240 West 104th St.#2A, New York NY, 10025
Instruments:Piano
Styles:Classical
Levels:Intermediate, Advanced
Experience:35 years
Rate:$100 / hr
Personal Statement
Having taught piano for over 35 years to students of all ages and ethnic backgrounds , I am deeply concerned with music and the fact that music has deep meaning and expresses feelings . It is a form of communication.
My strength and success as a teacher has been and continues to be my concern for the individual student’s growth and understanding , as well as their development as more than sinply a craftsman. Patience, concern and respect are hallmarks of my style with my students. each student is an individual and there is no method that one can apply that will work for everyone.
Aside from having the ability to draw a student out of their obsession with technical perfection , which many times gets in their way of enjoying the process of connecting with music, I understand the physical anatomy and can free a student from undue tension and teach them choreography at the piano which is natural and allows them to find their unique voice in this beautiful art . Then, they teachnique is freed it improves, but it is never the goal . It is a means to an end.
Having studied with Leon Fleisher, Adele Marcus, Harvey Wedeen and Genia Robinor , I have the background that can enable any student to eventually become their own teachers and to grow as a musician for the span of their lifetime.
Education / Training
Professor Emeritus , Ms. Hirshtal retired from her position as director of Keyboard Studies and Area Coordinator of Piano Studies in 2002. She has been an active master class clinician , sought after adjudicator and her students have gone on to study at some of America’s most prestigious music schools and conservatories , including The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Boston Conservatory and USC.
Ms. Hirshtal’s own teacher’s have included Leon Fleisher, with whom she received The Artist Diploma from The Peabody Conservatory , Adele Marcus of The Juilliard School , Harvey Wedeen of Temple University and Genia Robinor of The Philadelphia Musical Academy . She has been on the faculties of Temple University, The Bryn Mawr Conservatory and The Downeast Summer Chamber Institute in Maine.
The New York Times called her “a pianist with something to say and that alone makes her preferable to the majority of pianists today.” The Los Angeles Times, in a review of Ms. Hirshtal’s solo recital at The Japan America Theatre in Los Angeles called her “a strong addition to the Southern California community …a pianist with apparently eclectic tastes and commanding resources…(she) approached major works of Chopin and Mozart gamely and stylishly. (in the Chopin) b minor Sonata , the pianist displayed her reliable and charming facility in the Scherzo , her philosophical repose in the Largo , and her command of structure in the Finale.” In the city of Long Beach, Ca. The Press -Telegram reviewer wrote “Hirshtal is a pianist whose playing is accurate and deeply felt, one who is capable of dazzling finger work and of dynamics so subtle that in a quiet moment the pressure exerted by one hand can just one feather softer than the pressure exerted by the other. Under her fingers, the instrument sings”
The recipient of many awards , she was a prizewinner in the William Kappel International Piano Competition, where she won the prize for ‘Best Classical Sonata’ for her performance of Beethoven’s piano sonata ,Opus 109. She was awarded the Galica Prize by the Paderewski Foundation of New York City and was a semi finalist in The Young Concert Artists’ International Auditions. Other honors include an Alumni Award from Temple University and numerous awards from The California State University System . She is listed in Marquis ‘ Who’s Who of America, Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in the World.
As soloist , chamber musician and collaborative artist, Hirshtal has been heard in concert halls throughout the United States , including The Philadelphia Academy of Music and Lincoln Center in New York City. She has appeared with principal members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Metropolitan Opera Company, the Philadelphia Opera Company ,the Sequoia Quartet and as soloist with San Francisco’s Women’s Philharmonic , under the baton of JoAnn Falleta. Ms. Hirshtal’s performances have been broadcast on radio stations in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York and in Los Angeles, where she has performed on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Sundays at Four live broadcasts . Her first Compact Disc was recorded in Los Angeles and distributed by Dunhill Compact Classics , where she can be heard performing the music of Chopin in the CD entitled ‘ Music Inspired by the film, Impromptu .