I N T H E n E W S
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES SEVENTEENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES SIXTEENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
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Originally Published on the Front Page of the Frederick News-Post on April 17th, 2020.
LOCAL PIANO COMMUNITY ILLUSTRATES IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC DURING PANDEMIC
By Steve Bohnel
Dan Shykind, co-owner of Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, sits in the store's showroom on Friday. (Staff photo by Graham Cullen)
As most people remain sheltered in their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic, one activity could provide a much-needed respite: playing the piano.
Multiple area piano shop owners, tuning services and instructors said that playing any instrument is great for mental health and helps parents and kids keep some sort of schedule.
Theresa and Dan Shykind own Downtown Piano Works in Frederick. Dan said sales have decreased since Gov. Larry Hogan ordered all non-essential businesses to close. Normally they sell around 25 pianos a month, but are down to about eight.
But the shop also runs a school with a handful of teachers and about 130 students, Theresa said. Even through the pandemic, parents and students have been supportive as lessons have moved from in-person instruction to Zoom lessons and other virtual learning options.
“A parent of one of the students just said to me, for their child, it was the one normal thing that has continued,” she said. “There are so many studies that music is good for all ages — for your mental health and your emotional well-being.”
Dan said the business has saved money to navigate through the uncertain times ahead for the store. But for now, it’s nice to provide comfort for many families in the area through their school, he said.
“What we find is people like to have a schedule and keep to a schedule … they still like to have that formality in their lives, it’s kind of a sense of normalcy,” Dan said.
One of the school’s teachers is Natalie Ahearn of Frederick. She has about 15 students, and said online learning has actually helped her hone in on the technical aspects of teaching virtually.
Ahearn also acts as a studio musician throughout the area, performing at gigs. But many shows have been canceled or postponed, she said. Teaching has been a stable job and she hopes students appreciate her efforts and the ability to still practice.
“If you’re Netflixing all day, you haven’t really done anything from the time you’ve started to the end … personally, it always makes me better at the end of the day when I have a musical checklist and finished it, and I hope there’s the same experience for the kids,” Ahearn said.
The impact of the coronavirus has hit others in the local piano business community, outside of Downtown Piano Works. That includes Matt Puziss of Frederick, who has run Frederick Piano Service, which mostly provides tuning and also some repair services.
Puziss’ wife is 60 and has underlying health conditions, so he decided to stop scheduling tuning appointments shortly after Hogan issued an order for all nonessential businesses to close.
He said he should be fine as he has money saved up and not too much overhead—he is the only employee. He thanked his clients for their business and hopes to see them soon enough.
Music, including playing the piano, should help people through isolation, he said, adding it is “great for the soul.”
Dean Kramer, owner of Kramer’s Piano Shop in New Midway, has run that business since 1978.
He said he has about 10 employees, and has been trying to keep most of them on the payroll, even with reduced hours. He added he was approved for the federal Payroll Protection Program, which will provide about eight weeks of pay for employees and can also be used for utilities and rent.
Kramer also sells guitars and ukuleles and other products, and does tunings and restorations in his workshop. He also does tunings for more than 300 churches in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Many appointments to tune those pianos, and other jobs in the area, have been canceled since Hogan’s order.
“Our first day the governor shut down business, all our phone did for two weeks was ring for cancellations,” Kramer said.
Like the Shykinds and others, though, he noted the importance of playing the piano and other instruments during isolation. He recently sent a newsletter out to clients highlighting many reasons why, including that instrument playing works the right and left side of the brain and keeps the mind busy, useful for warding off dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Damon Dye of Walkersville agreed. Dye runs Dye’s Piano Service, a tuning and restoration company, and also teaches music at Linganore High School.
Dye, like his peers, has some money saved up to weather the current economic climate. He said there has been challenges with teaching his students virtually, as there are some technology challenges.
But there is a great benefit to playing instruments, especially during periods of social isolation, he said.
“You’re doing all these things that are nothing but healthy for the body and mind,” Dye said. “Brain studies done for decades say that whenever you’re playing an instrument … you’re thinking both creatively and physically ... it’s really great brain and soul food.”
