The Embassy of Japan in Canada hosted an international webinar "'Visas for Life' and the bond of humanity": Sugihara Chiune's courageous humanitarian act from December 8-12, 2020. It honored the 120th anniversary of the heroic WWII Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara's birth and the 80th anniversary of his courageous issuing of 2,139 transit visas while posted in Kaunus, Lithuania in 1940, saving the lives of 6,000 Jews. The opening webinar ceremony was introduced by host Ambassador Yasuhisa Kawamura of the Embassy of Japan in Canada. It was an honor for [...] read more

Leo Kraft: Music for a Day (1982) Composed by Leo Kraft in 1982 with the young intermediate pianist in mind, Music for a Day is an enchanting group of 8 very short, captivating solo piano pieces-more in the guise of short stories-gently imprinted with some of Leo's celebrated signature sonorities, unexpected and delightful harmonic and motivic twists and turns, alongside heartfelt sensitivity and humor. These are a wonderful contribution to the contermporary solo piano repertoire for all pianists. Titles include “Good Morning," a true musical inflection of the greeting; waltzing “Raindrops” based exclusively on [...] read more

Peter Schickele's The Household Moose: sketches from the summer of 1956 is a just released video featuring the remarkable American composer speaking about this very special and beautiful autobiographical solo piano work alongside its premiere recording recorded by Laura Leon. Inspired by Darius Milhaud’s solo piano suite The Household Muse -which portrays a wide range of daily life experiences via short piano pieces-Peter Schickele shares insightful commentary about The Household Moose and Milhaud’s score-as well as personal reflections of that 1956 summer at age 21, introducing each of the seven pieces. David Schickele’s [...] read more

P. D. Q. Bach: The Golden Anniversary will celebrate the one and only P. D. Q. Bach, discovered by Professor Peter Schickele on Monday, December 28th and Tuesday, December 29th (added by public demand! ) at New York's Town Hall, site of the very first P. D. Q. Bach concert 50 years ago. At that inaugural concert, Professor Peter Schickele announced his discovery of the composer, and introduced all of us to his (to say the least) extraordinarily unique repertoire. www. pdqbach. com The Golden Anniversary concerts [...] read more

It is very special to announce that Subito Music Corporation has reissued Leo Kraft's two wonderful works for young pianists--Easy Animal Pieces: A First Book for the Piano and Music for a Day: 8 Play-full Pieces for Piano . For those of us who were lucky to have been given a copy of either--from the maestro himself, way back--Subito Music making these available to teachers and their students is great news! Both are meaningful contributions to 20th century young pianists repertoire. Each introduces--in a well organized fashion--a rich range of sonorities, notation, [...] read more

A Tribute to Leo Kraft: July 24, 1922-April 30, 2014 Today is American composer Leo Kraft’s birthday. Leo would have turned 93 today. He was a remarkable and unique composer and musician, leader and thinker, a fiercely dedicated educator, astute critic, prolific author, devoted mentor and colleague, and beloved friend. Leo inspired generations of musicians and friends with his energy and enthusiasm, his boundless intellect and passion for music, literature, art, philosophy, history (among many arenas) and good food! [...] read more

Happy Birthday Peter Schickele! Peter Schickele is a national treasure, one of our country's most creative and versatile composers. His birthday today shares the extra celebration of 2015 being the 50th anniversary of the first P. D. Q. Bach concert- the composer having been "discovered" by Professor Peter Schickele. It took place at New York's Town Hall on April 24, 1965. Peter Schickele's own compositions number over 100: works for orchestra (including his Symphony No. 1 "Songlines" commissioned by [...] read more

Yesterday, Sunday, May 31^st , I had the opportunity to perform four beautiful Richard Neumann Ladino song settings with noted mezzo-soprano Donna Breitzer-in honor of the centenary of his birth as part of the American Society’s for Jewish Music annual Music In Our Time concert. Richard Neumann was a versatile composer, conductor, arranger and educator. Born in Vienna in 1915, he escaped Prague in 1937 with his wife Anci and came to New York. A mentor to many, he was energetic and dedicated, generously giving repertoire (others, as well as his to musicians [...] read more

Richie Cannata, the Grammy award-winning saxophonist, was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame along with the other original members of The Billy Joel Band at the LIHoF's 2014 Induction Gala on October 23rd at The Paramount in Huntington. The Billy Joel Band-which came together to perform for the first time in 25 years-is guitarist Russell Javors, drummer Liberty DeVitto, saxophonist Richie Cannata --and the late bassist Doug Stegmeyer. Other Gala inductees included renowned record label executive Clive Davis, singer-actress Debbie Gibson, and the late songwriter Gerry Goffin, who collaborated [...] read more

New York photographer Barry Rosenthal was featured in “Garbage In, Art Out,” by Stuart Miller in The New York Times’ Metropolitan Section on June 20, 2014. Barry has been collecting trash and disgarded items for years, found around New York and the region, from which he has created a stunningly dramatic and unique body of work, "Found in Nature. " To read about Barry’s work and visit a gallery of his images:                         www. nytimes. com/2014/06/22/nyregion/found-in-nature-by-barry-rosenthal. html? [...] read more

Peter Schickele received the Classical Recording Foundation's 2013 Composer of the Year Award at its 12th Annual Awards Ceremony on Monday evening, November 25th at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Adam Abeshouse, acclaimed classical Grammy award-winning recording engineer and producer, and Founder and President of the Classical Recording Foundation, organizes the annual event. Along with Peter Schickele, the 2013 awardees were pianist Roman Rabinovich, violinist Hsin-Yin Huang, pianist Sarah Rothenberg and cellist Sophie Shao. I had the privilege of performing several works by Peter Schickele, as well as a movement from [...] read more

