07/06/2024
Interview With Gila Goldstein
I've admired the artistry of pianist Gila Goldstein for over 20 years. In a telephone interview last week she told me much about her life and career.
I first heard her at a 2003 presentation to the Piano Teachers Congress and the Associated Music Teachers League about composers who had to leave their homelands. I found her playing confident, compelling and imaginative. Subsequent performances have only confirmed and reinforced my initial impression. She is always musically and technically on top of the music she's playing, has a creative approach to programming, and has very fine control of soft levels of dynamics, which adds to the depth and expressivity of her playing.
The Israeli-born musician grew up in Tel Aviv. Her parents were not musicians, but her maternal grandfather was an amateur cantor who had a beautiful tenor voice and always sang. Music lessons for children were part of the culture in Israel. Gila's older sister began recorder lessons at age 6. Three years later the family bought an upright piano for her sister to begin piano lessons. Surprisingly, four- year old Gila began playing the piano, too, by ear, with both hands, and without any instruction. She played music she heard on the radio, and some of her sister's pieces. She asked her parents for lessons, but the family was advised to wait till she was six, at which time she began formal lessons.
Her first teacher was Nitza Abarbaya, who had studied with Professor Ilona Vincze, who had been a student of Bartok in Budapest. Gila described her as a very fine teacher for young children. Among other things, Abarbaya used to give lectures on jazz-style compositions for children, and brought Gila along to demonstrate.
Her second teacher, from age ten through high school, was Hadassah Ben-Haim (no relation to composer Paul Ben-Haim). Ms. Ben-Haim was a student of the Busoni student, Prof. Leo Kestenberg. She was a soprano as well as a pianist, and introduced Gila to the art of vocal accompanying. Ms. Ben-Haim had also studied with the British piano pedagogue Peter Feuchtwanger, and taught his method, which included exercises for finger independence and facility, which Gila continued to do for several years.
For her high school graduation recital (which served as her final music exam) Gila received a grade of 100%, and thus was able to enter the Tel Aviv University Rubin Academy of Music without playing an audition.
During her years at the University, and part of the time she did her army service, she studied with the Russian-born Prof. Victor Derevianko, a former student of the renowned Russian pianist/pedagogue Heinrich Neuhaus. She describes Prof. Derevianko as a wonderful, insightful and perceptive teacher who "took me to another level. He helped me to believe in myself and find my artistic voice." In her freshman year she won the annual piano competition at the Academy which awarded her a performance of the Beethoven Third Piano Concerto with the school's orchestra under the late conductor Shalom Ronly-Riklis.
Some members of the faculty, who were also members of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, joined the school's orchestra when she performed it, which made this a wonderful experience.
After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree she came to the United States. She studied for her Master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music on a full scholarship with Prof. Nina Svetlanova, also a Neuhaus student, who taught in the Russian tradition, and spoke to her about sound, shaping and voicing. "Nina was an inspiring teacher" she says.
Having had lots of experience in chamber music and vocal accompaniment Gila later worked in vocal studios and taught at community music schools. Among other positions, she worked for eight years with the Boys' Choir of Harlem, which she described as a "very special job" and toured with them, performing classical and non-classical music (including spirituals and gospel repertoire) on both piano and synthesizer.
Her academic career began as a one-semester sabbatical replacement at the University of Florida. Later she spent two years as a visiting professor at Columbus State University in Georgia. Still later she served eleven years on the faculty of the Boston University School of Music, the last three years as chair of the piano department. She also taught at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), which she described as "an incredible experience" working with gifted high school students, and chaired the BUTI piano program between 2017 and 2020.
Since 2021 she serves on the faculty of the Longy School of Music in Boston which she likes very much, as it has a "free spirited approach" and takes seriously consideration of such things as how music can help society.
She has also done a lot of traveling to teach, including numerous trips to China.
About the development of her performing career, Gila Goldstein told me "My career was built and bloomed not as a result of winning competitions but by being resourceful, organized and communicative with entrepreneurship spirit, in addition to always hard working and total dedication and passion to music."
And, indeed, she has had quite a world-wide career! Some of the venues where she has performed include:
South Bank Center in London,
Louvre Museum in Paris,
RSI auditorium in Lugano (Martha Argerich former festival)
Konzerthaus - Berlin
Bellas Artes - Mexico City
Beijing Concert Hall - China
Seoul National University - Korea
Avery Fisher Hall - NYC
Merkin Hall - NYC
Gardner Museum - Boston
Kennedy Center - Washington DC
Chicago - Symphony Hall
Tel Aviv Museum - Israel
Henry Crown Auditorium in Jerusalem
Also important in her career has been her involvement with the American Liszt Society (ALS), of which she has been a board member for many years, and the ALS New York chapter, which she established in 1992. "The American Liszt Society has been instrumental to me in meeting new friends and colleagues, and connecting with many wonderful and distinguished fellow pianists, pedagogues and scholars" she said.
Making recordings has been an important part of her work, especially concerning music of Israeli composers. She has recorded two volumes of piano and chamber music by one of Israel's most prominent composers, the late Paul Ben-Haim (1897-1984), and is currently recording "24 Preludes of Dusk and Dawn" by Ronn Yedidia for release early in 2025 by Parma Records on their newly acquired Albany label.
She also has a new release out on the Centaur label featuring music by Latin American composers including music by Villa-Lobos, Guastavino, Lecuona, Piazzola and Ponce. Her own arrangement of Piazzola's "Oblivion" is part of this recording.
Gila Goldstein's novel programming of recitals is worthy of mention. In my book "Afterthoughts of a Pianist/Teacher - A Collection of Essays and Interviews" I wrote about a recital she gave some years ago. "Bartok, Prokofiev, Janacek and Medtner were the old classics. It also featured music by four contemporary composers. This concert made me think about how creative, well done, and relevant the piano recital can still be in the twenty-first century."
In explaining how that program came together she said:
"These were all eastern European composers of the early 20th century. Loved the music! I didn’t choose it because I wanted to create this theme. I chose the Janacek "In the Mists" and Prokofiev's Second Sonata and then realized that they were composed the same year! So then a theme was created, and I wanted to add works that would match the time period. Therefore I revived the Medtner Fairy Tales, which I had played some years before, and learned Bartok's 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs. One Czech, one Hungarian and two Russians." Then she added "And I always try to play music by Israeli composers in my programs."
What does Gila Goldstein have to say to the young musicians of today?
She said that the talent in this generation is "incredible" and added she is glad that so much music is accessible via technology, on so many platforms.
"They need to be realistic but should follow their dreams."
"You may not get to play in Carnegie Hall, but if you really wish to keep performing, you can! You can create your own opportunities. Be creative, versatile, always study/read/listen, keep developing your musical skills, and expand your knowledge."
"Keep playing!"
Donald Isler
