Suzuki Teacher Training - Every Child Can & Guitar Book 1

Francesca Boerio, a member of the Guitar Faculty, has been awarded The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant to pursue Every Child Can & Suzuki Guitar Book 1 Teacher Training. This professional development opportunity includes completing the prerequisite Every Child Can course, which introduces the philosophy and teaching methods of Shinichi Suzuki, as well as the foundational Suzuki Guitar Book 1 Training.  

As a former Suzuki student, Francesca is deeply inspired by the method’s focus on learning by ear, active listening, and fostering a supportive musical community. She aims to integrate these principles into her teaching at Diller-Quaile, enriching the experience for both her students and colleagues. With this training, Francesca will further develop a community of young guitarists at the school and beyond, elevating her teaching practice, and inspiring her students to excel and engage more deeply with music. 

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Cocteau - Solo Piano Album Recording

Isabelle O’Connell, a member of the Piano Faculty, has been awarded The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant to fund the editing, mixing, and mastering stages of her solo piano album Cocteau. The album features piano miniatures inspired by the French artist Jean Cocteau, with works by composers such as Germaine Tailleferre, Georges Auric, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, and Francis Poulenc, along with a recent commission by Rhona Clarke. The album will be released by the Divine Art label once completed. 

This project grew out of Isabelle’s research into composers who collaborated with Cocteau, many of whom have written short piano works that are not widely known. By recording these pieces, Isabelle aims to share these hidden gems with a broader audience, including Diller-Quaile’s piano students. The album will introduce students to important yet underperformed works, particularly by the neglected female composer Germaine Tailleferre.  

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Juilliard Evening Division, "Elements of Composition"

Olga Radović, a member of the Piano Faculty, has been awarded The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant to pursue an advanced study in composition. Through this project, Olga will take a course at The Juilliard School focused on composition techniques, form, and style. The course includes weekly assignments, score analysis, and workshops with expert performers, providing Olga the opportunity to compose and present three new works by the semester's end.

Olga's deep commitment to lifelong learning and comprehensive music education has led her to explore composition independently over the past few years. She believes that developing composing skills will enhance her musicianship, creativity, and teaching. By studying composition in a classroom setting, Olga aims to connect more deeply with the music she performs and teaches, offering her students a more nuanced and dynamic learning experience.  

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 Jazz Recording Project 

Mark Wade, a member of the Double Bass Faculty, has been awarded The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant to fund an upcoming jazz recording project. Mark, who has been an influential presence in both the NYC jazz and classical music scenes for over 20 years, is preparing a new album with his jazz piano trio. The album will feature nine arrangements inspired by classical compositions, blending classical and jazz elements to create innovative vehicles for improvisation. Works such as Chopin’s Prelude in D Minor and Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 will serve as the foundation for this unique project. Mark’s previous albums, including Event Horizon and Moving Day, have received international acclaim, and this new project is poised to further elevate his career. The funds requested will support the significant costs of recording and releasing the album.  

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Orchestral Conducting with Mark Shapiro at Juilliard – Evening Division, Spring Semester 2024

Thanks to the support of The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant, I was able to register for this class in Fall 2023. After only six weeks of lessons, I can already sense how beneficial it has been musically and personally. Mark Shapiro has challenged me to conduct from memory, thus triggering me to study the music in depth and allowing me to hear more and more voices simultaneously. As a result, I am discovering how to listen to symphonies and practice in my head anywhere I go. Developing this focus and musical enjoyment has acted as a meditation and inspired me. Additionally, our group class is highly stimulating, and Mark Shapiro’s kind and sharp mentoring approach is a fantastic source of artistic and overall energy. I have also noticed how his teaching is affecting mine and how developing my listening, group management, and attention is benefiting my classes. For all these reasons, I am grateful to be a recipient of a grant to help cover the tuition expense for the spring semester.

