Dear Friends,

I hope your summer was enjoyable. Thanks to all who came to the Mozart Workshop & Recital July 27 and 28! We had a truly memorable two days of exploring Mozart together!

What a great group of musicians! I loved hearing their special reasons for coming. One said she wanted “a better understanding of Mozart, because her music history class covered Bach, skipped over Mozart and went straight to Beethoven!“ (Yes, mine too!) More than one said that they were seeking "the joy in music.” (Yes, Mozart led us to it!) One wanted a better way to teach Mozart, including to younger students. (Yes, little ones can learn to play Mozart’s five types of sounds!)

The earnest desire that everyone expressed was, in essence, for a closer connection with Mozart’s music. Serendipitously, my reason for giving the workshop was to give everyone a way to make that connection! Mozart’s Five Types of Notes give us the closest possible connection to his music-- the specific sounds that connect us with its meaning!

Mozart amazed us. We had a grand time— and the lovely space and Steinway grand provided by the Steinway Piano Gallery gave us the perfect setting! We explored simple actions to play the five types of sounds —which never express the same thing twice, every moment having a fresh perspective and energy. This freshness is Mozart's personality —and my performance was a demonstration of Mozart’s personality through hischoices of each note’s type of sound.

This closeness to Mozart’s personality (what we sometimes call “interpretation") is highly invigorating, and available to all of us when we play the five types of sounds that he notated.

I look forward to many more explorations with all who desire to connect more deeply with Mozart’s music! (The next workshop is tentatively planned for the week of Mozart’s birthday in January 2019; stay tuned for details)!

With all warmest wishes,

Mary