Sundays at Three Series: Ron Mutchnik, Peter Minkler, and Seth Low (Ted Mundy, page turner) April 2009
Gallery » Sundays at Three concert Apr 2009
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Lura Johnson, Pianist
classical pianist based in Baltimore, Maryland
Hello again, Lura! May I be frank? I’m worried about your posture. You carry your head way ahead of your shoulders in these two photos. Maybe it was temporary moments, but if you always sit like that, you could run into trouble in a few decades. My dad, for example, was a great pianist for 75 years, but he did sit hunched over and during the last decade of his life he couldn’t lift his head and had to peer up at you. You may want to consider some body work. I think yoga has improved my conducting immensely and has helped my clarinet playing by replacing my long distance running on the breathing front. My yoga goal is to be able to get in and out of couch when I’m 90! Now when I sit here at my computer, yoga practice reminds me to regain my posture every time that my head comes forward and my shoulders start to shrug. I know this observation is unsolicited, but it is meant with all good intention! All best, Michael
Thanks for your thoughts Michael, I do appreciate your concern. You will probably remember that even as a student my physical response to intensity in music often manifested in my playing. It certainly is an issue I am aware of and still work on. Like you, I do yoga and stretch a lot – you can ask my colleagues at the BSO who frequently see me backstage in contorted positions!
Some of these shots are in motion, but some are not. And of course stressful events augment tension; for example I remember in the rehearsal of Paul Moravec’s Chamber Symphony which is captured in one of these shots you noticed, I had had to prepare a very difficult part in very short order, and Paul had just asked us if the piece could be ten clicks faster! I am aware that I need my body for the things I love to do, and do strive to treat it well. Thanks for the reminder though!