Writings

Isabel Keleti is a pianist. Bree Nichols is a soprano. Their paths first crossed in September 2021, when they met at the Fulbright orientation for U.S. grantees in Prague; they were just beginning their academic year in the Czech Republic. Isabel came to study Leoš Janáček and other Czech gems of the piano repertoire, and it is no surprise that her host institution was the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. Bree's research project "Czech Art Song: An Anthology and Recital Series 'From the Page to the Stage'" was hosted at the Faculty of Education of Palacký University in Olomouc. Although they had not originally expected to collaborate, Isabel and Bree would eventually perform together in seven concerts in six cities across the Czech Republic throughout their grant period. One highlight was their early June performance on the rooftop of Prague’s Lucerna together with future Czech Fulbrighter Tomáš Jamník. In this blog post, Isabel and Bree share what sparked their love of Czech music, what they treasure about Czech musical culture, as well as one unexpected benefit of their Fulbright stay: their mutual friendship and professional partnership.

The 2021-2022 application cycle for the Fulbright scholarships was the most competitive in the organization’s history, due in part to the students from the year prior who applied again after programs were cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic…

Curious to hear the American take on Martinů? Explore an online mini-series of performances by leading American musicians recorded especially to celebrate 80 years since the arrival of the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů in New York.

When living in Queens, Martinů loved to wonder around the leafy neighbourhood, submerged in the solitary night walks, working out music scores in his head and getting lost in his thoughts. Now we have a chance to get comfortably lost in his music too. And on top of that, we will get to know talented artists who offer their own renditions of Martinů’s works.

“我们不能奢望能给那些从未听过肖邦演奏的人们描绘出肖邦音乐中那种难以言喻的诗歌性所能带来的魅力…” ---弗朗茨·李斯特评价弗里德里克·肖邦

即便当代的观众无法享受到肖邦本人的演奏，他音乐中蕴含的那种“难以言喻的诗歌性”依旧让全世界的倾听者浮想联翩。可是肖邦不仅仅是卓越的钢琴家和理想主义者，他同时也是一位著名且受人爱戴的老师。直至今日，他的教学方式依旧能给钢琴教师和音乐爱好者带来启迪。

Students and teachers of one of the most prestigious American conservatories dedicate the entire concert on October 23, 2020 to Leoš Janáček. In addition, verses by Janáček's contemporaries Jaroslav Vrchlický and Otokar Březina will be heard in a very unusual arrangement prepared by the Mannes School of Music at the prestigious The New School.

The savory aroma of hot dumplings, fried spring rolls, and hot pot filled the decorated halls of International House as Residents in line for food made their way into Davis Hall, where lions roamed and spectacular performances awaited. On February 8, 2019, Residents and other members of the I-House community celebrated the Lunar New Year with each other, marking an exciting and auspicious beginning.

Teneill Childers is in the middle of her weekly piano lesson at Eisenhower Middle School in Kansas City, Kan., where the seventh-grader plays violin in the orchestra and sings in the choir.

As Teneill moves her fingers over the keys with the kind of slow, measured precision one might expect from a beginner, Isabel Keleti, a third-year music student at Kansas University, chimes in.

Piano is new to Teneill — she’s only about a month in — but Keleti, her teacher, says she’s making progress.

In a small music studio set in the corner of an office on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Paul Adams prepared to give a piano lesson.

About 40 miles away at Eisenhower Middle School in Kansas City, Kan., sixth-grade student Miguel Gonzales scooted the piano bench he was sitting on up to the school’s shiny black baby grand and waited for Adams’ instructions.

On a computer monitor to Miguel’s left, Adams’ face popped up via Skype and his voice boomed clearly through small speakers. “Hi, Miguel, ready for your lesson?”

The University of Kansas School of Music will host the International Institute for Young Musicians Summer Music Academy for another year of student music study and competition. This year’s event will be July 8-27.

IIYM, led by Scott McBride Smith, is an internationally recognized course of study for young pianists from around the world. Smith, who has a master’s degree in piano from KU and is the Cordelia Brown Murphy Professor of Piano Pedagogy and division director of piano at KU, is the president and chief executive officer of IIYM. Smith created the organization in 1990 to provide music study opportunities for young international musicians. During the summer program, students are exposed to intensive study to improve their mastery of performance, working with IIYM artist faculty.