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The 2022 Colorado Taubman Approach Workshop
Master Classes – Pedagogy clinics – Presentations – Artists Concert – Jazz Clinic – Private Lessons
“Taste of Taubman” for first-timers! “Transcending Tradition” for everyone! “Integration” for intermediate Taubman students!
Many thanks to our generous Donors, Volunteers, and Sponsors of this Workshop!
This happened because of your generosity!
Donors
Brandon Berman, Brenna Berman, Brian Berman, Cynthia Betts, Magdalena Cole, Renato Magalhaes de Paula, Michelle Mark, Stefan and Anjali Maus, Maxine Seller, Nancy and Michael Seller, Sonja Toutenhoofd, Stephen Trainor, Anonymous, Anonymous
Workshop Presenters, Performers, and Directors
Brenna Berman
Presenter, EAM Founder and Executive Director
Golandsky Institute Associate Faculty
Ron Stabinsky
Concert Artist, Presenter
Photo credit: Jochen Fleeth
Darren Wirth
Concert Artist, Presenter
Sonja Toutenhoofd
Workshop Director
EAM Co-founder, Treasurer
Nancy Seller
Workshop Director
EAM Co-founder, Secretary
Michelle Mark
Workshop Director
EAM Vice-President
Presentation Descriptions
Transcending Tradition – The Joy of Being Wrong
Dorothy Taubman instinctively knew it was important to rethink ideas, whether they were her own or others’ pianistic dogmas passed on through tradition. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant inspires people to rethink their views and shows how rethinking enables greater learning, knowledge and well-being. Brenna Berman will draw parallels between Taubman’s innovative musical solutions and the research that supports such innovations.
Taubman Pedagogy for Kids
Barbara Banacos will share strategies on teaching the Taubman Approach to children and adult beginners. She will also work one-on-one with students of workshop attendees.
Taubman Basics
Brenna Berman will cover the science behind the Taubman basics for alignment and putting the piano key down effortlessly, and will demonstrate how to incorporate these movements into playing. She will also explain simple thinking techniques that make learning easier.
Choreography Integration
Barbara Banacos will present short musical examples that integrate skills of the Taubman Approach. Through the examples, one will gain experience with how elements of the approach work together and the process of how to practice.
Technique clinic for jazz and improvising pianists
Ron Stabinsky will invite participants to the piano to present questions or problems encountered by jazz pianists and improvisers. Solutions will demonstrate the practical application of the basic principles of the Taubman Approach.
What’s with all those bench pads?
Sonja Toutenhoofd will work one-on-one with participants to help them (or their students) get set up properly at the piano. She will address subjects such bench distance, bench height, and healthy alignment of the fingers, hand, forearm, and torso.
The Line of Inspiration
Pianist/composer Darren wirth will present a lecture recital in which he reveals influences from the standard repertoire on his compositions. He will also demonstrate how elements of the Taubman Approach lead to musical expression.
Problem-Solving Session
Participants are encouraged to come to the piano with any questions regarding basic Taubman Approach, problems in their music, as well as any pre-submitted questions. Brenna will work with them one-on-one to find solutions.
Open Discussion Group
Michelle Mark will lead a group discussion for any participants wanting to talk about technique retraining, injury experiences, how to find further resources, and any topics they wish to discuss.
Pricing
All Saturday presentations, clinics, Master Class, lectures, and concert are included with Registration Fee of $175 ($150 with early bird discount).
Private lessons (45 minutes) with Brenna Berman or Barbara Banacos may be added for $90 more and will take place on Sunday, 1:30-4:30.
All events take place at Center for Musical Arts in Lafayette, Colorado 80026
Schedule
Elizabeth Mueller Grace, NCTM, enjoys a multi-faceted career as performer, teacher, clinician and adjudicator. She is a member of the performing artist faculty at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music Summer Academy. Ms. Grace appears as a soloist, collaborative artist, and recitalist. An award-winning pianist, her performances have been praised for their “depth of sound, intelligent interpretation and fluid technique” (Omaha World Herald). As a prizewinner, Ms. Grace has performed with the Omaha (NE) Symphony, Lincoln (NE) Symphony and Sioux (IA) City Symphony, among others.
Cordelia Zars (She/Her/Hers) Cordelia is a classically-trained pianist, vocalist, and composer. She studied piano with Alla Latchininsky as a child, Mana Tokuno at the New England Conservatory in high school, and George Lopez at Bowdoin College. She combines her passion for music with ten years of radio-broadcast journalism to create stories for the stage that explore timely social and environmental issues.
