As a Piano Faculty member at the Interlochen Arts Academy – a boarding school at the high school level with students from around the world – I consider it an honor to be directly responsible for the musical and personal development of these young musicians. At the same time, I perform concerts regularly at school and off-campus. I have played all-American 20th century repertoire at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, and the Conservatory of Music in Poznan, Poland. Recently, I played a Bartok program which included his Second Piano Concerto. Last year, I focused my recitals on the music of Schubert, and have just recorded a two-CD set of his music, to be released in the Fall of 2006. A recent performance of this repertoire was at Sursa Hall on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
Rather than following the competition circuit, I have always competed with myself to push for the highest standard of performance – trying to please the composer. To this end, I believe composers appreciate that we are re-creative artists, compelled to breathe life into their work, which includes mixing sound into textures and shades of nuance that makes our art very personal. If we ponder the evolution of composition with the development of technique, combined with the mechanical precision and tone quality of the concert grand piano, we come to realize this is truly a symbiotic marvel of human ingenuity.
I am grateful for having studied with great teachers who coached me in the highest level of craftmanship in technique, sound production, and artistic interpretation. At the University of Montana, Lucien Hut was my primary mentor and reason for believing that I am able to create fresh interpretations of the standard repertoire in the midst of so many other recording artists. Other influences on my education while earning a Doctorate of Musical Arts at Peabody Conservatory, part of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore were: Konrad Wolff (student and biographer of Artur Schnabel), Leon Fleisher, and the composer/pianist George Walker.
I have achieved balance in my musical life with a great marriage to Jean Merce Coonrod from Louisville, Kentucky and three wonderful children. David is a landscaper specializing in water features. He and his wife Hjarsti have a 20-month old daughter Ava who Jean and I babysit frequently, and a son due to be born in June. Michelline is a contemporary dancer with the dance company SEROS. She teaches dance in Las Vegas and has a business of creating hand crafted designs on pointe shoes. Second son Rob is a jazz guitarist and composer at the California Institute for the Arts. Jean is a cellist, composer/arranger of works for student orchestra, and writer of the biography of Albert James Fillmore, found in my list of compact disc recordings.
Further quality in my life stems from experiences in the Boy Scouts. An Eagle Scout myself, I grew up in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, camping and hiking in the Selway and Bob Marshall Wilderness areas. During my tenure at Interlochen, I have developed an Explorer Post for both young men and women, serving as principle Advisor for their outdoor adventures as well as community service projects. |
