An Intimate Portrait of Sidney Foster: Pianist... Mentor

by Imelda Delgado

Overview

The great American pianist Sidney Foster—distinguished professor of piano at Indiana University, and the first Leventritt Award winner—is remembered here by a former student for his outstanding ability and generous character. This book includes commentary by numerous students, professionals in their own right; Mr. Foster’s own words; and his own cadenza to the Third Beethoven Concerto for piano.

(Other compositions, including a song dedicated to Foster’s wife, a piano duet with narration, and a twenty-minute CD of his playing, excerpted from unedited live performances, are available for purchase separately from the author.)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761859352
Publisher:	Hamilton Books
Publication date:	03/22/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	162
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Imelda Delgado earned a master’s degree in piano performance (1960) at Indiana University while studying with Sidney Foster. In addition, she was awarded the coveted Performer’s Certificate for her master’s piano recital. In 1973, the Ford Foundation awarded her a two-year graduate grant to earn her doctorate (1975) at Indiana University, again with her mentor, Sidney Foster.

Her solo and chamber music performances have been in the United States, England, Mexico, Switzerland, and Italy. She has held teaching positions at Del Mar College and Corpus Christi State University (currently Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi), the University of Vermont in Burlington, Stephens College in Columbia, MO, and a one-semester guest artist teaching post at Baylor University in Waco, TX.

Currently, she performs as pianist with the Camerata del Sol Trio. Her recordings are in collaboration with flutist David Aguilar and oboist Evelyn McCarty.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Foreword by Charles H. Webb
Preface by Imelda Delgado
Acknowledgements

I. Beginnings

Early Years
Composer
The Leventritt
After The Leventritt: The Leroy-Foster-Scholz Trio
Sidney Foster and Norman Dello Joio
Stages Where Sidney Foster Walked
Evolution of Programming
Orchestral Soloist

II. Foster’s Pianism

Russian Roots, Russian Legacy
His Hands
His Piano Teachers
Where He Taught
The Pedagogue
Collaborator—Indiana University
The Concert Pianist and the Old World Scholar
Architect of Piano Performance Doctorate

III. Personals

John
Five Women in His Life
Anna Diamond Foster and Dorothy Foster Difazio
Mana-Zucca97
Isabelle Vengerova
Bronja
From The Grande Scale to Gourmet Dinners
A Little Potpourri

IV. Defining Performances

Memorial to Father (1937)
Concerto Highlights (1954)
From Fliere to Foster: To Russia with Love
(The Russian Tour 1964)
The Boston Première of Bartók’s
Third Piano Concerto (April 1965)

V. Finale

1976: A Bicentennial and a Centennial
The Final Curtain
A Farewell Letter
February 7, 1977

Appendices

Appendix A. In His Own Words: Piano Workshop
Appendix B. The Students Speak
Appendix C. Cadenza for the First Movement of the Beethoven Third Piano Concerto (1941)

Index

About The Author

What People are Saying About This

Charles H. Webb

A biography of Sidney Foster is long overdue. …a valuable contribution to the literature of musicians by gathering in one volume details of an interesting, contributing world-class pianist.

Carlisle Floyd

… Foster….expanded and illuminated my musical thinking in such a way that it really provided the touchstone for all of my musical growth since.

Thomas Mastroianni

Sidney Foster, an outstanding musical mind and a pianist of supreme artistry, was not only a great pianist and teacher but a truly exceptional human.

Abbey Simon

It is so wonderful to see such a warm book and so marvelously documented about one of the most unique virtuoso pianists I have ever known.

David Saperton

Sidney Foster is one of the elect among concert pianists and musicians of our time.

Editorial Reviews

A biography of Sidney Foster is long overdue. …a valuable contribution to the literature of musicians by gathering in one volume details of an interesting, contributing world-class pianist.

Charles H. Webb

Sidney Foster, an outstanding musical mind and a pianist of supreme artistry, was not only a great pianist and teacher but a truly exceptional human.

Thomas Mastroianni

It is so wonderful to see such a warm book and so marvelously documented about one of the most unique virtuoso pianists I have ever known.

Abbey Simon

Sidney Foster is one of the elect among concert pianists and musicians of our time.

David Saperton

In this collection, we learn how [Sidney Foster] played for the often strident Vengerova at the age of ten[.]...Foster composed now-lost works for a 1940s piano-flute-cello ensemble he performed in with Rene Le Roy and Janos Scholz, and was also a pioneer of prison concerts. He deserves celebration as an unusually thoughtful, innovative keyboard artist.

International Piano Magazine

… Foster….expanded and illuminated my musical thinking in such a way that it really provided the touchstone for all of my musical growth since.

Carlisle Floyd