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FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES FIFTEENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Alexander Kobrin's concert at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, MD was presented by Theresa & Dan Shykind, and recorded in March '19 by Ed Kelly. Aired on 09/30/2019
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES FOURTEENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
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FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES THIRTEENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
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Alexander Kobrin's concert at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, MD was presented by Theresa & Dan Shykind, and recorded in May 2018 by Ed Kelly. Aired on 09/24/2018
Originally Published in Frederick Magazine, July 2018
Small Scale, Big Stage
World-Renowned Musicians
Perform, Dazzle Fans at
Downtown Piano Works
By Linda Norris-Waldt
Photography by Turner Photography Studio
For the past 10 years local residents and visitors have been treated to concerts of world-class music at Downtown Piano Works-all at no charge.
Before the famous friends of Dan and Theresa Shykind thread their way along the sidewalks in Downtown Frederick, they might have stopped in London, or Moscow,or Montreal or Tokyo. These visitors to Downtown Piano Works on the corner of Market and All Saints streets have traveled the world, capturing prizes in international classical piano competitions or performing in duets or trios with world-famous artists.
Yet they all jump at the chance to play a bit of Dvořák, Bach and Beethoven in a tiny, little-known concert hall tucked in the rear of the Frederick store. This spring, the store marked 150 performances that have drawn music critics, politicians and serious classical music fans.
“People have told me how amazed they are to hear a concert here, and then see that it was played somewhere famous and reviewed in The New York Times the next day,” says Dan Shykind, co-owner of the store with an eclectic resume—physics major, corporate sales guru and now passionate purveyor of Yamaha pianos.
About 12 times a year for the past 10 years local residents and visitors from throughout the region have been given a free evening of world-class music at the Shykind’s store. Dan and Theresa, herself a musician for the past 40 years, came up with the idea soon after they opened the shop in 2008. The year turned out to be a fortuitous one to open due to the recession; they were about to negotiate a favorable lease that they believe have helped them succeed. A few years before, Theresa had viewed the still-developing Carroll Creek Linear Park area while having lunch Downtown with her mother. “I told my mother, ‘I’m going to own a piano store here one day,’” she recalls.
And sure enough, on a trip home from a meeting in Boston for Dan’s corporate sales and marketing job, they made plans to capitalize on her experience playing and teaching and passion for pianos. Ninety days later, in time for that year’s In the Street festival, they opened the store.
Theresa says Dan has never been able to sit still, and he soon carved out a spot in the space, and in their business plan, for small, salon-like concerts in the shop, which boasted ceilings that provided ideal acoustics. “We saw it as an opportunity for both the audience and the artists to have a close-up experience that was unlike the Kennedy Center or Strathmore,” Dan says. “And actually, a lot of the music they are playing was written for small, salon suites centuries ago that were very similar to the close-up setting here.”
Now, the shop is completely booked as the word of the concert experience has gotten around—a chance to play at the concert space even became a prize for the winner of the Wideman International Piano Competition.
As for the audience, getting a “ticket” to the show isn’t easy, either. The concert hall only holds 65, at a maximum, and Dan and Theresa notify only small groups at a time from the 1,000-person concert list. They are emailed and must respond within hours to claim a seat. If they don’t respond, the next group gets a chance. And you don’t show up after claiming a seat, beware. You are moved to the bottom of the list and eventually dropped. “We are in the awkward position of turning people down,” Dan says.
AUDIENCE APPEAL
One recent concert was given by Amit Peled, a world-renowned cellist who uses the actual cello of the late Pablo Casals, arguably the greatest cellist of all time. (It was given to Peled by Casals’ wife, Marta, who believed Peled’s playing most embodied her late husband’s style.)
While rain and hail pounded outside on the walls of the store’s 19th-century building, and would eventually flood parts of Downtown Frederick, 40 people listened to music and intimate stories from the cellist. Peled has played at Downtown Piano works 30 times during the past 10 years in duos and in the Tempest Trio. The remainder of the year, he plays around the world when he is not teaching at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore.
“My job is to try to catch the color of the keys,” he told the audience after his first Bach piece, Concert Suite 1 for Cello in G Major. After more questions from the audience, he demonstrated how the piece’s prelude—which, he explained, is a composer’s need to “set the audience in the right mood for the dances” that entertained 16th-century European royalty—in G is a happy key, in contrast to D minor, a “sad key,” and C minor, an “angry key.” “My job is to transfer the emotion of the music,” he explains.
One local resident, Kate Carter, has come to many of the concerts after being tipped off to them by a business client. “I’m not a classical aficionado, but I’ve come to appreciate classical music more because the performers that come here to explain it to us,” she says.
