World-class pianists delight and inform area youth

Shandelee student outreach program brings stunning music and great interaction with talented festival alumnae

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY — For students who share a love of music and who are trying to integrate lessons and practice into their busy schedules, the rare opportunity to listen to a performance by world-class pianists and to ask them riveting questions about their studies is a rare opportunity indeed.

Just such a special dynamic takes place each year as the Shandelee Music Festival Outreach Program brings a pair of remarkable pianists to Sullivan County Community College to play for, and speak to, a host of third to 12th graders from across the county.

It is exactly what drew Dr. Mark Spina of Liberty and his 11-year-old son Julian to the college. Both study piano, and both were drawn by the chance to hear a pair of young world-class musicians perform and discuss their craft.

So too did John Bernstein, a student at Tri-Valley High School who has been playing the piano for nine years. Bernstein was curious to hear what pianists who play at this level sound like and what they had to say about their musical lives.

The students were welcomed by James Goldfarb, the director of campus activities. who introduced Barbara Konvalin, the Public Relations Director of the Shandelee Music Festival, which was founded in 1993.

Konvalin spoke briefly about the two young artists about to perform, George Lykogiannis and Stephanie Wu, who attended the prestigious Shandelee Music Festival in 2003 and 2005 respectively.

Only between eight and 12 pianists are selected each year to participate in the festival, a rare opportunity to not only study with masters and perform for an avid audience, but also to reside and practice in a gorgeous setting amid 75 wooded acres at the festival site. The festival was founded by pianist and Manhattan School of Music teacher Daniel Stroup.

Festival president Stroup spoke to the students and gave them a preview of what they were about to hear. “Today we will be presenting two of the greatest piano pieces,” noted Stroup, referring to Beethoven’s Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata,” which would be dramatically performed by Lykogiannis, and Maurice Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit,” emotionally rendered by Wu.

Stroup spoke about the composers and the role of emotion in both the composing and the playing of music.

He and Lykogiannis encouraged the students to listen to the different movements of the first piece to try and detect not only the variation of its sound, but also to think about the emotion that the composer was trying to convey.

Wu did the same for the Ravel piece, a haunting and frightening musical enactment of a nighttime encounter with a menacing spirit. Both selections were entrancing and markedly different. Both drew the rapt attention of the student audience who brimmed with questions following the completion of each piece.

Lykogiannis and Wu were warm and engaging as they previewed the pieces and demonstrated snippets on the piano as clues to what students might hear. Afterward, they fielded numerous thoughtful questions.

“Have you ever tried composing?” asked one young man of Lykogiannis. “Do your hands ever hurt?” wanted to know an aspiring young pianist. “Do you play other instruments? Why did you choose Gaspard de la Nuit?” inquired others.

Other areas of interest focused on what other types of music the performers were drawn to, how long it takes to prepare a piece like those performed and how long each student practices each day.

The morning offered an in-depth and unusual educational opportunity in a real-life setting.

This summer, the Festival Outreach Program will present a concert for people confined to the Skilled Nursing Unit at Catskill Regional Medical Center.

Having such a remarkable world-class musical resource in the county is a great boon to those who attend the festival, which will be held from August 4-18 this summer. The Outreach Program is a chance for students and those who are incapable of getting to the festival to hear an amazing array of talent.

Click here for additional photos from the Shandelee Outreach Program.