If you are a cellist, please bring your instrument and attend. It’s a great opportunity to meet an inspiring musician and an all-around great person. See you all there…

A devoted educator, Mr. Gaenslen has given master classes in cello and chamber music across the country, including University of Missouri, Kansas City; State University New York at Purchase; California State Universities at Fresno, Northridge and Long Beach; and Brevard Music Center. He has held faculty positions at the Mannes College in New York and at the University of California, Santa Cruz and currently teaches privately in San Francisco.

Mr. Gaenslen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and a Master of Arts degree from the Juilliard School of Music. His teachers have included Joel Krosnick, Robert Mann, Aldo Parisot, William Pleeth and Irene Sharp.

Each year, dozens of Chopin Academy of Music students get top prizes during the annual Bach Festival and competition in October. Last year, CAM students garnered 19 prizes, many of which were gold medals. Perhaps for a few months out of the year, the Academy truly earns the name, “Bach Academy of Music.”

The Bach Festival was founded by Jennifer Bowman, who has been one of the most passionate supporters of recent pianistic culture in Seattle. Bowman, who is herself a superb pianist, recognized the need for piano students of the area to be more immersed in the music of JSB. And so, the Bach Festival was born! Organizing a kid-friendly festival with many prizes was one of the ways she promoted this important music in the younger generations.

Why is playing the music of Bach is so important? And why is it so difficult?

Aside from a purely musicological perspective, the music of JSB calls for the ultimate independence of voices, which in pianistic technique essentially means the independence of arms. The “tune” moves from one voice to another, and the expressivity of the left hand must be as flexible and lyrical as the right. At the same time, this physical challenge must be executed with freedom and artistic inspiration, while projecting the affekt (main emotion) of the piece.

Even the simplest pieces from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach are not easy! Note that most teachers keep students on a staple of modern American methods, such as the countless sources sitting side by side on the shelves of your local music store, and keeping students there for years. Even after three or four years on these books, children still can’t play a simple minuet with flair! Why is that? Well, because our contemporary American methods and their tunes are really composed by modern teachers who try to make it very easy for the students—essentially making the inaccessible invisible and unknown by avoiding or simplifying such challenges.

Well, Baroque composers did not care about making it easy as do our contemporary teacher-composers. They expected much more from young performers. Polyphony (the practice of multiple simultaneous independent musical lines), after all, was often called the LEARNED STYLE—the style you need to study to understand, not the style you get from spoon-fed sugar-coated materials. And you know what? Our modern youngsters are fully capable of overcoming these challenges and moving on.

Aside from coordination, why is the music of Johann Sebastian Bach so difficult?

I would say it is because of its necessary CLARITY. Pianists can’t cover up everything with pedal. There are not millions of little notes in a cascading wash of indistinct textures. Every note counts, and has to be played just the right way, just the right time, and with just the right amount of artistic and expressive engagement. There are not many opportunities for throwing one’s hands in the air, holding down the pedal, and looking like a showman. One ultimately must be able to control each speaking sound.

The difficulties with the music of JSB do not end here… There are many, many, many issues of style. Some pianists and teachers completely ignore any stylistic knowledge that we have passed down from the treatises and knowledge of instruments that Bach played. Some try to imitate Glenn Gould as the ultimate idol or paragon of the way Bach is, while some just play however the edition tells them (and there are MANY awful editions in the USA). Some want to play everything staccato, and others with everything enveloped in Romantic Rubato as if were BACHOFF. As we will never know how Bach WOULD have played his music on our modern piano, the search for the ideal performance of Bach’s music must start with the study of his intricate polyphony, and, if nothing else, trying to understand the basic issues of articulation, clarity and style.

Now we remember one important statement by C.P.E. Bach (J.S. Bach’s son): “DO NOT PLAY LIKE A TRAINED BIRD!”

Students of the CAM learning Bach have the opportunity to participate in a workshop to help prepare for the upcoming Bach Competition presented by Dr. Kaminska-Bowlby on September 10 at 5 pm in the Chopin Recital Hall of the CAM. Dr. Kaminska has researched the issues of Baroque Performance Practice through many years of her graduate and doctoral work, and presented a dissertation on Baroque Performance Practice in relation to the modern piano.

With opportunities like this, it is no wonder that students of the Chopin Academy of Music win many top prizes in the Bach Festival every year! This Bach workshop is free for all students of the CHOPIN ACADEMY OF MUSIC.

In this short blog we will stress a few aspects of private teaching that should cause parents and students to reflect about the manner of doing the switch. Music lessons are not like a community center aerobics class: they are one on one, and over the duration of one or many years, students and teachers spend time talking about about music, art, and its expression. Students prepare for festivals and recitals and during the preparation or just after, the teachers are extremely supportive, optimistic, joyous, and fun. It all takes so much of us—much more than what the teachers are paid for, regardless of the price per lesson. Even $200 an hour does not cover the kind of mental and emotional engagement into a student that teachers give.