Aidan Herrera, a young Centerville Elementary School student in his first year of piano lessons at Downtown Piano Works, sat in the front row with his mom, entranced by the experience. Could he see himself in that space one day? “Maybe,” he says.
FAMOUS FRIENDS
Part of the tradition of hosting concerts-some of which have been broadcast on WETA in Washington, D.C. is to have musicians autograph the inside of the piano they have used.
Leon Fleisher adds his name following a concert.
Not everyone can invite international performers to a small concert hall in Downtown Frederick, Md., and get a yes. But Theresa and Dan are humble about their connections to the masters. “Classical piano is a small world and, over time, we all get to know each other,” says Theresa with a smile. Theresa teaches at the business, as well.
Classical performers have rigorous concert schedules that take them away from home and family much of the year, she says. “They love coming here, because they stay with us and we have a great time cooking for them,” and entertaining them at their home in Mountain Laurel Estates, a wooded neighborhood north of Frederick. The Shykinds’ young daughter, Zoe, has grown up sitting at the kitchen table with famous performers. “It’s fun to talk to them at home,” and then hear them on the radio or see a performance on TV, she says.
“I love playing here. They are my friends and this is such a special place,” Peled says after his concert. “It’s like playing at home.” Peled, who is known for his audience dialogue, says his evenings at Downtown Piano Works give him confidence to speak when he is onstage at Carnegie Hall and other large venues. “I wouldn’t dare to do that on a big concert stage if I hadn’t practiced here first,” he says.
The Shykinds have never charged for the concerts. In fact, they have paid several times to have the performances broadcast on WETA in Washington, D.C., to bring the intimacy to a larger audience. “It’s important to support our local arts community, and to have performers visiting of that caliber,” Theresa says.
Dan, though, is quick to point out the practical side—and the benefits the concerts bring. “It’s a gift, yet we get something out of it,” he says. “How do you put a price on being on WETA or having a music critic writing about your store?”
Kate Carter says she and her friends in Frederick are grateful. “”The more kindness you put into the community, the more you receive back,” she says. “What they do is like a gift that keeps on giving.”
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES TWELTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Alexander Kobrin's concert at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, MD was presented by Dan Shykind, and recorded in December 2017 by Ed Kelly. Aired on 04/02/2018.
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES ELEVENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Alexander Kobrin's concert at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, MD was presented by Dan Shykind, and recorded in May 2017 by Ed Kelly. Aired on 12/11/2017.
Originally published in The Music Trades, August 2017
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS IN THE TOP 200 LEADING MUSIC PRODUCTS RETAILERS IN THE UNITED STATES.
#3 IN NATION FOR SALES PRODUCTIVITY
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES TENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
The Tempest Trio's October 2016 concert at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, MD was presented by Dan Shykind, and recorded by Ed Kelly. Aired on 01/02/2017.
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES NINTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Claire Huangci's April, 2016 concert at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, MD was presented by Dan Shykind and recorded by Ed Kelly.
Originally published July 1st, 2016 in Staunton News Leader
A GRAND DONATION
Mary Baldwin’s Heifetz Institute gets 23 pianos for summer class
By Monique Calello
Mary Baldwin College received 23 new Yamaha grand and vertical pianos - 12 uprights and 11 grands - donated by Downtown Piano Works, for use by the school's Heifetz International Music Institute in its summer program.
(Photo by Holly Marcus-Special to the News Leader)
STAUNTON – It’s a good day for Heifetz Institute and Lewis Piano Movers on a Wednesday morning in late June at Mary Baldwin College. There is a slight breeze, the temperature is in the 70s and it isn’t raining.
There is a tractor-trailer parked on campus and carefully packed inside are 23 brand new Yamaha grand and vertical pianos donated by Downtown Piano Works for the Heifetz Institute to use. “12 uprights and 11 grands,” says Benjamin Roe, executive director of Heifetz Institute, who has been going from one building to the next on campus to help coordinate and make sure each piano is moved to the correct location.
The campus at Mary Baldwin is infamous for its steep steps, and Van Lewis and his crew have to coordinate every aspect of bringing 23 pianos into rehearsal rooms and onto stages at performance spaces, auditoriums and chapels.
The two trickiest moves it seems are to get the pianos into McClung Hall and Miller Chapel, both which serve as chamber rehearsal spaces.
