The Sarabande from Bach’s Partita No. 2. is a deeply intimate and beautiful movement, and one of my favorites within this partita.

Today, December 16th, is the great Beethoven's birthday! I would like to once again express my heartfelt respect and gratitude to him.

Recently I have been deeply inspired by the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley, and I would like to share a thought that arose from this experience.

Today I would like to share some of my thoughts on changing dynamics in the repeated sections of the second movement, Allemande, of this great work.

Today, I would like to share some thoughts about being expressive in Baroque music.

Mr. Cosmo recently emailed me a wonderful video and I thought would make for a good blog post, so I'm sharing it with all of you.

One of the great things about being a musician, and especially a pianist, is that there are always so many wonderful things to discover.  Whether it is related to the history of a work and the period in which it was written, or just learning more about how the composer developed it, there are endless small and wonderful revelations waiting in practically every measure.

During my second lesson with Mr. Cosmo on John Field’s Nocturne No. 5, I was able to refine the added ornaments a great deal more. This post contains the entire nocturne.

As I look at the pianists on the roster for December at Carnegie Hall, it is easy to recognize some very celebrated artists, Randall Atcheson, Seong-Jin Cho, and Lang Lang among them.

With today being Giving Tuesday worldwide, I would like to ask all of you to please consider making a donation to the Alexander & Buono Foundation. 

John Field is known both for originating the nocturne, and for his profound influence on those written by Chopin. This is my first time working on one of his pieces.

Please listen to the beautiful Lento sostenuto section I'm playing in the video. I'm experimenting with two different ways of playing the rests.

Right after I returned from New York I started working on Chopin’s Fantaisie in F-minor, Op. 49.

So far I have had two lessons on it with Mr. Cosmo, both of which were wonderful.

In New York this past weekend there was the discovery of a portrait of Beethoven done by the famous photographer Edward Steichen in 1902.

Please take a look at the video in this post.  If you would, look at it more than once. What do you see? On the one hand you should see Yannie Tan and me performing a bit of Beethoven. 

The day after the performance I usually do something fun, and this time I had delicious avocado toast for brunch, followed by my most important activity: a lesson with Mr. Cosmo. In-person lessons are truly special, as we can discuss subtle changes in expression and tone in the same space. We worked on Chopin's Ballade No. 3 and Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze. 

Following every concert there is always a sense of relief, particularly if things have gone very well. At the same time, what I always tell fellow musicians is that the concert may be finished, but the evening is not. There is still the great responsibility of greeting and thanking guests for having attended. This was especially true following the concert at the Columbus Citizens Foundation, as there was a dinner in the restaurant on the floor below the concert space

I suppose there are some artists who might believe that one concert is pretty much like another because so much of the preparation is the same.  After all, one always has to learn new repertoire, practice, and if the concert is out of town, pack, travel, eat and rest.

Today I was at the Columbus Citizens Foundation for a rehearsal of my concert there, and to also do a photo shoot with Eric Hemedes Bass, who is handling my social media through the Alexander & Buono Foundation.

Today was a combination of fun, business, and sadness.  After practicing, my mother and I met Mr. Cosmo and Mr. Alexander at the Metropolitan Opera for a performance of Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment. This wonderful comic opera by Donizetti featured performances by Erin Morely as Marie, Lawrence Brownlee as Tonio, and the actress Sandra Oh played the speaking role of the Duchess of Krankenthorp.