the talents of our DMA students performing Classical music using the fortepiano. This concert also featured faculty and guest artists from the community, as well as the debut of our newly-formed independent undergraduate student orchestra, the Utah Chamber Ensemble. Having orchestral accompaniments to classical concerto movements for the March 29 & 30 concerts greatly enhanced the concert experience for both the performers and the listeners.
Saturday, March 30 featured Kenneth Drake in an "Artist-in-Residence" recital. He played a Beethoven solo work, Beethoven's "Six Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 34" on the fortepiano, and then was joined by members of the Michie Graduate String Quartet in a successful performance of Mozart's "Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, K. 478." The Utah Chamber Ensemble was then featured in Mozart's "Divertimento in F Major, K. 138" Jun-Hee Han concluded the concert by conducting and performing Mozart's "Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503" on the fortepiano with the Utah Chamber Ensemble.
I would like to acknowledge Jun-Hee Han's contributions to this wonderful week of music making and learning. When I wrote the grant, I did not know that he would be accompanying Dr. Drake to Utah. Mr. Han's contributions to this project were invaluable. Not only did he do most of the driving to and from Illinois, but he gave several class presentations where he discussed several painters contemporary to the life of Beethoven, and linked these paintings to Beethoven's music. Additionally, Mr. Han played the entire Mozart piano concerto for the Saturday concert while conducting the orchestra from the keyboard, as was the custom in Mozart's time (and which delighted the crowd!) As a conductor, this meant that he was in charge of rehearsing several times with the Utah Chamber Orchestra. He later remarked that this was one of the best orchestras with whom he had worked. I am very grateful for his help and musical contributions that made this residency week a huge success.
I want to thank the Dee Foundation for funding this wonderful project. Attendance at both the Friday and Saturday concerts was very robust, will a nearly full hall. I would also like to thank Dr. Miguel Chuaqui, director of the School of Music, for his support. He was in attendance at both of these concerts, and was supportive of this entire project every step of the way, from start to finish.
A link to a video documenting this event can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/_ZlF4zrnyo4