Blacklow Practices for Perfect

Pianist John A. Blacklow '86 takes his music very personally. "Cultivating a relationship between the performer and the piece of music is essential, like making friends," says the North House Music concentrator, who usually spends from six months to a year perfecting his work on a single composition.

Blacklow practices the piano about four straight hours each day, and stresses that intense concentration on a pieces more important than the actual number of hours spent on it. "Being in the world of the piece is crucial," he explains. "I can tell when I'm not practicing well because I'm thinking about other things."

A classical music enthusiast whose taste ranges from orchestral music to Gregorian chant. Blacklow says that his taste for the piano began as early as age two. When he picked out tunes on the family's instrument. He commenced with lessons at age six, and advanced to recitals and "master classes" at ten years old.

In a "master class," a teacher instructs students in front of the rest of the class-Blacklow describes this as "the hardest type of playing situation." He adds, "at first, I saw these classes only as something to get nervous about," but he says that now he has cultivated an enjoyment for this and all types of performance.

Blacklow recalls one particular master class he enrolled in at Tanglewood one summer as the most challenging. He says that, at Tanglewood, "suddenly, nobody's impressed with what you're doing at all. They criticize and make suggestions, and can see through all your mistakes."

Blacklow adds, "a piece is something really personal that I've been working on for a long time, and they see it objectively."

Despite his extensive experience playing solo concerts and recitals and accompaniments for other instruments, the Boston native says that he would like to study the works of more composers and perhaps learn to play more instruments. In high school, Blacklow played the trumpet, but explains, "I wanted to practice two hours of that and two hours of piano, so I dropped it." Now, he is interested in taking up other keyboard instruments, like the harpsichord.

Blacklow says that he has no all-time favorite pieces of music. Although his piano teacher gives him a choice of materials to work on, he says. "Whenever I'm playing a certain piece, that's the one I love at a particular moment."

Blacklow explains that his love for such diverse activities as reading, hiking and travelling is vital to his work at the piano. "Like a writer, I have to draw on my own experience to play well."

He explains, "Many people in conservatories compete for quantitative goals, like playing nine or ten hours a day or playing as fast as they can. To me, this would be like a writer shutting himself into a room and not experiencing things. Experiences are reflected in music."

One drawback to being a piano player is that, unlike most other instruments, you can't take yours with you, and the quality of strange pianos may be poor. Blacklow says that travel can be difficult for him, because he must find a piano immediately. On a recent trip to Florida, for example, he had to obtain permission from the manager of the hotel where he was staying to use the piano in the hotel lounge during if-hours.

"When I'm playing in a public place," Blacklow says, "usually some old lady will come up and tell me her niece played guitar for a year."