Elizabeth Mueller Grace, NCTM, enjoys a multi-faceted career as performer, teacher, clinician and adjudicator. An award-winning pianist, her performances have been praised for their “depth of sound, intelligent interpretation and fluid technique.” ~Omaha World Herald
Susan Hong is a pianist, artist, and educator teaching in San Antonio, Texas. She specializes in group teaching and is passionate about sharing the joy of music. When not teaching, Susan loves to garden and travel.
Barbara Banacos has studied with Robert Durso of the Golandsky Institute since 1997. She is certified at the Associate level, is adjunct faculty with the Golandsky Institute and has led their support groups for many years. She has presented lectures on piano technique at the Golandsky Institute Boston Workshops and was invited to teach at the Danilo Pérez Foundation in Panama, assisting Edna Golandsky.
Ron Stabinsky received his first musical lessons at the age of five from Michael Hoysock, his grandfather. Since 2000, Ron has been studying the Taubman Approach to piano playing with Edna Golandsky in New York City. He has also benefited greatly from additional study of classical repertoire with concert pianist Ilya Itin. His mentors in the art of free improvisation have included Bill Dixon and Joel Futterman. His study of jazz has been through the correspondence course work of Charlie Banacos. In January 2007, he began presenting a series of music performances in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area of Pennsylvania by local musicians and guest artists from around the world, primarily but not exclusively focused on improvisation. He received Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts Project Grants annually from 2007-2009 for this series. Ron was also the 2008 recipient of the F. Lammot Belin Arts Scholarship. Each July, Ron presents a series of workshops demonstrating to jazz pianists the practical application of the Taubman Approach to piano playing at the Golandsky Institute, an annual symposium held at Princeton University. In addition to continuing to pursue an ongoing interest in solo piano improvisation, he enjoys working on music in a stylistically diverse array of situations throughout the United States and Europe with many other musicians and ensembles, including freeimprovising saxophonist Jack Wright, bass trombone virtuoso Dave Taylor, Meat Puppets bassist Cris Kirkwood, and NEA Jazz Master David Liebman. Recent festival appearances include Newport Jazz Festival (USA), North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Moers Festival (Germany), and Jazz and More Festival Sibiu (Romania). He is currently a member of the band Mostly Other People Do the Killing, the new music ensemble Relâche, the Charles Evans Quartet, and the Peter Evans Quartet, Quintet, and Octet.
It is an honor to help EAM capture captivating images to help their programs and cause. Backed by over thirty years experience in both the non-profit and photographic industries, Kevin
Robert Durso attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music, obtained his bachelor of music degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, and received his master of music degree from Temple University. His principal teachers were Enrica Cavallo-Gulli, Harvey Wedeen, Edna Golandsky, Dorothy Taubman, and Rosalyn Tureck.
Darren Wirth was a semi-finalist in the International Piano Odyssiad Competition, a finalist in the Symphony in the Valley Concerto Competition, a winner in the International Duo Piano Competition, a Silver Medalist at the Seattle International Piano Competition Virtuoso Festival, and a winner of the Derek H. Jones, MD Piano Concerto Competition. His compositions have won awards and performances around the world, including in New York, Minnesota, Greece, Austria, the Netherlands, and Singapore. He has studied the Taubman Approach with Brenna Berman since 2015.
Nancy Seller is a dedicated professional performer and teacher with an unending lifetime obsession with the piano. She has long been on a quest for innovation, inspiration, and exhilaration. In this journey, she discovered The Taubman Approach. She further fueled her curiosity with Brenna Berman, an associate faculty member of the Golandsky Institute, and later expanded this exploration by sharing in a Taubman conference in London this past February.
Sonja Toutenhoofd has enthusiastically studied the Taubman Approach with Brenna Berman since 2010. After attending Interlochen Arts Academy for visual arts, she studied biology and physics while taking music lessons at Carnegie-Mellon. Sonja studied medicine and received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the Mayo Clinic. During her research years, she also rediscovered piano. She currently teaches piano and mathematics and science at her private studio and online. Sonja is a founding member of Effortless Artistry Music.
Michelle has spent the last twenty years teaching youth of all ages in both private and public schools. She holds both a Master of Education (2009) from Pace University and a Master of Dispute Resolution from UMass Boston (2005). Michelle rekindled her love of playing classical music as an adult and realized that teaching piano was the perfect marriage between her two passions. Michelle is thrilled to be part of the teacher certification program and on the board as the vice president of EAM. Michelle currently lives in Lafayette, CO with her husband, two children Avery & Eben and their adorable dog, Charo.
Ms. Berman is a Certified Master Teacher of The Taubman Approach, Executive Director and founder of Effortless Artistry Music nonprofit, and holds an Associate Faculty position with The Golandsky Institute. She has studied with the most highly acclaimed experts in the field: Robert Durso, Edna Golandsky, John Bloomfield, and Dorothy Taubman. She holds Piano Performance degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Hunter College.