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Duo Noire’s Quarter Century Soundscape

To provide support to the classical guitar ensemble Duo Noire in their commissioning of a new collection of groundbreaking compositions for guitar duo by some of the leading composers of our generation. The commissioned work(s) will be recorded and released as a full-length album under the American Composer's Forum record label, Innova. Each composition will represent a drastically different compositional aesthetic, ranging from guitars with vocal backing tracks, to purely acoustic, to guitars with electronics, to jazz and classical fusion composers, to film composers. The album will feature new music which strives to seriously reflect the modern world and the diverse musicians and soundscapes of our time.

Duo Noire has a vision for what the classical guitar can be and how it can break away from the past 70 years of traditions in order to speak to a new generation of listeners. Our last album, Night Triptych, was life changing for me and only exists because of the seed money granted from Diller-Quaile and provided by The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant. It was an "album of the year" in multiple publications and allowed our duo to tour across the country at several of the top classical guitar organizations in the United States. Being able to share that success and experience with my students has been invaluable. Aside from forging new and deeper connections with luminaries in our field, this type of project can help to raise the profile of the Guitar Department, which in turn increases student retention and the recruitment of first-rate guitar faculty. Similar to our previous album, the hope is that these works will get Diller-Quaile mentioned in myriad international press and artist bios at major guitar events, and that some of the composers will go on to win prestigious awards and prominent positions in the music field. Of the three composers we previously commissioned through The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant, two were later nominated for GRAMMYs and the third just won a MacArthur "genius grant."

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Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn: “The unconventional ornament” CD recording of her piano works

During the months of May-June 2024, I will make a CD Recording of already published and unpublished Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn piano compositions. This will enable the listener to better appreciate Hensel's music and the composer's unique musical voice. By undertaking this project, the aim is to inspire and to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on Fanny Hensel's music and promote her works to a wider audience. It is truly admirable how Fanny Hensel dedicated herself to composing, despite the lack of recognition she received during her lifetime. Her passion for music is evident through the creation of over 450 pieces. She didn't create music for fame or approval, but rather out of a pure inner drive to express herself. Fanny also generously wrote new pieces for the artists who performed in her concert series. It's unfortunate that her brother Felix Mendelssohn, who was already a well-known composer in Germany at the time, received more recognition than she did. This highlights the struggles faced by women who were denied their rightful place in the creative space. Gender inequality has been an issue for centuries, affecting the treatment of women across various sectors and areas of life. By adding my voice to the increasing number of recordings of female composers, I am helping to break down barriers and pave the way for future generations of women in music. I would like to encourage my fellow colleagues and students to join me in this pursuit of creativity and inspiration. I hope to inspire and empower more young women to follow their dreams and pursue their passions in the arts.

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To continue to build a library of guitar music for Diller-Quaile. 

Thomas has researched and selected new repertoire and method books for solo guitar and classical guitar ensemble to add to Diller-Quaile’s Library. These new acquisitions, which include the works of Ida Presti, Emilia Giuliani, and Dale Kavanaugh have been curated with the goal of creating an improved curriculum for all Diller-Quaile guitar students and one which better highlights women composers and contemporary music from around the world. This music will be shared with all guitar faculty colleagues.

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Creation and performance of an evening length work with the improvising music and movement group, ‘Loco Motors’.

Loco Motors is a music and dance group inspired by both the practice of Dalcroze eurhythmics and the jazz tradition of open-form improvisation, sometimes known as ‘free jazz’. The group also has a special interest in the somatic connection between sound and movement, and in using that connection as a basis for artistic creation. The core members are Michael Joviala, piano and composition, and Dawn Pratson, dance and choreography. The group will be part of a year-long pilot residency program of the New York Chapter of the Dalcroze Society of America during the calendar-year of 2023.

For its residency, Loco Motors will create an evening length performance that combines the compositions of Michael Joviala, the choreography of Dawn Pratson, and the improvisation of both. This grant supports the inclusion of a master musical improviser, saxophonist/clarinetist/flutist Marty Ehrlich, who will act as mentor to the project and will also perform with the group.

The developing work will be presented in-progress at several points during the residency through a series of workshops which will focus on different aspects of collaboration and improvisation.

