The Well-Tempered Ear
Is piano-mania in China fading?
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By Jacob Stockinger
You have probably heard of piano superstars Lang Lang and Yuja Wang. Maybe even of prize-winners Yundi Li and Haochen Zhang, who both won the Van Cliburn competition while in their teens.
The Ear recently read where there are more piano students in China — the People’s Republic of China — than in Europe, North America and South America combined. In 2019, one music website estimated that “over 40 million Chinese kids are studying the piano today, with some sources going as high as 50 million.”
How did this piano phenomenon come about?
As Bloomberg news recently reported: “China’s love affair with the piano goes back several decades. During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, the instrument was condemned as a symbol of the bourgeoisie. But thanks to the economic reforms and the country’s opening up, the piano became an affordable luxury for a quickly expanding middle class.” (Is it a similar story in South Korea, which has produced many outstanding pianists and winners of international competitions?)
That sounds familiar — similar to what happened in Western culture as the middle class expanded and Hausmusik for amateur musicians took hold. It was a time when most middle-class households had a piano. But now that is fading in the West. Check out all the used pianos listed for sale on Craig’s List and other places.
For more detailed background about about the role of pianos and classical music in China, see this 2019 post by Ludwig-Van.com:
But now news reports say China’s economy is headed for hard times.
What does that mean for piano-mania in China?
Maybe the same thing that has happened in Europe and the United States?
Here is an updated story from another source that says the Chinese piano craze is playing itself out:
https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1014703
Do you have an opinion about China and its love affair with pianos and Western music?
About the fate of pianos and piano lessons in the West?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #Middle-Class, affordable, amateur, amateur musicians, Arts, Asia, asian, audience, Bach, Beethoven, blog, Bloomberg, bourgeoisie, Canada, Chamber music, children, China, Chinese, Classical music, Competition, composer, Concert, concerto, Craig's List, craze, Cultural Revolution, economic, economy, Europe, Facebook, fad, German, Germany, Haochen Zhang, hausmusik, instrument, international, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, kids, Korea, Korean, Lang Lang, link, Love, love affair, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luwig-Van.com, luxury, Madison, mania, Mozart, Music, music students, news, North America, online, pianists, Piano, piano lessons, post, PRC, reforms, report, share, Sixth Tone, Sonata, source, South America, South Korea, South Korean, symbol, tag, Taiwan, Taiwanese, The Ear, Toronto, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, used pianos, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Website, Western culture, Western music, winner, Wisconsin, Yuja Wang, Yundi Li
Classical music: Here is a follow-up story from the Middleton Times-Tribune newspaper about The Ear’s “Musician of the Year” for 2014 –- the Middleton Community Orchestra.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Well, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is back in session.
That means that many people who were gone – students, staff and faculty – are back in town.
While gone, they may have missed The Ear’s annual choice of “Musician of the Year.”
It appeared on New Year’s Eve.
This year’s honor went to the Middleton Community Orchestra (below) and to amateur music-makers.
Here is a link to that post:
But then the award-winning reporter, editor and columnist Matt Geiger from the Middleton newspaper the Middleton Times-Tribune picked up on the blog’s story and did his own terrific story about the honor that included an interview with The Ear. (Check it out if you want to learn more about The Ear and his blog.)
It first appeared only in print, but is now available online:
http://middletontimes.com/articles/2015/01/14/middleton-community-orchestra-named-musicians-year
This is not the first time this blog has sparked some coverage of the arts scene by the local media. But it is one of the best times.
You can follow the link and learn about both this blog and the MCO.
And in the year-end post you will find links to other stories and posts from the past about the Middleton Community Orchestra. You can use the search engine on the blog’s home page.
