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The season of Piano Summer in New Paltz Russian immigrant encourages unknown players
June 8, 2006 Richard Berkovsky, foreground, and Vladimir Feltsman play a duet. A former refusenik who now riles the keys of the piano, Vladimir Feltsman carries his love of music with him like a passport in performances around the world and in classes at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Teaching is such a vital part of his repertoire that this world-class pianist founded the international Piano Summer Institute/Festival, a month-long summer institute with an open master class format. Up to 40 advanced piano students are accepted, coming to campus from all over the world. Students have five lessons a week, each with different teachers. As one of six Piano Summer faculty, Feltsman, the artistic director, teaches four or five students a day. Each year, guests are also invited to teach and play. Piano Summer, Feltsman explained, travels "discovery ground." "We discover new people and try to help them out to start their careers, putting them in touch with people in the music business,and with some conductors," he said. Feltsman knows a few conductors himself as a regular guest soloist with symphonies around the globe. A recent itinerary for this native of Russia included the London Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, along with performances in Miami, St. Petersburg, Russia, and Kuala Lumpur. But he always heads back to New Paltz, an artistic college community in the Hudson River corridor between New York City and Albany. Now a decade old, Piano Summer is part of the New Paltz campus and community, including festivals and weekend concerts (www.newpaltz.edu/piano/concerts.html). A competition is held among students; the winner plays a piano concerto with the orchestra conducted by Feltsman. About a half dozen of the summer pianists are offered scholarships. "We've tried to raise enough money to accept students on their ability to play, not pay," said Feltsman, a member of United University Professions, the local affiliate of New York State United Teachers representing SUNY academic and professional faculty. The New Paltz chapter is led by Glenn McNitt, who noted that Feltsman also has performed fund-raisers for the college. During the academic year, Feltsman teaches musical performance and analysis. He has played at Carnegie Hall and has a discography ranging from Chopin to Prokofiev, and six albums of J.S. Bach's clavier works. However, he said, teaching "has more substance and essence" than performance. "You play a concert and it's gone, but if you are lucky enough to find good students who can take something from you, then it lasts," he said. "Music is a natural extension. It is the fiber of my being. It's a language I comprehend and speak. I can teach that." He made his debut with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11, then went on to perform as a musician in concert tours. But after applying for an exit visa from Russia, he was forbidden to play publicly. Eight years of punishing silence followed. He came to America in 1987 after being offered a job at SUNY New Paltz by then-President Alice Chandler, who had traveled to Russia with a group of college presidents. When he performed at the White House following his release, Ronald Reagan called his arrival in America "a symbol of freedom and oppression from the Cold War." Still, Feltsman feels the veins beneath his homeland's rough skin. "The political mess of Russia had nothing to with the greatness of Russian culture," Feltsman said of his homeland. Noting the country's music traditions of piano and violin, he said he "benefited greatly" from that culture. Indeed, he has put together a project called "Masterpieces of the Russian Underground," portraying piano and chamber works of composers from Shostakovich to present day that has been performed at Lincoln Center. Feltsman said he only owns about five or six CDs, and he rarely listens to music because there's "enough music in my head." — Liza Frenette |
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