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“Two”: An Afternoon of Art and Music With Miranda Sielaff and Barbara Woods

In this intergenerational and interdisciplinary workshop, people of all ages will explore the theme of “Two” through the mediums of visual art and music and create their own visual improvisations on paper. Miranda will play music for solo viola by Telemann, Stravinsky and Ligeti. Barbara Woods, an artist and art educator, will discuss artwork from different time periods that deal with concepts of duality. Then participants will have an opportunity to create their own self-portraits by making three-dimensional paper sculptures. This workshop is designed to build community among participants through a shared experience of art -- its capacity to bring people together, to allow for emotional expression, and to heal.

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To enroll in the Suzuki Flute Book 4 course taught by Wendy Stern through the Great Lakes Suzuki Flute and Recorder Institute.

Receiving The Clifford-Levy Creativity Grant this academic year was particularly meaningful as it confirmed that we can embrace learning and recharge even during difficult times. Immersing myself further in the Suzuki Flute Book 4 training was so important on a number of levels: 1) focusing on Baroque repertoire; 2) learning to teach Baroque performance practices, especially to young students; 3) availing ourselves of recent technologies to enhance teaching as well as engage students; and 4) discovering multiple other resources from which to draw upon to deepen the learning experience for students. The teacher of this course, Wendy Stern, also encouraged each of us to share our own teaching experiences as well as teach one of the pieces in the book. And what was abundantly clear, was the wealth of information that we could use and avail ourselves of. From studying urtext along with more recent editions, to comparing the German and French Baroque, to making use of the amazing Slow Downer and Google transposer apps, it was an in-depth and multi-faceted journey that will enrich my own teaching and that I will want to share with my students in the years ahead.

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To enroll in the second half of the second year of the Suzuki teacher training program at SFS.

Max has entered the last year of the Teacher Training program at the Suzuki School for Strings. This year, the teacher trainees are becoming faculty members of SFS as part of the Start-Up Program. SFS recruits beginner piano students with a purpose of training new Suzuki teachers. Teacher trainees practice how to teach these students and their parents in individual and group settings under the advice and leadership of teacher trainer, Marina Obukovsky. Marina Obukovsky is head of the Piano Department at SFS and Suzuki Department at Mannes College. This year’s teacher training program curriculum includes writing lesson plans, as well as observing, discussing, and trying different kinds of teaching techniques. With the help of this training, Maxim’s goal is to learn how to make his work with beginners more efficient through a focus on pedagogical methodology, encouraging help from parents, and using the experience of a generation of Suzuki teachers.

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To commission composer Ivan Rodriguez to write a harp duo.

Wilmington Star News writes, “Christina Brier and Kathryn Sloat of Lilac 94 aren’t your grandmother’s harpists. Brier and Sloat hit their soundboards, pound their harps with mallets, slap their strings, and in general make a ruckus.” This contemporary harp duo is dedicated to performing new and previously undiscovered music and exploring creative ways of using the harp. Ivan Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican composer whose music has been performed in P.R., the U.S., throughout North/South America, and Europe. This grant will commission Ivan Rodriguez to write a harp duo piece for Lilac 94 which will be premiered in June 2022 and recorded on their debut album, a collection of music by American composers.

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To enroll in CelloKids Teacher Training Seminar. The grant covers the tuition.

In August 2020, CelloBello offered its CelloKids Teacher Training Seminar. This 14-session course covered a broad range of teaching topics, including approaches to teaching beginners and more advanced students, incorporating improvisation into the teaching process, practice skills, and explorations of the cello itself and the experience of creating sound on it. Instructors included Paul Katz, Andrea Yun, Madeleine Golz, Mike Block, Sandy Kiefer, and Yari Bond. The recorded sessions were made available for viewing through the CelloBello archive until the end of September, and I subscribed so as not to miss out. Since then, I have watched and reviewed the seminar. It was wonderful, and I've already begun incorporating suggestions from it into my teaching.

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Gakavig Fantasy: Armenian Music for Classical Guitar. The grant covers the master recording.

