[CAUT] William Wolfram

[Fred Sturm]

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On 3/7/05 4:21 PM, "Wimblees@aol.com" <Wimblees@aol.com> wrote:

> The above named pianist played the Beethoven C minor on the new Steinway,=
 (the
> one I've been telling you about), with the Alabama Symphony in our concer=
t
> hall several weeks ago. Unfortunately, after the concert, Mr. Wolfram
> supposedly made the comment "I will never come to Tuscaloosa again if I h=
ave
> to play on this instrument". What didn't help is that our local paper's c=
ritic
> heard about the comment, and trashed the instrument in the paper.
> =20
> Although I don't think the piano is as bad as it is being made out to be,=
 I am
> taking a lot of heat from the some of the faculty members. I reminded the=
m
> that 5 previous concert artists didn't say anything about the piano. In f=
act,
> two of them had their choice between our two grands, and chose the new on=
e.
> =20
> My question to you guys is this. Have any of you had any experience deali=
ng
> with Mr. Wolfram? I don't know the man, but have heard he is young and
> inexperienced. I've heard, from you guys, that the better players know ho=
w to
> play on any piano, but the less experienced are more critical.
> =20
> Wim=20
> Willem Blees, RPT
> Piano Tuner/Technician
> School of Music
> University of Alabama
> Tuscaloosa, AL USA
>=20

Hi Wim,=20
    A quick google search revealed that he is well established, bronze meda=
l
from the Tchaikovsky competition in 1986, silvers in Naumberg and Kappell:
impressive credentials. Not so young. I=B9d guess he must be 40 or more.
Sounds well-seasoned. Has played widely and a fairly wide range of rep. (No=
,
I have no personal knowledge of him).
    Bottom line: welcome to the world of the concert technician. It ain=B9t
easy, even in a hick town like Albuquerque (or Birmingham). However good yo=
u
are, or think you are, you will get slammed from time to time. Often (in my
experience) the negative feedback comes in waves just when you think you
have a piano =B3just where you want it.=B2 And, on the other hand, unexpected
praise will show up when you=B9re feeling least confident.
    You just have to cultivate a schizophrenic mixture of humility and
self-confidence. Self-doubt comes with the territory. And you can never
please everyone. And often you can=B9t even please the same person twice with
the same instrument that you have done nothing to change. But, hey, somebod=
y
has to do the work and take the heat (and occasional praise) <g>.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico



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