2008 Woodie Awards
Professor helps pay tribute to musical icons
By Caleb Pardick
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 3/3/06 Section: Entertainment
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The construction of harpsichords infatuated Johann Sebastian Bach.
And Ludwig van Beethoven went completely deaf as he grew older.
Besides being regarded as three of the greatest composers of all time, all three had their compositions featured in a performance by Nanette Kaplan Solomon and Paula Tuttle at 7:30 Tuesday night in the Swope Recital Hall.
Tuttle and Solomon, on cello and piano, respectively, brought the three back to life in spirit for a recital that lasted nearly 90 minutes.
Nearly 100 people were in attendance to listen to suites and sonatas of "the Three B's", a clever title devised by Tuttle in an effort to pay homage to the musical minds of yesteryear.
Tuttle, who has been a professor of music at SRU since 2002, said the idea of a Three B's concert was particularly intriguing.
"I wanted SRU students to get the chance to hear a series of musical masterpieces of some of the greatest musicians of all time," she said.
Tuttle's partner in chime was Solomon, who said the limited amount of time she had to prepare for the performance made things a bit hectic.
"We've only been practicing for about three weeks," said Solomon, who's been a music professor at SRU since 1977. "Its music that we've listened to our whole lives, but it's some stuff that I just finally learned over Christmas break."
While the Three B's were a recurring theme throughout the evening, there was one hitch that audience members were privy to from the moment they each picked up a program: the seemingly incongruous placement of a "K" to begin the show, in the form of Paula M. Kimper's Mystical Etude.
While Kimper's name being included did throw off the whole B's theme being played upon, Tuttle said the possibility of "Three B's (and a K)" wasn't really an option, either.
"We picked the Kimper piece to open with because she's not like any of the rest of them," she said. "She's not German. She's not dead. She's not male. And her name doesn't start with a B."
But Tuttle said the dissimilarities between Kimper and Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, weren't the only reason to perform her music either.
"I thought it was appropriate to play (Kimper's) music because she was one of my roommates in college," Tuttle said. "I think it's important to point that out because with where we are, with students in college making friends and having relationships while they're here, it just shows that you never know what will happen to the people you come into contact with."
And while the vast majority of the audience was composed of professors and students, at least one member of the audience was listening both appreciatively and critically.
"I'm here because I really enjoy listening to piano music," said Bradley Wilson, philosophy professor at SRU. "But I'm taking piano lessons from Dr. Solomon, too."
Solomon said finding time for her personal music career is sometimes a struggle when trying to teach classes at the same time.
"It's very hard for me, but I love trying to balance my music and my teaching," she said. "Because I'm a full-time professor, and because I teach academic courses as well, like music history, it's hard to do it all."
Solomon said teaching and performing often come together.
"They really seem to feed each other," she said. "Being involved with the students' repertoires in class helps me to know what works and what won't in my music performances too."
In addition to finding time after teaching to work on her musical career, Tuttle said the nature of the instruments themselves plays a role in the success or failure of a performance on a given night.
"I think tonight, with the piano and cello, it's difficult to find a balance there," she said. "With such a wide range of keys on the piano and with so few on the cello, that balance is hard to compromise with. But she (Solomon) was keeping an eye on me tonight."
Solomon said some of the difficulties she encountered weren't unusual, either.
"Playing from memory, like I did a little bit tonight, that's pretty hard," she said. "Adjusting to pianos, that's another thing, because no two are ever the exact same."
In the end, however, Tuttle agreed with Solomon's assessment of the night and their history of performing with each other:
"We're just kind of trained to listen to each other while we play, I guess," Tuttle said.
