This week Dr. Tobin discusses this supernatural Prelude from Book II.
He shows the illustration which inspired it, Arthur Rackham’s illustration of the Fairies from “Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens” by J.M Barrie, which we have in the collection of Adams Music House!
Dr. Tobin avoids being too technical for too long, and concludes this post with a performance of The Fairies Are Exquisite Dancers on the piano Debussy composed it on, his Bluethner in Brive la-Gaillarde, a charming Medieval town in Central France.
Adam’s Music House was thrilled to host the first concert of the Austin Chamber Music Ensemble’s 2019-2020 season!
Many thanks to Marti Ahern for arranging and inviting Dr. Tobin, Artistic Director at Adam’s, to play a solo recital and a lovely 4-hand piece by Clara Schumann with Marti Ahern!
We had a full house as Dr. Tobin played the late Mozart Sonata K. 570,. Estampes by Claude Debussy, the Chopin bb minor Scherzo, and a short piece Opus 15 by Clara Schumann. This concert was in honor of Chopin and Clara Schumann’s birthdays and the performers made connections among them.
Thanks for all who attended! Our next event is a master class Saturday November 16th from 2-5 with Brian Marks, Chair of the Piano Department at Baylor University.
It was wonderful to have Fritz Gechter return with students from TAMIU in Laredo for the third time for a master class with Dr. Tobin. Tatiana Gorbunova also came and brought students and we all had a great time, starting with lunch at Cenote.
Joe Bratcher, founder of Adam’s, stopped by for the first half of the class which included a Schubert Impromptu, the Scriabin 5th Sonata, a piece by Janacek, Rondo Capriccio of Mendelssohn, the first Debussy Prelude, and other works.
After the class Dr. Tobin joined everyone for dinner at Hanks Road House and a very nice concert given by the Austin Symphony in the Long Center. Symphony Fantastique was played with gusto and the soloist in the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto was very sensitive.
Adam’s Music House is pleased to announce the recipient of our 2019 Fellowship, Valerie Groh, who will study and present a lecture recital about the piano music of Max Reger in December, 2019.
The fellowship winner receives lessons with Artistic Director Dr. Anthony Tobin, guidance toward the presentation of the lecture recital, and $3000. During September 2019 we will sponsor a meet and greet where Valerie will discuss the project and perform!
Valerie Groh is a classically-trained pianist and teacher whose love affair with the piano began with her first lesson at age 7, and whose love of teaching was born more than 20-years ago when student teaching pre-college students at Vanderbilt University.
A native Texan, Valerie was born in Spring, Texas but was raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas where she studied privately with a Russian piano teacher, Mrs. Tanya Ellezian.
She obtained a Bachelor of Music degree in Musical Arts, with a concentration in Piano Pedagogy from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in 2000. She spent one year of post-graduate study with Dr. Sandra Chucalo Turner, Chair of the Piano Department at Southern Seminary, taught piano and flute lessons for the Southern Seminary Academy of Music – now the Seminary School of the Arts, and helped manage the technology lab for a private piano studio in Louisville, Kentucky. She taught public school music and directed the honor choir at Northridge Middle School in Van Buren, Arkansas for two years before moving to Austin, Texas where she worked for the Austin Chamber Music Center and taught private and group piano lessons at Capital Music Center before branching out and establishing her own private studio, Valerie Groh’s Piano Garden. Her studio consists of 33-students raging in age from 5 to 17. Currently pursuing certification as a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) through the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Valerie is committed to her own professional development and is delighted to be studying privately with Dr. Anthony Tobin in hopes of improving as a performing pianist as well as a teacher.
Valerie is an active member of the following local, and National teaching organizations:
Austin District Music Teachers Association (ADMTA)
Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA)
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)
Texas Federation of Music Clubs (TFMC)
National Guild of Piano Teachers Teacher Division of The American College of Musicians
Her students participate in informal and formal recitals during the year, take piano and theory exams offered by the Associate Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), perform in National Piano GuildAuditions, National Federation of Music Clubs Festivals, and Austin District Music Teachers Association festivals and exams.
Piano playing and teaching is very important to Valerie, but her greatest roles in life are those of wife to Matthew Groh and homeschooling mom to James, age 8 and John, age 5.