The project “Gakavig Fantasy: Armenian Music for Classical Guitar” consists of a digital solo guitar album made up entirely of Armenian music comprising original arrangements of Armenian folkloric songs and premier recordings of new Armenian works by living composers. The recording will take place at the Kolanian Studios in Athens, Greece, in August 2021, and aims to expose different communities to Armenian music, thereby fostering interest in the millenary minority culture that has survived centuries of persecution. Being of Armenian descent myself, this project relates directly to my ancestral heritage and holds profound value to me personally. I welcome the opportunity to reaffirm the musical tradition of my forefathers, whilst at the same time enriching my community network in the US.

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1. To purchase scores by a number of historical and living BIPOC composers.

The year 2020 has been one of great turmoil, not only because of the disruptions to our ways of living with the Covid-19 pandemic, but because of the ongoing protests and general outcry against racism across the United States. This has led to wider conversations about diversity across all fields of endeavor, including music. This is something to which I have given much thought and it is clear to me that African-American and BIPOC composers have too often been neglected and in some cases even written out of history. This summer I began exploring some of that repertoire and came across a treasure trove of piano works by Florence Price. I will use my grant to purchase scores by a number of historical and living BIPOC composers including Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Tania León, Alvin Singleton, George Walker, Yaz Lancaster and Elizabeth Baker.  My plan is to not only expand and diversify my own personal repertoire, but to also help me expand the repertoire for my piano students. My hope is to eventually record some of these pieces and to share them with the Diller-Quaile community.

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The grant will defray tuition for the 2nd year of Suzuki Teacher Training at School for Strings.

I will continue to learn teaching strategies and repertoire used by the Suzuki method. This year we will study Suzuki books from 4 to 7. In addition, we will go through the wide range of reading materials dedicated to a variety of aspects of teaching. We will use video recording to analyze different approaches to pedagogical solutions. I am very lucky to have Marina Obukovsky as my mentor again - she is the Head of Piano Department at School for Strings and piano faculty at Preparatory Division at Mannes College. This course allows me to widen my prospective on how I can work more efficiently with students of all ages, using rich experiences of a few generations of Suzuki teachers. It is combined with the philosophical approach of Shinichi Suzuki who believed every child can learn to play an instrument and make music an important part of life experience in all aspects. I would be happy to share my experiences and all that I’ve learned with all interested colleagues at Diller-Quaile School of Music, whether in an individual or group meeting.

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A self-designed study focusing on Latin and African Music: Percussion, Folk Traditions & Rhythmic Styles. The grant covers fifteen lessons.

This grant would support a self-directed course of study with various teachers to learn history, repertoire, technique and stylistic concepts relating to percussion in Latin American and African music. It would include work on hand percussion, examining many of the original instrumental components of these folk and dance-based musical styles, and adapting their rhythms and functions to the piano. At Diller-Quaile we perform and share music from many cultures; this study would serve to bring greater awareness and depth to the music we present in many contexts including our year-round Class repertoire, the Summer Music Program, and the Songs for Singing and Sharing project.

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Diálogos Duo CD Recording of “A Dozen Choro Tributes”

Funding will be used to cover all recording and some audio mixing and mastering costs of Diálogos Duo’s second independently-released recording, “Diálogos Duo / Choro”– which features the abovementioned original work composed by Duo guitarist Richard Boukas. Co-founded by Louis Arques and Richard Boukas in 2016, Diálogos Duo presents the largest body of original contemporary Brazilian repertoire for clarinet and guitar: six suites, fifty movements of music. Louis Arques seeks to share this rich artistic and cultural experience directly with fellow faculty and students. Following the release of the CD recording, the Duo will present an interactive performance-demonstration for the DQ community which will include a historical discussion of Brazilian Choro repertoire, its close ties with tonal classical music, and its stylistic-cultural evolution.

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Enroll in Suzuki Flute - Book 3 Training Course

Funding will be used to cover the tuition of the Suzuki Flute - Book 3 Training Course taught by Wendy Stern, a certified Suzuki flute teacher. Svjetlana had the wonderful experience of working with Wendy Stern on Books 1 and 2, and shared that the study of the Suzuki teaching method has profoundly influenced her teaching. She looks forward to incorporating the Suzuki philosophy and teaching techniques into her work with Diller-Quaile flute students.

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