Author Archives: Susan
ReviewNovember 2010
I found this review of ‘Little Hands, Big Pieces‘ from one of the appreciative audience members at our Stoufville Red Leaf Presentation!
http://ankiepianomusic.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html
On the RoadSept 2010
Kingston Fall Music Fair – Red Leaf Pianoworks was at the public library in Kingston Ontario for a presentation of a selection of repertoire at their one-day Music Fair.
I performed selections of my ‘Piano Poems‘, and assorted pieces from ‘Piano Mime‘, ‘Let’s Pretend‘ and ‘Little Hands, Big Pieces‘. What fun it is to play some of these little character ‘sound bites’!
PerformanceAugust 2010
Two Piano works from my ‘Out of the Box‘ Collection ‘Shhhhh’ and ‘Bounce, Rattle’n Squeak’ were performed by Joseph Ferretti and Elaine Lau at the Music Monday series held at the Church of the Holy Trinity in downtown Toronto. The Concert was featuring the junctQin keyboard collective http://junctqin.com/– a trio that specialize in Toy pianos and acoustic tables! It was simply amazing!
Syllabi and PublishingJuly 2010
My piano poem ‘Sail Away’ has been published in the CNCM Northern Lights Collection, Level 6B. A performance was given at the New Canadian Music Gala evening concert. You can listen to an excerpt and see part of the score on the Piano Solos page.
News!July 2010
My piano trio ‘The Threesome Blues’ and ‘Lullaby with Ground Bass‘ from my ‘Piano Mime‘ Collection have been chosen by Adventus to be added to their MusIQ Club software program – an after-school music program for students in schools throughout the US and Canada. I had great fun arranging both pieces for three piano players with a background rhythm track as accompaniment!
PerformanceJune 2010
Renowned flautist Dianne Aitken performs a selection flute pieces from ‘Voices from the Earth‘ Collection for solo flute at the Central Toronto Branch ORMTA (Ontario Registered Music Teachers Assoc) Annual General Meeting in Toronto.
MiscellaneousMay 2010
Young Isabel Maddocks was awarded the trophy for best performance of one of my Compositions for the NYCO Music Festival. Her she is receiving her trophy at the gala recital!
ReviewSpring Issue 2010
My Piano Poem ‘Lavender Dreams’ was reviewed in the Spring edition of the Nova Scotia RMT’s Arabesque publication! See pg 8.
“Lavender Dreams is an easy and flowing piece that will provide your students with a simple, yet enjoyable experience, allowing them to expand their abilities in chord arpeggiation, and more importantly, in voicing. Susan has done a wonderful job at keeping it simple, but captivating the performer and audience in what is a beautiful, graceful and emotional piece of music.”
PerformanceMarch 2010
Toronto Flautist Christine Mourre performed five pieces for flute from my ‘Voices from the Earth‘ collection for solo flute. This was a world premier for these pieces!
ReviewWinter Issue 2009
The ORMTA Notes magazine published a review of my ‘Little Hands, Big Pieces‘ book!
“The difficulty level of these works range from Grades 1 to 4. As the title suggests, these pieces have great potential for teaching triads in solid, broken and chord form. There are fifteen pieces, mostly one page in length. There is a good mixture of time signature here including one in 8/4. Interesting titles match how the pieces should sound an be played. My personal favorite, ‘Big Foot’ has solid triads played in the lower register. The chords occasionally come in on the 1/2 count giving Big Foot a skip to his steps. There is also a great use of black keys in a piece called ‘Rock Climbing’ as the solid triads ascend chromatically. A short description gives insight into how each piece should be played. I think students will really enjoy learning how to play triads in this format!”
PerformanceOct 2009
And afternoon of presenting 21st Century Music! At The Music Gallery in downtown Toronto eight composers gathered to present their works to an appreciative audience. A great variety of styles was heard. Red Leafers Martha Hill Duncan and Beverly Porter were there as well as Composers Andrew Ager, Barry Peters, Maria Molinari, Beverly Lewis, Maxine Willan and we also heard works by Rebekah Maxner and Jack Behrens. I had my little students present some of my works and then performed a couple of pieces myself. A wonderful afternoon of music making!
Syllabi and PublishingOct 2009
Piano solos ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’, ‘Castles’ and piano trio ‘Three to Tango’ have been selected for the ACNMP Contemporary Showcase Syllabus