The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Ira Gold's recital and masterclass

My National Symphony colleague Ira Gold played a recital last weekend in Griswold recital hall.  It was a total knockout.  In the year Ira and I have been working together in the NSO I've grown to really admire his artistry and his total dedication to his music-making.  Ira has been exposed to a broad array of musical ideas and styles, and it really shows in his playing.  His Bach draws on many concepts from the period performance movement, while his Bruch has a rich romantic sound. I have great respect for musicians who have the technical and musical breadth to find the approach that brings the most to the music.  Too many of us tend to impose "our sound" on the music we play, when often we simply are staying in our own comfort zones and not stretching ourselves.

 After a well-deserved dinner break Ira returned to Griswold to teach a master class, which was also a great time for all.  Everyone played well and put some good material out there.  Ira offered insightful comments to all, interspersed with anecdotes about his own teachers (Ed Barker and Paul Ellison) and his ideas about creating a singing sound.  Good stuff - thanks Ira!

 My favorite part of the class was when Ira took one of the students (Lee Philip, who was a trouper as always)  and spent twenty minutes taking apart his performance of an excerpt from Mozart Haffner symphony.  He looked at each bar in detail, examining ways to make them each expressive and stylistically appropriate.  It was a great example to us all of the level of detailed work we need to do when preparing for auditions.  We can't afford to ignore a single note....