Stephen Schwartz’s sensational musical PIPPIN--which opens on Broadway tonight, after its original run 40 years ago--is one of my most favorite Broadway shows. I was introduced to PIPPIN in 1973. A friend had bought the original LP cast album for summer listening. After the first listening, our group of friends was so mesmerized by its music and lyrics that every evening during the summer of ‘73, we dropped the needle on Side 1, entered Stephen Schwartz’s magical world and sang every syllable of every song together. I was lucky to have seen [...] read more

In celebration of Australia Day 2013, filmmaker Karen Leon has created a dramatic music video, Matilda Variations, that interweaves composer Steven Rosenhaus' stirring solo piano work, Matilda Variations, with the colorful, visionary artwork of Australian contemporary artist Ian Banksmith. www. youtube. com/watch? v=vDXm80LQPgE Commissioned by pianist Laura Leon, in honor of Australia, for a concert she was invited to give at the Australian Consulate in NYC in 2001, Rosenhaus' merged "Waltzing Matilda" with the musical styles of many classical composers-among them, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart. [...] read more

When in 1998 I told composer Jerry Bock that his song, In My Own Lifetime , from his final collaboration with long-time lyricist Sheldon Harnick of the Broadway musical masterwork The Rothschilds would be included in my 1999 Blessings of Beauty CD with flutist Amy Ziegelbaum, he was so thrilled, that he sent me a copy of his handwritten manuscript which Amy and I used for the recording. The Bock-Harnick brilliant collaborative team –which also created the internationally acclaimed Fiddler on the Roof and other award-winning musicals—was featured in Michael Kantor’s [...] read more

It was a privilege to be in the audience at Andras Schiff’s extraordinary performances of J. S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier at the 92nd Street Y on October 27th and November 1st. The experience of hearing both books through Mr. Schiff’s vision was breathtaking and profound--and still resonating. I was delighted to have sat next to Meredith Berke and Justin Brunelle at both concerts. Meredith blogs on View Skewed , writing ‘music reviews from NYC and beyond. . . ’ and is dedicated to promoting musicians and the industry. Justin Brunelle is [...] read more

Leo Kraft was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame at its Fourth Induction Award Ceremony and Gala on October 18, 2012 at The Paramount in Huntington, N. Y. Leo received his award as a distinguished American classical composer, alongside the evening's other honorees--pioneers in pop, rock, hip-hop, music education, entertainment and the recording industry--all with Long Island connections. Along with Leo, inductees included Hip-Hop's Salt-n-Pepa, singer Taylor Dayne, Twisted Sisters' Dee Snider (the Harry Chapin Award receipient), members of the 1960's The Lovin' Spoonful, singer Connie Francis, Jones Beach Theater, and [...] read more

It was an honor to perform Hugo Weisgall's extraordinary Yiddish song cycle, The Golden Peacock: Seven Popular Songs from the Yiddish for Voice and Piano, with noted soprano Emily Duncan-Brown at the January 10, 2010 Center for Jewish History international symposium, co-sponsored by the American Society for Jewish Music. On June 3, 2012 soprano Ena Freeman and I performed The Golden Peacock at the 2012 ASJM annual contemporary concert Music for Our Time also at The Center for Jewish History. Works by Leonard Bernstein, Jody Rockmayer, Ben Yarmolinsky, Mark Zuckerman were performed by Young Artists from [...] read more

A wonderful short film honoring Peter Schickele, from the filming of the 75th Birthday Concert in tribute to the composer and his music at Steinway Hall on March 29, 2011 entitled Bagatelle a la P. D. Q. Bach can be seen on this website's video page. www. youtube. com/watch? v=it8b51ILTDc&list=HL1333046617&feature=mh_lolz The film was produced by my sister, Karen Leon, noted illustrator and photographer. It showcases an excerpt from the evening's celebration, which featured a wide range of Peter Schickele's solo [...] read more

The Rotunda at New York's Steinway Hall was filled to capacity on the evening of March 29, 2011 with fans, family, friends, music lovers--all present to celebrate and honor Peter Schickele and his music on the occasion of his 75th Birthday Season. Peter Schickele was in attendance, making the evening a magical moment. This being Peter Schickele's 75th birthday year, I could not imagine it without a celebration in New York. He has changed the world's musical landscape in so many fantastic ways for thousands upon thousands of musicians and music lovers. [...] read more

Matilda Variations was just rereleased. The song’s timeless sentiment and its unending appeal, along with this special piano work, was the inspiration for the new recording--a fresh take on the heart and soul of Waltzing Matilda . Back in December 2000, I had commissioned New York composer Steven Rosenhaus to write a solo piano work based on Waltzing Matilda in tribute to Australia for a performance I was invited to give with Australian soprano Lesley Pryde in March 2001 at the New York Australian Consulate-General. What came forth--was [...] read more

Fantastic news about beekeeping in New York City! And it's very special to be getting ready to bring out a new musical work in honor of the bees--especially with the unanimous NYC vote in their favor. The Apian Way, composed and titled by the NYC composer Steven Rosenhaus, began to take shape in the fall of 2009, when I commissioned him to write a new solo piano work for the bees. "The Dreams of Bees," the first of two movements, was completed last month. Steven is in the midst of the second movement. [...] read more

Some nice NYC broadcast news! Heifer International's 2009 Bee Day Celebration, which celebrated Heifer's April Pass Along the Gift, and featured experts on bees, took place on April 26, 2009 at a special event in Manhattan. As the guest performer, the music program including the world premiere of Mark Isham's Secret Life of Bees-Piano Suite, which he prepared exclusively for this one time performance--along with Peter Schickele's A Happy Land, Bela Bartok's Rumanian Folk Dances, Steven Rosenhaus' Matilda Variations, and other works that surveying the music of places around the world where Heifer does its important work--is [...] read more