Students, on the other hand, do treat their instrumental teacher as a different type of a teacher than a classroom teacher. It is a person with whom they spend time one on one week by week, sometimes twice a week… This person knows about their childhood tragedies—“our pet dog just died. Little Susan can’t concentrate and focus on the lesson.” The instrumental instructor is visited more often than a grandma or a close uncle! Teachers are close to students’ hearts, especially when they already start discussing more emotional repertoire and go together through the difficult world of competitive events, sharing failures and successes together.

To be short and concise—let’s be decent in how we end things. If a parent believes that there is greener grass somewhere else, then let’s first finish the lessons with one teacher before switching to another one. Let’s not treat the highly educated and devoted person like a vendor on the market. When saying goodbye, do show your old teacher some appreciation. Flowers, cards, and kind words—because you did not just dump Comcast for Qwest. You were dealing with a personal relationship one on one—without the impassive apparatus of the corporate firewall.

Yes, perhaps the private music instructor should be colder. You know, detach from “clients” emotionally, charge for emails by the minute like a lawyer, charge for time spent driving to competitions, charging for any extra time spent talking outside of lesson. But you don’t want that, do you? And we, the instructors, did not become musicians because we are cold and calculating people. We could have become lawyers if we wanted—but instead we chose passion and beauty over calculators and accounts receivables. There’s no other way around it.

We, for example, make it very clear that we do not teach any student until they are already “parted” from their former teacher. Music teachers, who are essentially competing businesses, should also exhibit ethical behavior and not solicit students of other teachers (and it is expressly forbidden in the MTNA code). Approaching a child in a neighborhood party and convincing his or her parents that you live closer and/or are cheaper and so much more fun, is fundamentally unacceptable and unethical. Parents bear the sole responsibility of recognizing such behavior, and for not exposing their children to such unpleasant sides of our lives.

If you believe the grass is greener somewhere else, please, part nicely and create only “good karma” for yourself and your child—we teachers do know each other, and sooner or later you will see them again at some other music festival, at Safeway, or on the bike path. It is amazing how small the musical world is! Isn’t it nicer to greet like good friends (especially on a competition day when your child’s performance is at stake!) rather than being stressed and uncomfortable?

Dr. Kaminska was also bestowed several distinguished awards and artists’ grants, including the Stefan Batory Foundation Award, the PhD Recruitment Scholarship from the University of Alberta in 1998 and 1999, and the Astral Career Development Grant, among many others. She is an active performer, presenting many recitals, workshops, lectures, and masterclasses yearly, including programs of not only traditional solo piano repertoire, but also premiering several new works by living composers of Poland, Canada, and the United States. During her international studies, she worked with such artist-teachers as Andrzej Stefanski, Tatiana Shebanova, Boris Bloch, Ruth Laredo, James Cook, Mark CLinton, Henri-Paul Sicsic, and Marek Jablonski.

Dr. Kaminska’s repertoire encompasses a wide spectrum of styles, ranging from early Baroque music performed on historic instruments, to the in-depth interpretations of music by Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann. Having come into contact with such eminent experts in 18th-century music as Igor Kipnis, Gregory Butler and George Ritchie, she has immersed herself in stylistic performance practice and pedagogical research. Having enriched her expertise by intense studies of the music of J. S. Bach on both organ and harpsichord, in 2003 Ms. Kaminska presented her doctoral dissertation, which discusses the issues of stylistic performance practice in regard to the modern piano.

Dr. Kaminska’s unique artistic and intellectual talents have led to her being featured in articles both in Poland as in USA, ranging from the musical journal, Twoja Muza (Poland, 2004 and 2005), to the recent interview in the Wall Street Journal (October, 2010).

Equally passionate as a pedagogue, Dr. Kaminska has served as piano faculty member in numerous institutions of higher education, such as Shoreline Community College and Cornish College of the Arts, in Seattle. She has served as chamber music coach in the Puget Sound Summer Chamber Music program, the International Piano Institute in Ashland, Oregon, and the Piano Summer Institute at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. In 2010, Dr. Kaminska retired from the collegiate career path and has devoted herself entirely to her students of the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah. Many of her pupils regularly win gold medals and top prizes at local competitions and festivals, and are finalists of the Seattle International Piano Competitions. Several have been awarded scholarships to prestigious music programs in both the USA and Canada.

Dr. Kaminska has also been a very active part of the music community in the Pacific Northwest as the founder and president of the Seattle International Piano Festival and Competition.

Current openings: (0); for current openings, please, contact directly Dr Kaminska: ivona@chopinacademy.com
Additional Languages Spoken: Polish

Audio Samples

Chopin’s Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, i. Allegro maestoso

Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 6 in A major, Op. 82, iv. Vivace

His secondary academic interest in music theory led him to study with some of today’s most prominent theorists, including Henry Klumpenhouwer, Richard Kurth, John Rahn, and Jonathan Bernard. Dr. Bowlby’s research led him to new discoveries of religious symbolic conveyance in Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus.

