FESTIVAL FEATURES
​Features Available in Online Learning Platform Pre- and Post-Festival Submissions
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Getting Started Section to Help You Navigate the Festival Experience
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Learning Activities with Live and On Demand Workshops
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Creativity Challenges to Inspire and Spark Ideas
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Discovering Your Creativity Section
Virtual Festival Submissions for Individualized Feedback (due dates announced beginning of each quarter):
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Performance Videos (up to 12 minutes of chosen repertoire by participant of any style, genre, time period)
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Written Composition (up to 7 minutes of composition, presented as notation, lead sheet, or midi file)
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Best of Video Recordings - re-record performance video or written composition after reviewing individualized feedback
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Share Anything - share any other creative work for feedback from teaching artists and fellow participants
Festival participants also attend live concerts, workshops, and discussions on creativity, or view on demand.
WHAT IS THE FESTIVAL FOR CREATIVE PIANISTS?
The Festival for Creative Pianists offers a virtual festival for pianists of all ages to develop creative skills and habits within a supportive and engaging community.
This festival is for pianists who seek to develop their creative skills or re-kindle their creative spark. Our goal is to nurture your creative development while uplifting your creative voice and encouraging your creative expression.
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Each quarter, participants submit video recordings of performances, optional written compositions, and other creative work. After submitting, participants receive constructive and individualized feedback from world-class teaching artists to help guide their development and continued creative exploration. These world-class teaching artists provide extensive individualized feedback and enriching opportunities to grow artistically and develop interpretive and creative skills. Participants can also submit additional creative work for feedback from teaching artists and fellow participants through the online activities and challenges before and after the submission period.
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All participants are recognized with one special, individually-tailored award to highlight their excellence and creative development.
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Festival participants will have the option of participanting in group coaching (included in enrollment fee) and receiving private coaching from a teaching artist (additional fee).
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While there are no prerequisites to enroll in this festival, we recommend having knowledge of basic musical elements like dynamics, articulation, notation reading on the grand staff, key signatures, musical expressions, concept of style, tempo and meter, etc. This is generally the equivalent of 2-3 years of previous musical study, depending on the learner.
FESTIVAL PHILOSOPHY
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At the Festival for Creative Pianists, we seek to foster diverse and well-rounded musicianship that goes beyond the "autonomic wizardry" that is often overemphasized in competitions.
Above all, pianists and composers are urged to develop and showcase their unique creative talents with individuality, personality, exuberance, originality, and spontaneity in a fun social constructivist educational setting.
WHEN IS THE FESTIVAL FOR CREATIVE PIANISTS?
The Festival for Creative Pianists is organized quarterly:
Fall: September - November
Winter: December - February
Spring: March - May
Summer: June - August
Performance videos, written compositions, and final showcase video submissions are due from participants at the beginning of the third month each quarter.
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Enrollment is open continuously, with new enrollees starting at the beginning of each quarter. Festival participants can enroll in one or multiple quarters every year (enrollment fee required for each quarter).
Enroll early to get extended access to the OpenLearning platform!
WHAT TO EXPECT
Individuality, Originality, and Artistry
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We seek to foster diverse and well-rounded musicianship that goes beyond the "autonomic wizardry" that is often overemphasized in competitions and evaluations. Above all, pianists and composers are urged to develop and showcase their unique creative talents and perform with individuality, personality, exuberance, originality, and spontaneity.
Unique Learning Experience
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World-class adjudicators, teaching artists, and clinicians provide participants of all ages and teachers with a powerful and uplifting learning experience through individualized feedback and insight into the creative process. Participants are encouraged to engage with fellow participants online by sharing their work, collaborating, and commenting on the creativity of others.
Comprehensive Awards
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Teaching artists bestow one special, individually-tailored award certificate to each participant to spotlight that person's finest achievement. Our diverse award menu celebrates standard baroque through contemporary repertory as well as creative skills - e.g., improvisation, original concerto cadenzas and classical embellishing, versatility, lyricism, original compositions, tasteful arrangements, transcriptions, & more!
Festival Offerings
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Every festival includes a comprehensive and experiential array of offerings that help participants build creative skills, examine and interpret historical works, discover and appreciate new music, develop practice strategies, and explore new ways of thinking creatively. Participants attend live workshops, concerts, group coaching sessions, and other events that will help spark their creativity and inspire their continued development.
The Festival for Creative Pianists is part of a growing movement whose battle cry is, in John Salmon's words, "to loosen the strictures of perfectionism and literalism that have gradually eviscerated the interpreter's art in this age of 'note-perfect' recordings and competitions, and to reemphasize the beautiful, the imaginative."
FESTIVAL ACCLAIM
VIRTUAL FESTIVAL ACCLAIM
"I was so glad to come across Festival for Creative Pianists during the COVID-19 period, when the Festival went virtual. There were so many inspiring workshops and speakers who were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic in sharing their craft with the participants. The judges also gave very insightful comments and feedback on our performances and compositions. The activities were well-constructed and gave me great ideas to think about when improvising and composing. Thank you for a great experience!"
"The organization of this Festival was fabulous! The presenters provided solid information for future creative growth. It was a wonderful experience."
Contestants taking part in the in-person 2018 Festival for Creative Pianists (Denver, CO)
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THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
