Newsletter of the Westfield Center, Volume xxiii, Number 4 A National Resource for the Advancement of Keyboard Music, Serving Professionals and the Public Since 1979 Fall 2012 Tilman Skowroneck, Editor warm welcome to the fourth and final issue of the Westfield Center. An announcement of next season’s AWestfield newsletter of 2012! My first year as the important event, the first Westfield Center International newsletter’s editor comes to a close as well—a good oc- Organ Competition and Academy follows. Ignacio Prego, casion for a brief look behind the scenes. prizewinner of the Westfield International Harpsichord The process of assembling suitable material for the Competition, granted me an interview in which he looks newsletter is typically as follows: around the time an is- back at the most recent Westfield competition, and gives sue gets published I sketch out a few ideas for the next his view on the profession of a harpsichordist. one. I might also contact the prospective contributors As an update to last issue’s interview with fortepia- for the coming issue at this point with some first ideas. nist Anthony Romaniuk, we have included an updated Closer to the release date, Maja Anderson, Evan concert schedule of this artist. Annette Richards takes Cortens, Annette Richards and I assemble and compare the word again, this time as the editor of Keyboard Per- our ideas via e-mail. This is followed by some two to spectives, with a short preview of the upcoming issue three weeks of contacting everyone for real and getting no. V, which is scheduled to appear in the early spring texts and photographs ready. This is a very satisfactory of 2013. Another upcoming Westfield event, a fortepi- process as we all joyfully agree that deadlines are there ano workshop to be held in Greensboro, NC, in July, to be re-negotiated. In short, to work together with my colleagues at Westfield has been as flawless as anyone can wish for. A hearty Christmassy applause, therefore, and many Contents thanks for this year, Maja, Evan, and Annette! It is, however, in the hands of Westfield Center members to take this experience to the next level. One From the Executive Director 2 editor in Sweden and three Westfielders in Ithaca are a The Westfield Center Organ Competition 2 small crew, compared to the task at hand. We would like An interview with Ignacio Prego 4 to do more than toot the Westfield Center horn (to use a Continuo: The Art of Creative Collaboration 7 somewhat mixed metaphor) and to report about events nearest to us. Our ambition is to include the highlights Anthony Romaniuk: Upcoming Performances 8 of early keyboard news from around the world. In order Keyboard Perspectives, from the Editor’s Desk 8 to get even better at this, I would again like to encourage Fortepiano Workshop in Greensboro, NC 8 our readers to get in touch with us whenever they have Memorial Concert: Gustav Leonhardt 9 suggestions for our content, or information about some fresh and important keyboard events. The Smarano Academy, 2012 10 Executive Director Annette Richards opens this is- Fortepiano Workshops in Italy 12 sue with a personal message for the members of the – 1 – is announced by Andrew Willis, who will also be one of rano International Organ, Clavichord and Improvisation the teachers at the course. Academy 2012. Finally, Bart van Oort gives us the newest For a few well-crafted paragraphs, fortepianist and about the Italian “Master Weekends” for fortepiano in harpsichordist Anthony Romaniuk changes profession, as Villa Bossi near Milan, organized by harpsichord builder he contributes with a review of a memorial concert for Guido Bizzi and his sons. Gustav Leonhardt that took place in September 2012 in A special thanks for our contributors to this issue, the Waalse Kerk in Amsterdam. Joel Speerstra has been who gracefully complied with my requests in spite of so kind to send us a very personal report about the Sma- their extremely full schedules. – Tilman Skowroneck A Note from the Executive Director Dear members of the Westfield Center, As we approach the end of the year we reach that mo- of running our programs; for those applications, it is ment again when we thank you for your support in 2012 especially important to be able to show enthusiastic and warmly invite you to renew your annual member- membership support. You can consider your member- ship for 2013. Renewal letters were sent out recently, but ship and donation this year to be doing double duty! you can very easily renew your membership online here: In the meantime, my own time as Executive Direc- http://westfield.org/join. As I mentioned in the letter, tor will probably be up at the end of 2013. If you have your membership is crucial to our survival, and we also thoughts about a future executive director, or would like very much appreciate your gifts to the Center. These are to know more, please email me ([email