For over seventeen years, Dr. Bowlby has been a devoted teacher. His detailed teaching focuses on a fluid and healthy technique, and artistic conviction, and conveyed through a friendly and courteous manner. For years his students have enjoyed his sense of humor and fun personality. Many of them have been awarded scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate programs in music at numerous prominent colleges and universities in Canada and the United States. Every year several of his pupils at the Chopin Academy of Music receive top prizes and awards at local and regional festivals and competitions, and many have been chosen as finalists in the Seattle International Piano Competition.

Formerly, he was on the faculty of Mount Royal College, the University of British Columbia, Shoreline Community College, and the University of Washington. Dr. Bowlby is currently the Program Director of the Chopin Academy of Music in Issaquah, Washington, and co-founder and vice-president of the Seattle International Piano Festival, which hosts, among other activities, and annual international competition. He is also a member of the Washington Music Teachers’ Association and is frequently asked to serve as an Adjudicator.

Current Openings: (0).

Audio Samples

Franz Liszt’s Tarantella from his set, Venice and Naples

Ms. Gessler was a scholarship student of the Interlochen Arts Academy, Aspen Music Festival, and Duxbury Music Festival summer programs, where her teachers have included John Perry, Ann Schein, Claude Frank, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and John O’Conor. She was one of eight students chosen worldwide to participate in the Wilhelm Kempff Foundation’s annual Beethoven interpretation course taught by John O’Conor and she subsequently appeared in the Irish National Television documentary, “Beethoven Bootcamp”.

Ms. Gessler’s teaching experience spans more than twelve years. Her students have praised her ability to effectively communicate the subject matter, as well as her charm and sense of humor. She was formerly a faculty member of the McHenry County Music Center, the Aspen Music Festival’s “Pals Program”, and most recently at Indiana University, as an Associate Instructor of Piano. Ms. Gessler joined the Chopin Academy in 2011.

After that point, find us at 58 Front Street N, above Stan’s BBQ in downtown Issaquah. Seven spacious teaching studios including a concert space, soundproofed walls, beautiful high ceilings with crown molding, and wood floors make it a wonderful, inspiring space. We look forward to serving you at the new location.

See you there!

The only group of teachers who actively promotes students by organizing outstanding events, such as our upcoming Benaroya Honors Concert on June 12, is that of the Chopin Academy of Music. Like parents who want the best for their children, we the teachers have caring and guiding spirits, wanting to give these sorts of rare opportunities to our students.

Why should the sparse few of the performing elite only have such opportunities? We have thought for years that the students of the Chopin Academy have some unique opportunities, including the chance to perform at a fantastic venue, on a superbly prepared Steinway D and taste the life of a performer backstage. On June 12, the hard working and ambitious students of the Chopin Academy have precisely that chance.

Professional ushers open the grand hall for guests, parents, and the general audience of this advertised event. The performers await backstage where dressing rooms, a warm-up piano, and areas to monitor the concert in progress over loudspeakers await them. Before walking onstage, each performer is admitted to a dark antechamber with a flickering monitor that shows the hall, lights blazing, and the eager audience. A professional stage manager radios to the coordinator.

“Check,” crackles the radio. “Two more late entrants, and then we’ll close the doors.”

The stage manager waits for final confirmation, dims the house lights, and brings the stage lights to full, signaling to the audience that the concert has commenced.

The grand door opens, and the young performer walks into the full light into the clamor of applause.

These are exciting memorable events that can shape a developing musician. If music is important, why shouldn’t they get a taste of the sort of life actual professionals experience every time they step onto stage?

If you think this all sounds great, it pales by comparison of what the CAM faculty are cooking up for students in 2012…

A Few More Words

This is not just an artistic gala event, it’s also educational, both for performers and audience. Like a professional, the performers passing the audition for this event should be dressed appropriately… You just don’t see Zimmerman or Ashkenazy wearing sneakers and jeans when they step onto stage. It is a spectacle, to some degree, but dressing up also is a proper way to display one’s respect for the art.

As there will be lots of performers at this event, and it will be long, audience members may need to come and go during the actual performance. This only should take place between performers during applause. Getting up during a performance is highly distracting to the performer.

Video recorders and photography is strictly prohibited during professional concerts. Of course, parents and friends will have permission for this event from the staff of Benaroya Hall. However, there are some important reminders about their use.

The staff will approach anyone setting up tripods in any areas where people need to walk. Flash must absolutely be disabled. Often, recorders and cameras have noisy “bings”, “twangs”, “clicks”, and “gongs”. Turn these things off! They are highly distracting not only to the performer, but to the audience member who is trying to enjoy the concert.

Please also record only your own child! You can record other performers as well, if — and only if — you have permission from his or her parents.

If you have young ones, please do not sit at the front row. Although that’s fun for the little ones, it’s distracting; and if there is a sudden outburst (because it will be a long concert), it’s best to be sitting close to an exit.

Let’s have fun and please help us make the 2011 Honors Concert memorable!