Lewis explains as he is laying down moving pads on the concrete steps that the way they overlap is similar to laying shingles on a house. “One direction when you bring the piano up the steps and the opposite direction when you move it out,” he says.
Roe says when the pianos arrive at Mary Baldwin it signifies the start of summer at Heifetz. The students arrive on campus Thursday, June 30, with the opening concert set to kick off on Saturday, July 2, at Sunspots Pavilion.
Originally published September 5th, 2015 in The Washington Post
PIANOS: BEYOND THE STEINWAY MONOCULTURE
By Anne Midgette, Chief classical music critic
A piano, it’s said, can emulate an entire orchestra: Its range extends from thunderous fortes to streams of liquid notes....
Picture of Downtown Piano Works from
The Washington Post ,courtesy Dan Shykind
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES EIGHTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES SEVENTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Originally published in Music Inc Magazine, November 2013
Originally published in The Music Trades, August 2013
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS IN THE TOP 200 LEADING MUSIC PRODUCTS RETAILERS IN THE UNITED STATES
Originally published in The Music Trades, August 2013
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS #2 IN NATION FOR SALES PER EMPLOYEE
Originally published August 2013, NAMM Playback magazine Spring/Summer 2013
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES SIXTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Originally Aired On WETA Classical 90.9 on January 14th, 2013
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES FIFTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Originally Aired On WETA Classical 90.9 on October 15th, 2012
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES MAKES FOURTH APPEARANCE ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
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Originally Aired On WETA Classical 90.9 on August 6th, 2012
Originally published July 18th, 2012-The Frederick News-Post
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS HONORED
Named Best Emerging Dealer
By Ed Waters, Jr.
News-Post Staff
Theresa & Dan Shykind, (center and left), owners of Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, receive the Best Emerging Dealer award from Joe Lamond, President and CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants. The local store is the largest all-Yamaha piano dealer in Maryland with gross sales expected to top $2 million in 2012.
Downtown Piano Works in Frederick is being honored as an outstanding part of the community and beyond.
The business, owned by Theresa and Dan Shykind, opened in October 2008 at 74 South Market Street. The couple had met while working at Jordan Kitt's, a major music store chain, when they managed different stores for the company.
The store has won a national honor. The National Association of Music Merchants presented its Best Emerging Dealer Award to the Shykinds at the associations trade show in Nashville, TN.
The largest all-Yamaha piano dealer in Maryland, Downtown Piano Works expects to have gross sales in excess of $2 million in 2012. The store also has more than 180 students enrolled in its music school.
"We were shocked," Dan Shykind said in a telephone interview.
The association presents several awards, Shykind said. "To be eligible for the top award, you have to be in business five years, we have only been in four years."
The shop was also named one of America's Top 100 Dealers earlier this year, according to a news release from the national group.
Downtown Piano Works received the Community Business Leader Award last year from the Frederick County Business Advisory Committee.
The business has provided pianos for events at the Weinberg Center for the Arts and held free concerts with world-class musicians. During a snowstorm in 2010, the Shykinds provided a piano to the White House for a PBS concert.
The awards were judged by a panel of expert judges not affiliated with the association, according to a news release.
"Downtown Piano Works received this recognition because of their efforts and business exemplified the best category among peers in the music instrument and product retailing from around the country," according to the association's statement.
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES AIRS FOR THE THIRD TIME ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Originally Aired On WETA Classical 90.9 on June 4th, 2012
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES AIRS AGAIN ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
Originally Aired On WETA Classical 90.9 on December 12th, 2011
Originally published by the Frederick County Office of Economic Development November 10th, 2011
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS WINS 2011 FREDERICK COUNTY COMMUNITY LEADER AWARD
Pictured Left to Right: C. Paul Smith, Frederick County Commissioner, Robert Black, Catoctin Mountain Orchard, Theresa Shykind, Dan Shykind, Downtown Piano Works, Laurie Boyer, Frederick County OED, Phil Quattrini, Frank Guidici, Wegmans.
The Frederick County Business Development Advisory Council (BDAC) and the Office of Economic Development (OED) held their Annual Business Reception at Martins Walkersville. Over 200 Frederick County business representatives, elected officials and partner organizations attended this year’s event. A brief awards ceremony was held to honor three Frederick County businesses and recognize a Frederick Innovative Technology Center (FITCI) graduate.