protected]) or vital to making our programs possible, and we have a the current Westfield board president, Paul Tegels (paul. special need this year as we raise the monetary prizes for [email protected]). the Organ Competition, which will take place in Sep- tember 2013. Please consider contributing to a prize, in With best wishes, your own name or to honor a friend or colleague. In the course of the coming year, as we come to Annette Richards the end of our Mellon Foundation funding, we will be Executive Director working to obtain a new grant to help with the costs Announcing the first Westfield Center International Organ Competition and Academy 22–30 September 2013 The Westfield Center Keyboard Competition and Acad- mark historic, and historically-informed instruments, emy offers young keyboard players the opportunity to before an international jury and for significant prizes. explore the music of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries Under the rubric “Cosmopolitan Encounters” the focus through the avenue of instruments, sources and per- is on the 18th century but moves far beyond. formance practices familiar to the composer. In 2011, The competition invites participants to reimagine Westfield held the first-ever North American interna- the historic encounters between great keyboard players tional competition in fortepiano (at Cornell University), of the past, staged as contests, duels or moments of in- and in 2012 a competition in harpsichord (at the Smith- spiration: these include the meeting of Froberger and sonian Institution). The 2013 Organ Competition, at Weckmann in Dresden in the middle of the 17th centu- Cornell and the Eastman School of Music, invites or- ry; the gathering of the Bach sons and their father at the ganists from around the world to perform on three land- royal Prussian court in Potsdam in 1747; the encounter – 2 – of W. A. Mozart with adaptability and an the virtuoso J. W. extension of the his- Haessler in 1789. torical imagination How did travelling of performers. In the virtuoso organists last round in partic- handle the instru- ular, candidates are ments they met, and asked to select and how did they adapt perform 19th- and their music and its na- 20th-century reper- tional styles to instru- toire, imagining how ments that may have 19th- and 20th-cen- been foreign to them? tury composers may This competi- Westfield have approached old tion offers candidates INTERNATIONAL organs in a new age the chance to imag- (the full list of pieces ine some of those ORGAN can be found at this encounters as they COMPETITION link: http://westfield. play repertoire on AND ACADEMY org/competition/or- the Craighead-Saun- gan2013/repertoire/). SEPTEMBER 22-30, 2013 ders organ at Christ Cosmopolitan Church, Rochester, encounters mark our Jury: Bernard Foccroulle, Edoardo Bellotti, Jon Laukvik, modeled on the 1776 own times as thor- Kimberly Marshall, Jacques van Oortmerssen, David Yearsley Adam Gottlob Cas- oughly as they did parini organ in Vil- First Prize $10,000 – Second Prize $5,000 – Third Prize $2,500 the past. Judging the nius, Lithuania; the Prizes include a series of recitals, and a CD recording with the Loft label competition will be original 18th-century Cornell University, Eastman School of Music, an international jury Italian organ in the Ithaca, New York Rochester, New York from both sides of Memorial Art Gal- www.westfield.org the Atlantic, which lery, Rochester; and will award prizes that the organ at Cornell include not only cash University, based on the 1706 Arp Schnitger organ at awards but also important and visible concert engage- Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin. ments and a CD recording. Much of the competition repertoire has been chosen The Competition (September 22–29) will run for its suitability to these three organs, but some mu- alongside the academy (September 24–30), as well as sic has been deliberately selected in order to encourage the annual EROI festival (September 26–29). Competi- tion participants eliminated after the first round will be invited to join the Academy and festival. Deadline for applications is May 1, 2013. Please encourage your stu- dents, colleagues and friends to participate. We look for- ward to seeing you in upstate New York next September. FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS: http://westfield.org/competition/organ2013/ TO APPLY: http://westfield.org/competition/organ2013/apply/ The Craighead-Saunders organ at Christ Church, Rochester – 3 – An interview with Ignacio Prego In August this year, Ignacio Prego won the first prize in petition. But you have also been active as a pianist. We seem the Westfield International Harpsichord Competition, and to be looking at a development here. How did you become it is in celebration of this award that I have asked him interested in playing the harpsichord? the following questions.