A Message from Gold Country Piano Institute
Pauline Yang
It was the collective dream shared by Allan Haley, Pawel Skrzypek, and me that helped to create the Gold Country Piano Institute in 1999. Polish concert pianist Skrzypek had first come to Nevada County in 1990 to perform for Twin Concert Cities Association (now InConcert Sierra); it was then that we three began a wonderful musical friendship. After several years of Pawel returning to concertize and teach, he invited me to attend his Warsaw Piano Workshop in Poland, which I found to be an amazingly challenging and positive experience.
I was so excited by the format of the workshop that I suggested to Pawel that we create the same kind of workshop back here in Nevada City where he could invite other master teachers to teach alongside him and offer their expertise to students who might not consider going abroad to study, but who could receive world-class instruction here in the States.
After a short 5-day experiment in the autumn of 1999, we were able to launch our 10-day Master Course in Interpretation at the Miners Foundry in June 2000. Over the next 9 years, Nevada County families opened their homes and hearts to over 100 students from 5 continents and 10 master teachers from Poland, England, Singapore, Canada and the U.S. And our audiences were mesmerized by the talented young pianists who performed in the Stone Hall.
Now, after a 5-year hiatus, Julie Cobden, the Miners Foundry and I are so pleased to welcome back our alumni as part of GCPI: The Alumni Series. We are thrilled to be able to present some of the students who have grown up before our eyes, and who are creating their own exciting professional careers.
Here’s to many years of presenting our delightful and talented GCPI Alumni!
Andrea Fox
The Miners Foundry Presents GCPI: The Alumni Series, with pianist Katarzyna Musial as the second Alumni Artist. The GCPI Alumni Series will feature a Concert along with a Master Class. The concert will be presented Saturday, November 23, 2013 and will include works by Messiaen, Chopin, Turina, Vance, Ginastera and Gorecki. Katarzyna Musial has performed internationally including her recent debut at Carnegie Hall. Her playing has been described by the New York Concert Review as “a pure delight… wonderfully evocative… vividly detailed… interpretations that plumbed emotional depths with harmonic coloring.”
In the second Gold Country Piano Institute Alumni Series Master Class, pianist Katarzyna Musial will offer detailed, insightful comments for each student and help them to examine their repertoire with a new perspective. Katarzyna brings her experience as a student at GCPI as well as her studies with numerous world-class professors, her experience as a soloist and chamber musician, and her passion for and knowledge of great music.
Polish-Canadian pianist Katarzyna Musial has performed as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Recent highlights of her career include a debut at Carnegie Hall, performances at the Vancouver Olympic Games, the International Beethoven FEstival (Chicago), Tempietto Festival Musicale della Nazioni (Rome), and the Music In the Mountains Festival (California).
The Miners Foundry Presents GCPI: The Alumni Series, with pianist Pauline Yang as the first Alumni Artist. After nine successful seasons presenting the Master Course in Interpretation that culminated in 2008, the Gold Country Piano Institute returns to the Miners Foundry in June with a brand new format. The GCPI Alumni Series will feature a Concert along with a Master Class. The concert will be presented Saturday, June 15, 2013 and will include works by Bach, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Rachmaninoff. Pauline will be playing a Steinway B Grand Piano provided by Steinway Piano Gallery of Reno. The Sarasota Herald Tribune described Pauline Yang’s style as “… a melting elegance… and a kaleidoscopic array of colors and hues.” Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the concert begins at 8:00 p.m. A no-host bar will be available. Admission is $30.00 and includes a reception after the concert. Tickets are available online, by phone, or in person at the Miners Foundry and in person at Briar Patch Co-Op.
Born and raised in New Jersey, pianist Pauline Yang made both her Philadelphia Orchestra debut as well as her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of eleven and enrolled at The Julliard School’s Pre-College Division later that year. Other solo, concerto, and chamber music appearances have taken her throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Currently on the faculty of Itzhak Perlman’s Perlman Music Program on Shelter Island (NY), Pauline spends her summers working with talented young musicians. Pauline graduated from USC in 2010 with a double-major in piano performance and political science and is currently pursuing a masters in piano performance on a full scholarship at USC with John Perry. She is also currently serving on the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors.