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GEORGE'S CYBERHOME
Welcome to my website. I hope that you will check back from time-to-time as the content will change frequently.
Please feel free to use the contact button above to send me personal email.
 Recent Activities
- West Virginia Rural Music Education Initiative
Buckhannon, WV
August 22, 2008
For a dozen or so years, George has worked with the Lyell B. & Patricia K. Clay Foundation, Inc. and Yamaha to improve music education in the state of West Virginia. The current initiative is focused on empowering K-12 music teachers in the poorest counties in the central part of the state.
On this occasion George participated in training teachers who were recipients of a package consisting of a laptop computer (with built-in webcam), projector, MIDI/audio/music notation software, digital audio recorder, portable speaker, and full featured, portable digital piano.
Articles are available here and here.
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- In-service Training for Houston Public School Teachers
Houston, TX
August 19, 2008
George joined other clinicians in providing a day-long in-service training day for Houston public school teachers. The focus was on using modern, technology-based musical instruments, such as piano lab controllers, silent instruments, and interactive music presentation software.
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- Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition
St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN
June 19/July, 3-11, 2008
George continued his work with the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, supporting the new e-Piano Junior version of the competition by providing a variety of technical services.
On June 19, George set up a Remote Lesson connection between Disklavier pianos at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis and Yamaha Artist Services in New York City. This made it possible for the 11-year old Alice Burla to perform in Minneapolis from New York.
During the competition, George recorded all of the solo piano performances on the Disklavier with coordinate video. On July 8, he gave a presentation on the history of the piano titled 300 Years and Counting!
- A World Record?
Rehoboth, MA
June 17, 2008
During the spring, one of George's piano students took remote lessons with from George's studio with Shana Kirk in Denver, Jennifer Snow in Los Angeles, Stella Sick in Maple Grove (MN), Mario Ajero in Nacogdoches (TX), and Lisa Yui in New York. These lessons were made possible by virtue of video conferencing and piano-to-piano connections using the unreleased Remote Lesson feature of the Mark IV Disklavier.
On June 17, a 5-piano connection was set up so this particular student could do a run-through of Debussy's Passepied for four of these teachers--all at one time!
- Music Teachers National Association Presentations
Denver, CO
March 29-April 2, 2008
George was involved in four presentations at MTNA this year. Two of them contain links (below) to electronic handouts.
- Multimedia in Concert Performance
George and his piano duet partner, Shana Kirk, presented artistic and practical ways for professionals and students to engage audiences fully and build a popular following by adding a multimedia dimension to their concerts.
The session included performances of:
- Little Fugue in G Minor (organ) by Bach, arranged by George for piano 4-hands
- Footprints in the Snow, by Debussy
- Waltz from Masquerade by Khachaturian, arranged for piano 4-hands
- The Sunken Cathedral by Debussy, arranged by Shana for piano and digital piano
- Themes from the Planets by Holst, arranged by Phillip Keveren for piano and tone module with additional arrangement for digital piano by Shana.
- Cultivating Musical Imagination
Musical imagination is an elusive quality that separates enchanting performances from very good performances. Janet Lopinski and George were joined by colleagues Scott McBride Smith and Peteris Zarins of the Before and After team from MTNA's Pedagogy Friday 2007. Together they shared their insights into the development of this musical dimension.
Click here for the electronic handout.
- TimeWarp Technologies Showcase
Shana and George did a showcase presentation in which they demonstrated the forthcoming, long distance teaching program called Internet MIDI as well as Classroom Maestro and Home Concert Xtreme. Teacher interest was keen.
- Keyboard Companion Showcase
George is the Technology Editor for Keyboard Companion, a publication for piano teachers. He made a brief contribution to the showcase.
- Virtual Audition Recordings for the e-Piano Junior Competition
New York City
Buena Park, CA
Shanghai
Paris
Moscow
January 7-February 1, 2008
This year, the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition is sponsoring a junior competition that is open to young pianists who are no older than 17 years of age as of July 4, 2008.
During the virtual auditions, George will record the contestants using a Mark IV Pro Disklavier that is synchronized to digital video. From February 14-16, 2007, the screening during will listen to and watch the playback at Yamaha Artists Services in New York City. Contestants who pass this round will be invited to the United States to continue the competition in person.
- College Music Society/Association for Technology in Music Instruction
Salt Lake City, UT
November 14-18, 2007
George joined Dr. Jennifer Snow (UCLA) in a presentation called:
Transcending Geography: Utilizing the Yamaha Disklavier, iChat, and Remote Learning Possibilities
This session included a live, Internet connection between two Disklavier pianos with synchronized video conferencing.
Piano Instruction and Performance without Boundaries: Real-time Linking of Acoustic Pianos over the Internet is Now a Reality
This was an e-poster session that George presented on a forthcoming software program called Internet MIDI from TimeWarp Technologies.
- Long Distance Music Business Lecture
Valley City, ND/Rehoboth, MA
October 8, 2007
Dr. Sara Hagen (Valley City State University) has invited George to make a video conference presentation to her Music Business Seminar class on the subject of music software development.
- National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy
Oakbrook, IL
August 1-4, 2007
George headed a team of esteemed piano pedagogues who organized a dozen technology sessions and an additional pre-conference day that was devoted to technology in piano instruction and performance.
George, with colleagues Shana Kirk and Dr. Mario Ajero (Stephen F. Austin State University), presented on the topic:
Teaching Outside the Box: Long-Distance Technologies to Connect Your Studio to Students across Town or around the Globe
- George also co-presented with Dr. Linda Christensen (Wayne State College) who could not make it to the conference due to a case of the flu. George brought Linda into the session via iChat video conferencing, presented her PowerPoint slides, and demonstrated the software that was covered in her topic:
Studying Piano Concerti: the Power of Virtual Reality
- Keyboard Companion Cover Story
June 1, 2007
George wrote the cover story for the Summer 2007 issue of Keyboard Companion magazine. The title of the article is Three Generations of Piano Teachers on Teaching with Technology.
The article profiles Serena Mackey, George Litterst, and Paul Sheftel. It includes narratives detailing their professional use of technology, lists of their studio tools, and a timeline called Technology Highlights in the History of Pianism.
- Phoenix Symphony
Phoenix, AZ
May 11 and 12, 2007
George assisted guest conductor, Loras John Schissel, and the Phoenix Symphony in a performance of Rhapsody in Blue in which George Gershwin made a rare posthumous appearance. Read about it here.
- Long Distance Music History Lecture
St. Paul, MN/Rehoboth, MA
April 13, 2007
Responding to increasing requests for long distance lectures to be presented via video conference, George gave a multimedia music history lecture to Dr. Stella Sick's music history class at Hamline University. Details can be found here.
- Teaching in the Future
January 18-21, 2007
George presented the concept of teaching piano over the Internet at the recent NAMM show in Anaheim. Click here to watch the video and discover how a teacher in Los Angeles can teach a student in New York City.
If both you and your student have a Disklavier Mark IV piano, you can have a real-time lesson over the Internet in which you each play each other's instrument.
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