Piano Congress 2025 - "Discover the Piano" - Warsaw September 25-28 before the great Chopin Competition begins


Piano Congress 2025 - "Discover the Piano"

An event accompanying the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition

https://pianocongress.org/

Panel: The Art of Performance

Jan Blecharz, Leslie McAlister, John Sloboda • Moderator: Cezary Sanecki

A conversation about audience engagement practices: stage psychology, communication, concert formats; examples of good practice.

14:30 - 16:00

AUDITORIUM

September 26 (Friday)


I attended this most informative discussion. There was much discussion of the similarities between piano performance and muscular training in sport which did not appeal to this aesthete too much ! Rest during practice sessions was considered of great importance. One of Jan Blecharz 's students took a short nap between practice sessions that themselves lasted only an hour if that. There was discussion of the state of the audience psychologically and that of the pianist so that every performance was different. 

Leslie McAlister spoke of the importance of the dovetailed alliance of personal musical values of members of the audience and the pianist if a deeply satisfying musical experience was to be experienced by everyone involved. He spoke of profound musical experiences when playing alone but emphasized the importance of communication between pianist and audience. He spoke positively of the pianist speaking to the audience and thus engaging them more intimately during a performance.

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