Maestro Classics Blog

The Pipe Organ Post #2

9/13/2019

Where can I find a pipe organ?

The pipe organ is included in the traditions of many different types of music, from sacred to classical to pop. Pipe organs are generally found in churches and other houses of worship, concert halls, schools, and sometimes even shopping malls. Contrary to popular belief, the organ was not originally intended to be used as a religious instrument, but instead was played at games, banquets, and at the circus! It was not until around 1,100 years after the pipe organ was invented that it began making its way into churches.

Fun Fact:

The largest, fully functioning pipe organ is inside the Macy's department store in Philadelphia. The organ has been played every business day since 1911 after it was moved to Philadelphia from St. Louis, where it was built for the World Fair. 13 freight cars transported this massive pipe organ consisting of more than 10,000 pipes. Watch the video below to learn more!

The Pipe Organ Post #1

9/10/2019

In the days leading up the the release of our new CD, Bach and the Pipe Organ, we will be adding new interesting and fun facts to our Maestro Classics Blog! Follow along to gain an in-depth knowledge of this glorious, historical instrument.

Pipe Organ Post #1:

What is a pipe organ?

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving air through the organ pipes- round tubes that are made out of metal or wood. Each pipe produces only one pitch, with the smaller pipes producing higher pitches and the larger pipes producing lower pitches. Similar pipes are grouped into sets called ranks, which the organist plays by using controls called stops. The player can push in or pull out the stops (which look like knobs) to create different sounds.

Fun fact:

Organists play with both their hands and their feet. They also wear special organ shoes, which have very thin soles and are glued rather than stitched together so that they can feel the pedal key (foot pedal) surfaces and slide around easily.

What Do Yoga and Playing the Flute Have in Common? (Hint: Take a Deep Breathe) - Bonnie Simon Talks to Jessica Kelly about the Flute and Breathing:

5/9/2019

What Do Yoga and Playing the Flute Have in Common? (Hint: Take a Deep Breathe)

Bonnie Simon Talks to Jessica Kelly about the Flute and Breathing

Breathing is the key to mastering long, beautiful phrases on the flute.

Breathing seems simple. You do it all the time without even thinking about it. But when you play an instrument you have to learn a whole new way of breathing.

First of all, most of us only use a small part of our lungs to breathe. Partly it is because we often slouch and partly because we have never thought about how large our lungs really are. Without raising your shoulders, try inhaling so much that you can feel the bottom of your lungs fill up. Your ribs will expand and your stomach will stick out. If you relax even more when you try it again, you will discover that you can take in even more air. Now try to slowly inhale as much air as you can and then slowly exhale. Do it a few times, but not so much that you feel dizzy!

So I begin by saying that much of how well - or not well - you play the flute will have to do with just how well you breathe.

Well, it's fine to say that breathing is the key to great playing, but if you just put the flute up to your lips and blow out that gigantic big breathe coming from the bottom of your lungs, chances are that nothing will happen. Why? Your embouchure...

Embouchure! "Ahhm-boo-sure" It is French. "Em" is French is "in" and "bouche" is "mouth." Your embouchure is the way you form your lips when you play a woodwind or brass instrument. With the flute, you are blowing into but also across the mouthpiece. This is easy for some people to get a sound and a complete mystery for others. In addition, you have to control all that air that you now have discovered in your lungs. If the hole made with your lips too large too much air escapes rather than going into the flute. If it is too small, well not much happens in the way of sound.

Now we have you standing (or sitting) up straight, relaxed, breathing deeply, and thinking about the shape of your lips. Time to pick up the flute. Hmmm. Most people when they imitate someone playing the flute put both hands up in the air with their fingers pointing towards them. Wrong! The left hand fingers point toward you and the right hand fingers point away from you. Now line the mouthpiece up with your mouth and - well, it may feel a little awkward at first, but that doesn't last long, and remember RELAX. You can't breathe properly if you are tense.

A good exercise while not even holding the flute is to fill up the bottom third of your lungs with air. You should feel your stomach and ribs expand and push forward and should not feel your chest rise until the very end of your breath. It takes concentration!

The flute is a great instrument. Very handy to carry with you. A beautiful sound that can carry above an entire orchestra. And don't forget, many of the world's greatest flutists are men!

Meet the Flute (and Jessica)

5/2/2019

Middle school me playing at a band concert

Hi! My name is Jessica and I'm a flute player living in New York City. I'm also the newest member of the Maestro Classics team. And I'm very happy to be here. As an introduction, I thought I'd share some information on the flute. But first, some background:

On my first day of 6th grade Beginning Band, my teacher asked all of us to write down our top three instruments. Mine were:

1. Clarinet (because my aunt who played violin told me to write it down as my first choice)
2. Flute (because that same aunt told me to write it down as my second choice)
3. Trombone (because I didn't know what it was)

I don't know why my teacher ended up choosing the flute for me - maybe because I was a tiny ten year old girl, maybe not. Whatever her reasoning, my parents ordered a flute for me on eBay that cost well under $100 and I started learning. I had already been taking piano lessons since I was five, so reading music and rhythms felt natural to me, especially since now there was only one line of music to worry about. But I soon learned that playing the flute was not as easy as plunking out notes on the piano for a beginner. Most of all- breathing! I would get so dizzy from lack of breath control that I could practice for only short spurts of time before needing to take a break. Second, making an actual sound... Who would have thought that blowing into a metal tube would prove to be so difficult? I was listening to recordings of world-renowned flutists such as Emmanuel Pahud and James Galway, and the only noise I could get out of the flute was an airy whistle.

