9:30-10:15 Pre-Meeting Discussion
Presenters: Jennifer Cohen and Jia-Yee Tang
Program: Achievement in Music Exams (AIM): Orientation and Q&A
NSMTA AIM Coordinators, Jennifer Cohen and Jia-Yee Tang will lead a discussion with an overview of AIM for the 2023-24 year.
10:15-11:00 Business Meeting
Meeting will be led by NSMTA President, George Radosavljevic
11:00-12:00 Program
Presenter: Dr. Svetlana Belsky
Program: “Tchaikovsky’s Children’s Album: the Light of a Dark Soul”
The 24 delightful miniatures of Tchaikovsky’ Children’s Album are a perfect pedagogical tool for introducing students of all ages to elements of romantic technique and sound production. For the adults and the teachers, these works are so much more — written during a difficult time in Tchaikovsky’s life, following the death of one young lover and a failed marriage, and dedicated to the next young lover, his own nephew, they paint a picture of the composer’s life and his internal struggles. Hearing the complete set performed is a fascinating and revealing experience.
BIOGRAPHY
Critically acclaimed as “a passionate pianist and scholar,” Svetlana Belsky is a highly regarded performer, noted for her remarkable rapport with audiences and stylistic versatility. Her recent albums, Into Darkness: Piano Music of 1910-1920 (Sheridan Music Studio, 2021) and Ferruccio Busoni: The Late Works (Ravello, 2019) were selected by Spotify for its Best New Releases list, and received rave reviews from Fanfare, American Record Guide, Whole Note Magazine, and others, and has been heard on radio stations around the world.
Dr. Belsky won the 2019 American Prize in Piano Performance for her earlier recording of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, which American Record Guide described as “an extraordinary performance” and “astounding”. In commemoration of Women’s History Month 2019, Dr. Belsky was awarded the Outstanding Woman Award for Excellence in Music and Theater Arts from the Clerk of Cook County District Court.
Dr. Belsky has toured in Europe, East Asia, Canada and throughout the United States. Her performance credits include Carnegie Recital Hall, Kiev Philharmonic Hall, Dame Myra Hess Series, live recitals on Chicago’s WFMT and New York’s WQXR, and guest appearances with symphony and chamber orchestras.
Belsky is considered an authority on the music, writings and pedagogical legacy of Ferruccio Busoni. Her Doctoral Thesis - an annotated translation of Busoni as Pianist by the Russian musicologist Grigori Kogan, was published by the University of Rochester Press in January 2010, and was nominated for the prestigious Claude V. Palisca Award by the American Musicological Society. According to one reviewer, Belsky “has some claim to call herself Ms. Bach-Busoni”.
Born in Ukraine, Belsky received most of her education in the United States, first as a student of Emilio Del Rosario in Chicago, receiving her Bachelor’s (summa cum laude) and Master degrees at the Peabody Conservatory in the studio of Ann Schein and her Doctorate at the Manhattan School of Music with Nina Svetlanova.
Dr. Belsky served as the Director of Piano Studies at the University of Chicago for fifteen years, and is in great demand as a lecturer, masterclass guest teacher, and competition adjudicator.