Here is one special review I did:
Finally, here is a link to the Middleton Community Orchestra’s home page. You can learn how to play in it, how to support it and what concerts are coming up this spring:
www.middlecommunityorchestra.org
Tags: amateur, amateur musicians, Arts, Classical music, Jacob Stockinger, Madison, Matt Geiger, Middleton, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton Times-Tribune, New Year, New Year's Eve, Orchestra, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin
Classical music: This Wednesday night, warm up to Spring with the Middleton Community Orchestra, which will perform music by Mozart, Brahms and Rimsky-Korsakov with guest violin and viola soloists and a guest conductor, who are all distinguished graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Is that an early Spring The Ear hears coming to Middleton, Wisconsin?
The very appealing and very accessible all-masterpiece Winter Concert by the Middleton Community Orchestra (below) is this Wednesday night, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Middleton Performing Arts Center that is attached to Middleton High School.
Tickets are $10 and are available at the door and at the Willy St. Coop West. Students are free. You can get tickets at the door on the night of the show. The box office opens at 6:30 p.m,; doors open at 7 p.m.
The concert — which is guaranteed to increase your respect for and love of amateur music-making — features three professional guest artists: guest conductor Kevin McMahon (below top), maestro of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra; violinist Eleanor Bartsch (below middle); and violist Daniel Kim (below bottom). All three are distinguished graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, where they received various scholarships, and won awards, prizes and honors.
The MCO program of “great classical hits” includes: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s fetchingly lovely and dramatic Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola; the high-spirited “Capriccio Espagnol” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; and the lyrical, pastoral-like Symphony No. 2 in D Major by Johannes Brahms, which is often compared to Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous and popular Symphony No. 6, the famous “Pastoral Symphony. (You can check out the opening movement of the Brahms, as performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, in a popular YouTube video at the bottom).
Plus, the atmosphere is casual and informal, and the seats are quite comfortable.
Usually there is no intermission to the 90-minute or so MCO concert, but this time there WILL indeed be an intermission in the program, which runs Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov, Intermission and then Brahms. (I prefer no intermission. Once I get in The Zone, I like to stay there and not emerge and then try to re-enter it.) But there will be snacks, and time to meet and greet other audience members as well as the musicians.
In some ways, The Ear thinks such a community orchestra and its concert practices provide a model that professional organizations ought to consider adopting if they want to attract newer, younger audiences and cut down on the ticket prices by reducing rehearsal costs and rentals fees.
If you still need some motivation here is a link of a review I did in 2012 of one of the MCO concerts. You can also find very positive review by guest blogger John W. Barker by using the search engine on this blog.
I asked MCO co-founder and orchestra player Mindy Taranto why the usual conductor Steve Kurr (below) was not conducting: “MCO enjoyed guest conductors maestros John DeMain (of the Madison Symphony Orchestra) and David Becker (from UW-Madison and Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin) for one week readings last year, and we decided that it was a good artistic opportunity for the players to experience playing under different conductors,” she told The Ear. “Kevin has been wonderful to work with and the orchestra has been very enthusiastic and inspired by his musical ideas and with the way he has engaged all of us during rehearsals for the last two months. This will be a fantastic concert! The orchestra sounds very good!
Sounds terrific. So, The Ear says let’s check it out.
And here is a link to the Middleton Community Orchestra’s website with more information about this and other upcoming concerts (the one on June 4, with Edward Elgar’s “Enigma” Variations and Edvard Grieg’s beloved Piano Concerto in A Minor featuring soloist Thomas Kasdorf, sounds like a MUST-HEAR) as well as information about how to support it and even join it.
http://middletoncommunityorchestra.org/home
Tags: amateur, amateur music, amateur musicians, Arts, Beethoven, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Capriccio Espagnol, Classical music, community orchestra, conductor, David Becker, Edvard Grieg, Edward Elgar, Elgar, Enigma Variaitons, Grieg, Herbert von Karajan, Jacob Stockinger, Johannes Brahms, John DeMain, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Middleton Community Orchestra, Middleton High School, Mozart, Music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Orchestra, Pastoral Symphony, Piano Concerto in A Minor, Sheboygan, Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, Spring, Steve Kurr, symphony, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, Violin, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
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