According to Laurie Boyer, OED Director, “We wanted this year to honor companies that are positively contributing to Frederick County’s economy and have shown remarkable innovation, creativity and sustained commitment to corporate responsibility.” All of the award winners are community leaders and give back to our community in a variety of ways.
The first 2011 Frederick County Community Leader award was presented to Downtown Piano Works for their corporate business philosophy. Besides providing exquisite pianos, providing piano service and piano lessons to over 160 students, they work with the Frederick Youth Alliance and supply for free all the concert instruments to the Weinberg Center of the Arts. They also provide world-class performances free to the public on a monthly basis at their location downtown Frederick, in which they draw over 70 people per concert. People come from all over the DC metropolitan area to attend.
The second 2011 Frederick County Community Leader award was presented to Catoctin Mountain Orchard, and the third to Wegmans Food Market.
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES AIRS ON CLASSICAL WETA'S
FRONT ROW WASHINGTON.
2005 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Alexander Kobrin recorded live during his performance at Downtown Piano Works Fine Artist Concert Series, Frederick, MD
Originally published August 2011, Maryland Life
FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES (FREE!)
Downtown Piano Works, Frederick, MD
Theresa Shykind, Alon Goldstein, Katherine Jacobson Fleisher, Leon Fleisher, and
Dan Shykind after Downtown Piano Works Concert. (Photo courtesy E.B.Shykind)
Originally published May 26th, 2011-The Gazette
RENOWNED CELLIST CALLS FREDERICK A SECOND HOME
Amit Peled Continues To Perform At Downtown Piano Works
by Cody Calamaio |Staff Writer
photo courtesy James M. Steeber
Baltimore cellist Amit Peled was recently asked to play at a prominent German music festival alongside two musicians he never met before. When he learned they would have only one day to practice together before the show, he decided to invite them to Frederick, his unofficial second home.
Pianist Roman Rabinovich and violinist Yevgeny Kutik will join Peled on Thursday, June 2, for an evening of works by Brahms at Downtown Piano Works. The quaint setting will serve as an intimate premiere of the trio's performance at the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele festival in Germany on July 24.
"Frederick is a very special place where we cook all the ingredients for a first time and have a taste," Peled says.
Peled often plays at Downtown Piano Works to gear up for large performances, and owner Dan Shykind always welcomes him.
"There is just something about the cello that cuts right through you," Shykind says. "And there is something about Amit that cuts right through you, too."
It will be Peled's second time at the store in six months. In January, he drove for five hours in a snowstorm, just days before performing at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
"The first time has its own rules. It nice to do that in a place where I feel at home," Peled says.
The Wolfgang Schnabl cello Peled will play on June 2 has a rich sound, made to fill the large concert halls and music festivals he frequents. The German cello also made its U.S. debut at one of Peled's performances at Downtown Piano Works about a year ago.
"It will be like closing up a circle," Peled says. "After practically taking it from a box and the growth it has gone though." Peled is known for also performing on a rare 1689 Andrea Guarneri cello, given to him by the couple he lived with while studying with the late master cellist Bernard Greenhouse in Cape Cod.
Peled now teaches the lessons he learned from Greenhouse to his students at the Conservatory at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. A strict, traditional player, he demands that students are as eager to learn as Greenhouse was until the day he died. "He would be excited about finding a new fingering for a piece he was playing for 60 years. He was always curious," Peled says.
Born in Israel, Peled grew up in a rural kibbutz and began playing the cello as a way to get close to a girl he liked. The crush never blossomed, but Peled fell in love with the cello at what he considers to be the "very late" age of 10.
"I had to pay for it. I had to work really, really hard," he says. "It has to be part of your blood system, the technical ability to play an instrument."
Now Peled's cello is almost an extension of his hands. He practices for hours daily to maintain his skill, favoring chamber music or romantic pieces when playing for fun.
"[The cello] is like a person and as a performing artist you spend probably more hours with the cello than your wife and kids," he says. "You can sense when it is upset and happy."
At age 37, Peled takes all the time he can for his family when he is home. His wife Julia and their three young children travel the world with him every summer.
"I don't want to look back when I'm 60 and say I wish I had spent more time with my kids," he says.
Originally published May 19th, 2011-The Frederick News-Post
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS HOSTS FINE ARTIST CONCERT SERIES
By Adrienne Lawrence
News-Post Staff
The best tickets in town may be the most difficult to procure. With about 65 seats available, Theresa and Dan Shykind host intimate concerts with the Fine Artist Music Series at Downtown Piano Works, and the tickets go quickly.
