January 3-7, 2010

International Chopin Symposium and Festival

Navon Hall, Nazarian Building, Edmםnd Safra Campus, Givat-Ram, Jerusalem

Lithograph by Gottfried Engelmann after a
drawing by Pierre Roch Vigneron, 1833

The EAC is marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of F. Chopin with a week-long international symposium and festival.

In the course of the event, leading performers, scholars, and experts from the US, the UK, Poland, and Israel will conduct a series of lectures, workshops, and master classes focused on theoretical and interpretative issues related to the music of Chopin.

The academic advisor of the symposium and festival is Prof. Eytan Agmon, of Bar-Ilan University. The event, produced and coordinated by Dr. Tamara Balter, includes the following participants:

John Rink (Professor, Musical Performance Studies, Cambridge University). His books include The Practice of Performance: Studies in Musical Interpretation (1995), Chopin: The Piano Concertos (1997), and Musical Performance: A Guide to Understanding (2002).

Carl Schachter (Professor Emeritus, Music Theory, Queens College and CUNY). Leading authority on Schenkerian theory and analysis. Author of Counterpoint in Composition (with Felix Salzer), Harmony and Voice Leading (with Edward Aldwell), and many articles.

Assaf Zohar (Professor, Piano, and Dean of the Performance Faculty, JAMD). One of Israel’s most active pianists. Producer of the JAMD’s highly successful series of concert-lectures, now in its second decade. Performed in the USA, Austria, Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Georgia, South Africa, Australia, and Japan.

William Rothstein (Professor, Music Theory, Queens College and CUNY). Specializes in Schenkerian theory and analysis, theories of rhythm, theories of form, mostly in 18th and 19th century music. Author of the award-winning Phrase Rhythm in Tonal Music (Schirmer, 1989).

Halina Goldberg (Professor, Musicology, Indiana University). Editor, The Age of Chopin: Interdisciplinary Inquiries (Indiana University Press, 2004); author, Music in Chopin’s Warsaw (OUP, 2008).

Eytan Agmon (Professor, Music Theory, Bar-Ilan University). Specializes in the theory and analysis of tonal music, Schenkerian analysis, rhythm, as well as the interface between music theory, cognition, and mathematics.

Alexander Tamir (Professor, Piano, JAMD, and artistic director of the Eden-Tamir Music Center). Together with the late Bracha Eden, formed the world-famous Eden-Tamir Piano Duo, recipient of many prizes, including the Grand prix du disque.

Roger Kamien (Professor Emeritus, Music Theory, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem). Author of Music: An Appreciation, currently in its 8th edition, and numerous articles that explore Schenker’s approach to the analysis of tonal music. Editor of The Norton Scores.

Andrzej Jasiński (Pianist and Piano Professor, Music Academy in Katowice). Recipient of the Grand Prix at the Maria Canals International Piano Competition, 1960. Performed in the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Uruguay, Brazil, and Japan. Krystian Zimerman and Krzysztof Jabłoński are among the many concert pianists he educated.

Schedule of Events

Sunday, Jan. 3rd
9:30   Gathering
10:00 Greetings: Prof. Ilan Schul (President, Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance)
Opening Address: Maestro Murray Perahia (Honorary President, Edward Aldwell Center)
10:30   Prof. John Rink (Cambridge University)
“Reading Chopin: The Sound of Notation”
12:00  Prof. Carl Schachter (Emeritus, City University of New York)
“Chopin’s Mazurka, Op. 59, No. 2: A Tribute to Mendelssohn?”
13:30   Lunch Break
15:00   “Musical Narratives in Chopin’s Ballades”
Workshop with Prof. John Rink
16:30   “Mostly Chopin”
Master class with Dr. Assaf Zohar (Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance)

Monday, Jan. 4th
10:00   Prof. William Rothstein (City University of New York)
“Chopin and Opera”
11:30   Prof. John Rink
“Analyzing Chopin: The Shape of Performance”
13:00   Lunch Break
15:00   “Time and Timing in Chopin’s Scherzos”
Workshop with Prof. John Rink
16:30   “Mostly Chopin”
Master class with Dr. Assaf Zohar

Tuesday, Jan. 5th
10:00   Prof. Halina Goldberg (Indiana University)
“Concerts are Never Real Music: Performance Venues and Programming during Chopin’s Era”
11:30   Prof. Eytan Agmon (Bar-Ilan University)
“Chopin’s Mazurka, Op. 24, No. 2, and Fétis’s ‘Tonal Perfection’”
13:00   Lunch Break
15:00   “Style and Expression in the Chopin Mazurkas”
Workshop with Prof. Alexander Tamir (Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance)
16:30  “Mostly Chopin”
Masterclass with Dr. Assaf Zohar

Wednesday, Jan. 6th
10:00  Prof. Roger Kamien (Emeritus, Hebrew University)
“Chopin’s Prelude in B-Flat Major, Op. 28, No. 21: Form and Large-Scale Voice Leading”
11:30   Prof. William Rothstein
“Problems of Phrasing in Chopin”
13:00   Lunch Break
15:00  “Problems of Interpretation in the Chopin Mazurkas”
Lecture-demonstration by  Prof. Andrzej Jasiński (Poland)* 
16:30  “Mostly Chopin”
Master class with Dr. Assaf Zohar

Thursday, Jan. 7th
10:00–13:00   Master class with Prof. Andrzej Jasiński*
13:00   Lunch Break
15:00–18:00   Master class with Prof. Andrzej Jasiński*

All events are open to the general public free of charge.

*In collaboration with the Polish Institute

Admission free.
For advance booking please contact:
tbalter@umail.iu.edu
+972-50-9905541

To participate in the workshops and master classes please contact:
info@aldwell.com
+972-54-9439593
+972-52-3834422