Kurosawa Piano Music Foundation strives to educate the young artists and the community with focus on the piano ensemble music by hosting a variety of piano duo music education classes.

During the first Piano Music Festival in Silicon Vallay on 7/2 and 7/3, we have scheduled a two-days intensive classes with the great piano duo artists from around the world (See Piano Music Fest '08 for their bios).

The following shows a list of the sessions, which are open to the public. Please download the detailed schedule and take advantage of this great opportunity. The sessions are held at Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA), 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View, CA 94040. The admission is free of charge.

Piano Duo Educational Sessions - Schedule (7/2-7/3, 2008)

Piano Duo Educational Sessions - Summary

7/2 (Wed) 10-11AM Piano Duo Composer Workshop (Ensemble Room) 
                             Dr. Sondra Clark, Moderator, Ilya Dimov, T. Paul Rosas, and 
                             Robert van Horne 
                11-12 PM Composing, Performing and Teaching Ensemble Piano Music: 
                              An Open Discussion (Ensemble Room)

7/2 (Wed) 1-2   PM  Master Class, Dr. Gwendolyn Mok (Reay Room)

                2-3   PM  Master Class, Dr. Sondra Clark (Reay Room)

7/3 (Thu)  1-2   PM  Master Class, The Riga Piano Duo (Reay Room)

                2-3   PM  Master Class, Duo Pianistico di Firenze (Reay Room)

The Young Artists who applied for this two-days intensive classes will receive private coaching as well from the above great piano duo artists and perform at the young artists piano duo concert on July 3 7 PM at Tateuchi Hall at CSMA.

More Information about the Piano Duo Educational Session

The Silicon Valley Music Festival includes an informative and fun festival of piano duo master classes, workshops and concerts, for a maximum of 8 young piano duos. Our program is especially designed for young pianists from the age 10 to 18 years. All participating students will receive individual lessons from our internationally renowned faculty. Free practice facilities are available for participants. The young pianists will be offered an opportunity to perform at the Tateuchi Hall at CSMA on July 3.

Festival Faculty

Dr. Gwendolyn Mok (Head of the Piano Dept. at San Jose State University)
Dr. Sondra Clark (Contributing composer-arranger for Hal Leonard Publishers)
The Riga Piano Duo (Armenia & Latvia)
Duo Pianistico di Firenze (Florence, Italy)
Noriko and Yuko Kugimoto Duo (Japan)
Yoko Kurosawa, Education Session Coordinator

Private Coaching: The faculty will give private coaching sessions to the young artists. Studios with one piano and two pianos are reserved.

Master Classes: The faculty will give master classes, providing young artists with invaluable technical and artistic advice. The audience will have the unique opportunity to observe and obtain a deeper understanding of the music and its mastery in performance. This session is open to the public.

Workshops: Two panels devoted to the subject piano duo music will be moderated by an award-winning composer of piano ensemble music, Dr. Sondra Clark. The first will feature a presentation by four Bay Area composers: Ilya Dimov, T. Paul Rosas, Robert van Horne and Sondra Clark, in which there will be performances of their music and a discussion of the inspirations and techniques employed in creating music. The following seminar: Composing, Performing and Teaching Ensemble Piano Music is an open discussion that will explore, through demonstrations by invited guests and audience participation, the subtleties and secrets of this glorious performance medium. This session is open to the public.

Gala Concert: The participants will also receive free tickets to the Gala International Piano Duo Concert on July 2 at Le Petit Trianon. Five internationally acclaimed piano duos, including teams from Armenia, Latvia, Italy, Japan and the United States will play pieces from their home countries, many of which will be U.S. premieres. The artists will perform on a one-of-a-kind Grotrian Duo Grand, which unites two pianos with a single sound board and a double-sized lid.

By offering these inspiring piano duo educational sessions, free of charge, in the intimate performance venues of the Mountain View Community School of Music and Art, The First Silicon Valley Duo Piano Festival looks forward to establishing an on-going means of encouraging and nurturing young artists in the art of duo piano.

Contact: Yoko Kurosawa, DearYokoK@gmail.com