Theresa and Dan Shykind own Downtown Piano Works on South Market Street, where they host a series of free Piano performances.Staff photo by Adam Fried
The series of free concerts features some of the world's best pianists. The concert hall is part of the piano store floor plan, a Frederick business owned by the Shykinds.
Leon Fleisher, renowned pianist and conductor, Katherine Jacobson Fleisher, pianist, and Alon Goldstein, pianist, will play Wednesday at Downtown Piano Works. Fleisher, a legendary pianist and pedagogical piano instructor, won the highest award for a pianist, the Kennedy Center Honor, in 2007. Fleisher was called, "one of the most gifted of the younger generation of keyboard artists," at age 16 by The New York Times. And was later declared the "pianistic find of the century" by Pierre Monteux, conductor.
Fleisher lost the use of his right hand when he was 37 due to a rare neurological disease. He continued his career, though unable to play the piano with both hands. Through Botox injections and treatment, he regained the use of his hand and released an album in 2004 named "Two Hands." It was a critical success and he was the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary released in 2006 that aired on HBO. Jacobson Fleisher and Goldstein are also highly regarded for their work.
The New York Times praised her and Fleisher when she debuted at Carnegie Hall. She is the director of the Piano Ensemble Program at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. When 18 years old, Goldstein made his orchestral debut with the Israel Philharmonic and Maestro Zubin Mehta as conductor.
"I think it's remarkable that they started a free series," said Shai Wosner, an international concert pianist who played his third concert at Downtown Piano Works on May 6. He plans to come back in October.
Pianist Shai Wosner performs at Downtown Piano Works on May 6th as part of the store's ongoing free Fine Artist Concert Series. Staff photo by Adam Fried
Some musicians use the space as a place to rehearse before an upcoming concert, the Shykinds said. "These people are really famous, so to be sitting right here and have them talking to you is very different than going to Carnegie Hall," Theresa Shykind said. Her husband added, "It's happened six or seven times that people see a concert here and, then a day, or a couple days later, see a review of the same concert they heard, either in The New York Times or The Washington Post, so it's pretty amazing."
But it isn't always a warm-up. "The fact that you try new pieces, new programs, new people in an intimate setting, I think it's extremely valuable for all of us," Wosner said.
He sees it as an opportunity not only for him but for the audience. It's unusual for the musicians to play in a hall that holds fewer than 80 people.
"As so many of the musicians have said, this is the venue that these pieces were written for," said Arlene Shykind, Dan's mother.
For Wosner, his preparation is the same, whether he plays in a large or small venue.
"Whether it is 70 or 500 (people in the audience), it really doesn't matter that much," Wosner said. Either way, it is still a concert.
"Unfortunately, a lot of times, classical music (venues) become a place to be seen and (this) is a place to listen," Dan Shykind said. "People who really love classical music come and they'll hear world-class performers this far away and it's a completely different experience."
The series provides a place to hear some of the world's finest musicians, but the Shykinds don't want people to feel stiff or uncomfortable while attending. There's no dress code.
They've carefully constructed the space. The walls are decorated with Paul Helm's illustrations of some of the world's most famous composers. There are acoustic fabric curtains hanging in the back, a small stage that is raised so people can see the pianist while they play, and the piano was hand-built. "It is one of the best pianos in the world, which is amazing (for the concert hall)," Dan Shykind said. Yamaha S6BB was sent especially for the hall, courtesy of Yamaha Artist Services New York.
It isn't too small or too big, it is just right. Due to the materials, craftsmanship and design, it fits the space perfectly.
But this piano is unique for another reason. It is signed by the musicians who have taken part in the series. If one looks (carefully) in to the piano, there are signatures on the inside.
Originally published February 24th, 2011-The Gazette
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS TO HOST ACCLAIMED PIANIST
By Jordan Edwards
Pianist Alon Goldstein will travel to England next week for his debut performance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Before he leaves, he will stop at Frederick's Downtown Piano Works as part of the company's Fine Artist Concert Series.
The store fits less than 80 people when filled to capacity.
"I think intimacy is one of the most wonderful things about classical music," Goldstein says. "A lot of this music was written for the salon soirées of the 19th century. A place like Downtown Piano Works, in so many ways, is a much more natural place to play."
