Renowned pianist Boris Berman, professor at the School of Music, will deliver a lecture and demonstration titled "The Making of a Pianist, the Making of a Musician" on Friday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m. in Sudler Lecture Hall of William L. Harkness Hall, 100 College St.

The event is free and open to the public.

Berman's talk will touch on themes he covers in his book "Notes from the Pianist's Bench," published this year by Yale University Press. The book, written for musicians as well as general readers, is a collection of personal essays about the making of music and the meaning of music in one artist's life. It covers a wide range of topics, from finding the best fingering for a specific Chopin etude to overcoming stage fright.

"My experiences as both teacher and performer have convinced me of the fallacy of separating practical and ideal aspects of the art of playing piano," Berman writes in his preface.

The pianist offers specific advice on how to convey emotion through music and how to summon up intense feeling on command.

"It becomes necessary for a performer to find a way to let the music talk directly to his heart," he writes in the chapter titled "Technique of the Soul." "But how does one do it? And how does one cope with the lack of inspiration when the day and time of the performance arrives and the performer simply does not feel like playing?" His answers blend both the inspirational and the pragmatic.

"Notes from the Pianist's Bench" explores the psychology of making and teaching music in ways that apply not only to pianists, but to all kinds of performers, teachers -- even politicians -- offering advice on such topics as how to get the most out of practice sessions and how to tailor instruction to individual personalities.

Furthermore, the book provides to the non-pianist a glimpse into a very specialized world. When Berman writes about what a performer should do when he realizes he has made a mistake in front of a live audience, the reader is transported inside the artist's head and sees the concert hall from an entirely new perspective.

Berman has performed in more than 40 countries and has been the featured soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Royal Scottish Orchestra, the Philharmonia of London, and others. He is a frequent performer in major recital series, and has appeared in music festivals such as Marlboro, Bergen, Ravinia, and many more.

Born in Moscow, Berman studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and toured extensively throughout the Soviet Union as a recitalist and guest soloist with numerous orchestras. In 1973, he immigrated to Israel, where he taught at Tel Aviv University. He currently heads the Piano Department at Yale School of Music.

Berman was founding director of the Yale Music Spectrum series (1984-1997), which was praised for the inventiveness of its programming.

Berman has recorded under the Philips, Deutsche Gramophon and Melodia labels. For Chandos, he recorded the complete piano works of Prokofiev. Most recently, he completed a CD of music by Debussy for Ottavo, as well as a recording of works for "prepared piano" by John Cage for Naxos.

-- By Gila Reinstein

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Class of 1954 Gives Yale $70 Million

Wolfe returns to old hunting grounds

George Mitchell: Peace in Northern Ireland is 'remarkably fragile and remarkably enduring'

Study finds key areas of brain smaller in many premature infants

ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

• Donald Cohen named Sterling Professor of Child Psychiatry
  
  
• Pharmacology expert John Krystal is designated as Kent Professor
  
  
• Stephen Strittmatter is appointed to new Coates Chair in Neurology
  

  
  

New initiative to explore issue of patients' adherence

Former Connecticut College official is new associate secretary

Irish poet Seamus Heaney to give reading of his work

Event celebrates the life of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai

Judge 'misread' Microsoft antitrust case, journalist says

'Master classes' help teaching fellows become stars in classroom

McClatchy and Ruff honored for contributions to the arts

Pianist Boris Berman to discuss 'the making of a musician'

Divinity Dean Richard Wood is named president of international educational venture

Yale Parents' Weekend October 20-22, 2000

Experts will discuss new research at annual women's health conference

Events featuring Yale affiliates explore how art, medicine can converge

A day at the beach

April Bernard, award-winning poet and novelist, will read from her new work

ISPS is seeking proposals for new field experiments in the social sciences

Campus Notes

In the News

Yale Scoreboard

---

Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus| Calendar of Events|Bulletin Board

Classified Ads|Search Archives|Production Schedule|Bulletin Staff

Public Affairs Home|News Releases| E-Mail Us|Yale Home Page

---