I've come a long way since that first year of beginning band. So I've come up with some tips for a beginning flutist on how to get through the initial challenges of breathing and producing a nice sound. Keep an eye out for our next post to read more!

Author

Jessica Kelly is a flutist living in New York City. She recently held the flute chair for the first national tour of Love Never Dies- Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to Phantom of the Opera. Jessica is also a founding member and flute and piano teacher at The Smith School of Music, an after-school music program on the Upper West Side. She also is part of Redbrick Duo, a New York City based classical-crossover flute and classical guitar duo she and her husband founded in 2014.

Bach and the Organ - Children's Choir

4/29/2019

Children's Choir from St. James in New York City will be singing on the new CD!

Yesterday I went to hear the Children's Choir at St. James Church on Madison Ave. in New York City. The younger choir members are adorable and the tweens appropriately stylish. Their wonderful choir director, Loraine Enlow is the most fun choir director I have ever seen. She made me want to join her choir on the spot.

The choir will sing The "I Like Bach, because he is so fun-u-ny..." It is a round based on the main theme of Bach's Fugue in G Minor, also known as the "Little Fugue." You will be able to hear them on Track 3 of the CD/MP3 and get a chance to sing it yourselves at the end of the album. I guarantee, you will never forget this tune by Bach.

Our task now is to coral all the young people for one day of recording - we only have a small window with Memorial Day weekend and end of school upon us, but everyone is excited so it will happen, I am sure.

DIY Wolf Felt Finger Puppet

3/25/2019

Create your own Wolf finger puppet that you could use along with "Peter and the Wolf” story. Felt finger puppets are a fun craft for people of all ages! With some creativity, you can make them resemble anything you would like.

Once you get the hang of it, you will be able to whip a puppet very quickly. Use the downloadable template provided by HelloSewing and sew the wolf in as little as 30 minutes. You can add or remove some of the features. Use a mix of stitches (running stitches, blanket stitches, whip stitch) or hot glue to assemble your finger puppets.

felt finger puppet

Supplies needed:

·       finger puppet pattern (click here to download the Wolf finger puppet template)
·       grey felt
·       white felt
·       grey thread
·       white thread
·       black thread
·       scissors
·       needle

parts to make a wolf felt finger puppet

Instructions:

cut out parts for wolf felt finger puppet

layered parts

face stitching for finger puppet

wolf felt finger puppet to use with peter and the wolf

1.    Gather your supplies
2.    Cut the felt pieces according to the pattern you’ve downloaded
3.    Layer both body parts, face and muzzle
4.    Sew muzzle to face using blanket stitch and grey thread (if you don’t know what blanket stitch is, click here for sewing instructions).
5.    Sew face to body using running stitch and white thread
6.    Blanket stitch side of body, leaving bottom open
7.    Add details – sew on eyes, nose and mouth
8.    Optional: for added detail make a few stitches to the front and inside ears

New CD! Bach and the Organ

3/21/2019

In Bach's day he was not known as a great composer, he was known as the greatest organist of his day. Bach and the Organ tells the story of his unusual life. Following the Stories in Music™ format, Track One is a musical biography of Johann Sebastian Bach narrated by Yadu, Track Two is how his music was almost lost to history by Bonnie Ward Simon, Track Three is a musical surprise, Track Four is About the Organ with David Enlow, professor of organ at the Juilliard School of Music, Track Five will be musical selections by JSB, and Track Six will be a Sing-Along.

Learn About Bach! Learn About the Organ!

child's sculpture of J.S. Bach

Interview with The Cultural Aficionado

12/3/2018

Bonnie Simon, President of Maestro Classics, was recently interview by Justin Pennington from "The Cultural Aficionado." Read the full interview at http://www.theculturalaficionado.com/cultural-insights-with-bonnie-simon/

"Could you describe your job?"

"As the creator of the Maestro Classics series of recordings for narrator and orchestra, I oversee the company and determine how to keep up momentum and where we go from here. The new age of Internet marketing has enabled us to reach tens of thousands of young people and their parents. Indeed, it has fulfilled my wildest dreams."

Continue Reading

Stephen Simon recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra recording The Nutcracker

Classical Classroom Podcast

10/26/2018

Maestro Classics is proud to be sponsoring a new season of the Classical Classroom Podcast!

Hosted by Dacia Clay, The Classical Classroom started in 2013 at Houston Public Radio and is now affiliated with KING FM 98.1 in Seattle, WA. In the show, Dacia, (a self-admitted newbie to classical music) interviews some of the biggest names in the genre to learn more about the art form.

Listen to the latest episodes featuring violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who has released 37 albums to-date and was Billboard’s top selling classical instrumentalist in 2014, and Grammy Award-Winning guitarist Sharon Isbin, head of the Classical Guitar Department at the Juilliard School.

The Classical Classroom also offers free downloadable lesson plans and teacher study guides to accompany many of the episodes.

New episodes come out every Monday and will feature guests like Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, and the Miro Quartet.

Listen to Classical Classroom on iTunes.

And After the Fire

10/23/2018

And After the Fire is a novel about Bach (and Mendelssohn) written by a novelist who is married to a musicologist – so the story is fiction but everything surrounding it is true.

A fictitious Bach manuscript is discovered and a young lady who inherits the mysterious gift tries to discover its past.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing more about Bach, his descendants, anti-Semitism, and how Felix Mendelssohn is connected to Bach.

New York Times interview with the author and her husband.

-Bonnie Ward Simon