Sunday's program, which features pieces by Chopin, Beethoven and Debussy, promises to show off Goldstein's range and interests. The centerpiece is Mendelssohn's "Piano Concerto No. 1," which he also will play in London. Such a diverse program may be a solid tune-up for a big concert, but it won't shake off the jitters completely.
"Of course I'm very nervous and excited about it," says Goldstein. "At the same time, it's really not about me; it's about the music. We artists are the vehicle to bring this great music to life. In a way, that helps take away some of the nerves."
Downtown Piano Works' concerts started as a promotion for the South Market Street store and school in 2008, but have become something greater. The free recitals are so popular that the business no longer promotes them with traditional advertising.
"We strongly believe in music education," owner Dan Shykind says. "A lot of the students get master classes with [the pianists] before [concerts]. When we moved to Frederick [from D.C.], we found this town that was really vibrant in the visual arts and performing arts, but there was very little in the way of classical music. It's just grown beyond our wildest dreams. It's not uncommon to see someone here, and then a week later, see a review of the same performance in The New York Times."
How do Shykind and wife Theresa manage to attract such talent into a small store 40 miles north of Washington, D.C.? Part of the success comes from the musicians talking up the venue among themselves. Many enjoy the opportunity to play for a small group of classical music lovers and answer questions. Goldstein, notes Shykind, is a big supporter and close friend.
"It's just a neat experience for them, and a lot of the artists will tell you that if classical music is to survive, it's because of small venues like this where you can still do chamber music," he observes.
Goldstein, who has performed with renowned ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Symphony, is actually somewhat local. Born in Israel, the 40-year-old moved to moved to the U.S. to study under Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. The application for the school required three reasons for his interest. Goldstein wrote Fleisher's name as number one and crossed out the other two.
"If he would have taught in Australia, I would have gone there," Goldstein remarks. "Little did I know of all the other wonderful things in America."
Goldstein lived in London and Italy before settling in Rockville, where he has lived since 2002. He estimates that he gives about 60 concerts during a given year divided up equally among orchestral, chamber and solo performances. Large or small, Goldstein is excited to play for any crowd that appreciates the music.
"You play always for the people who come, not the people who don't come," he says. "The audience is the fuel. They literally lift you to another dimension."
Originally published January 2011, Frederick Magazine
DOWNTOWN PIANO WORKS AND THE BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PARTNER WITH THE FREDERICK ALLIANCE FOR YOUTH
Originally published on-line June 21st, 2010-The Baltimore Sun
By Tim Smith
Downtown Piano Works, which occupies a corner building on S. Market St. in Frederick opposite where Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in 1862, presents a classy, monthly series of free concerts in a very intimate room seating 65 people. (Think Baltimore's An die Musik, only smaller and without plush chairs.) The ambitious and generous series has been going strong for about a year and a half now, offering a substantial roster of artists, many of them heard regularly in more famous venues.
I finally got a chance to sample the action at Downtown Piano Works on Friday evening, when Amit Peled, the exceptional cellist and Peabody faculty member, gave a recital with pianist Dina Vainshtein. It proved well worth the drive, even if the program was just an hour long (not complaining, mind you -- I've become increasingly fond of short concerts).
Peled, recently featured in a performance of Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the BSO, is a commanding musician in tone and temperament. Hearing him up close reconfirmed those attributes in a big way.
Beethoven's A major Sonata, Op. 69, got quite a workout. It's possible to emphasize elegance and refinement in this piece, to keep tempos in check, and leave a great impression. Peled went for the bold instead, digging into the music with considerable expressive fire. He and Vainshtein pushed things along to bracing effect (the piano lid was up all the way, adding to visceral impact of the performance).
The well-matched players balanced the Beethoven with a remarkable rarity, a work
by 20th century Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze: "Five Pieces on Folk Themes." The bittersweet opening song and endearing "Nana" movement allowed Peled's lyrical side to bloom eloquently, while the virtuosic movements, especially the colorful, cello-only, pizzicato "Chonguri," were delivered with elan.
For an encore, there was the slow movement from Chopin's Cello Sonata, which inspired exquisite phrasing from Peled and beautifully nuanced support from Vainshtein.
The recital afforded an opportunity to judge Peled's new cello, a rich-toned Schnabl instrument recently made for him in Germany. The cellist, who usually plays on a highly-prized Guarneri, joked that this was the first time he gave a recital where the piano was was more expensive than his cello.
Peled did a lot of joking, by the way, in remarks to the audience; he's a funny guy. His amiable and inviting personality is exactly the type everyone says we'll need more of if classical music is to survive.
