Washingtonians meet Estonians.(music teachers travel to Estonia, Russia and Finland)

In September 2004, five music teachers from Washington State traveled to Estonia, Russia and Finland to share and experience music with colleagues and students. Here is their story...

When John Pickett, professor of piano at Central Washington University, performed in a concert in Moses Lake Washington in 2001, Moses Lake MTA chapter member, Marina Aur, asked if he'd like to play a similar concert in her native country, Estonia. Pickett was thrilled about the invitation, "Sure!" he answered. So began the tentative plans for a nine-day journey to not only Estonia, but also Russia and Finland, which were added to the itinerary.

Three years later on September 19, 2004, Pickett and Aur, along with three other music teachers--Mary Merrell, Harriet West and Elizabeth Grunst--left Seattle, Washington for Tallinn, Estonia's capital. From there the group traveled three hours to Narva--a border town separated from Russia by the Narva River with a population of 63,000 and Aur's hometown. During their six-day stay in Narva, Pickett, gave a master class and lecture-recital at the Narva School of Music, which has a staff of more than 60 and more than 400 students studying piano, accordion, strings, percussion, brass, woodwinds and voice--Pickett even had the opportunity to work directly with seven of the students, ages 10-15. The following day, Pickett presented his lecture, Gershwin: The Bridge Between Jazz and Classical (interpreted by Aur) and concluded with a performance of Rhapsody in Blue.

The Russian music teachers shared their impressions and experiences in the October 14, 2004 edition of Narva's newspaper, Narvaleht. The following are excerpts from the article:

"John Pickett with ease grasped the content of unfamiliar repertoire and exactly caught the composer's intent. This musician has a special relationship with the piano. He gave special attention to the left hand where he found surprising melodic lines and content. His imaginative ideas were easily understood by the young pianists. The students produced sound miracles to the point that their teachers did not recognize their own students' playing. The teachers very much liked Pickett's imagery such as hands in the water, icy crystals and bird's wings. Pickett possesses an immense musical breadth of knowledge of music. He showed a special affinity for the understanding and performance of the music of Rachmaninoff. He also readily grasped the harmonic language of the Estonian composers and also desired to acquire their compositions. After an image filled lecture, Pickett gave a virtuoso performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue that evoked the life of the great New York City. The audience applauded with ovations. We hope that pianist John Pickett will return in the future."

Later, during an interview with an Estonia radio station, Pickett said, "I'm very impressed by the dedication of the Russian teachers and the high level of preparation and performance of their students."

While in Estonia, Pickett also performed concerts in Rakvere and Tallinn, playing Brahms' Quartet in A Major with a chamber group: Katrin ...