Originally published on-line June 21st, 2010-The Washington Post
IN PERFORMANCE: PELED FOR FREE
Cellist Amit Peled shines on free concert series
By Alfred Thigpen
Amit Peled gets compared to a young Rostropovich frequently, if unfairly. With each outing, the Israeli cellist proves to be his own unprecedented presence. And on Friday evening in Frederick, Peled left his audience at Downtown Piano Works in Frederick, Maryland visibly awed with jaw-dropping pyrotechnics as well as nuance.
This free program (part of a regular series at the venue) also featured Russian-born pianist Dina Vainshtein who, with Peled, owned Beethoven's Sonata in G Minor outright. The two locked on entrances with the same astonishing precision they employed on blazing runs, all the while conveying Beethoven's leonine roaring and contrasting lyricism with bravado and soul. Remarkably, it was their first collaboration on this work.
"Five Pieces on Folk Themes" by Georgian composer Sulkhan Tsintsadze was an unexpected treasure, with each movement possessing a strongly ethnic sense of dance, whimsy and occasional melancholy. Peled and Vainshtein captured every subtlety, expression and color of this delightful collection.
The surprise of the evening was Peled's cello. At roughly one hundredth the cost of his 1689 Guarneri, his instrument, a 2010 Wolfgang Schnabl, produced a richly voluminous sound and stood up to vigorous pizzicatos and athletic downbows. Fed up with elitism, Peled says he wants to rewrite the rules for frustrated string players longing for unaffordable fine instruments.
Congratulations to Downtown Piano Works for 20 months of free, top-quality performances. If live classical music has a viable future, it will be in part because of outside-the-box venues such as this. The next concert, showcasing the pianist Alon Goldstein, is on July 17th.
-- Alfred Thigpen
By Anne Midgette | June 21, 2010; 1:00 AM ET
Categories: local reviews
Originally published March 25th, 2010-The Gazette
IN THE 'WORKS'
Fine Artist Series brings piano stars to Frederick
By Mary Ellen Mitchell
For those well-acquainted with the charm and diversity of the arts offerings in Frederick, there exists yet another event series and performance venue to add to your list of things to do in town. For those unacquainted with the many surprises to be found here, take note and come to Frederick one night to hear a peerless group of notable classical musicians. The Fine Artist series at Downtown Piano Works promises classical music lovers a rare treat.
"Shai Wosner is one of the top classical pianists in the world," said Theresa Shykind, co-owner of Downtown Piano Works. Wosner was the featured artist on March 20. His many chamber music engagements have included a performance with members of The New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall. Additional collaborations this season have included a performance of the Mozart concerto for three pianos with Joseph Kalichstein and Alon Goldstein and the New York String Orchestra with Jaime Laredo at Carnegie Hall.
Wosner's program on Saturday included Beethoven Sonata in Eb Major "Quasi Una Fantasia, Schumann's Fantasy in C Major, Mozart's Fantasy and Sonata in C Minor and Beethoven "Quasi Una Fantasia – also known as the Moonlight Sonata.
As Wosner began to play, the room grew quiet and 65 individuals sat mesmerized by the genius at the keyboard. His ability was completely obvious even to a novice admirer of classical music. Many in the small audience remained transfixed throughout the concert and Wosner was rewarded with thunderous applause and a standing ovation after the Moonlight Sonata
Within a few hours after the concert, the Shykinds received numerous emails of gratitude for the marvelous performance.
"Thank you for the wonderful Shai Wosner concert last night," began one example. "Four fantasies, a perfectly arranged program, brilliant performances of all four pieces, simply spectacular. Such a privilege to be included."
Normally an artist of Wosner's talent would be paid an extraordinary sum for an evening's performance. At Downtown Piano Works he appears gratis – and the audience is not charged an entrance fee. Owners Theresa and Dan Shykind tell how they have found that world class performers like the opportunity to "warm up" for a larger audience by coming and playing at their intimate venue.
Word has gotten out about the space with appreciative audiences and artists encouraging each other to come and experience Frederick. Pianists of note have the opportunity to play on a Yamaha C7, a concert and artist piano used by pop stars like Alicia Keys, Jim Brickman and John Legend. Downtown Piano Works' technician spent over 20 hours prepping and adjusting the piano for Wosner. Such attention to detail earns the respect of the world class artists who play in the Fine Artist Series.