ENTERTAINMENT

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Steven Rosenfeld learned early on he could play by ear.

Fascinatin
Rhythm

The Institute of Music and Dance's
Steven Rosenfeld learned to
appreciate music at an early age

JUDY MARX

Special To The Jewish News

hirty-four-year-old musi-
cian Steven Rosenfeld
combines the discipline of
the classical tradition
and the outlook of a
romantic with the realities of a con-
temporary life-style.
The newly-appointed head of the
piano department at the Center for
Creative Studies' Institute of Music
and Dance recalls his introduction to
the world of the piano in a scene as
permanently etched into memory as
a Proust recollection.

One afternoon young Steven came
home from kindergarten to discover
that his parents had purchased a
piano. It was raining, and he headed
quickly into the house, entranced by
the sound of his mother at the
keyboard.
"She was a dancer. I didn't know
she could play the piano. It was the
most beautiful sound. I fell in love
with the instrument immediately?'
Soon after, however, Eva
Rosenfeld was "evicted" from her
position at the piano bench by Steven
and brother, Lon. "But when it came
to music, I guess I was the stronger
willed of the two of us, and I began

taking lessons at age six?' Lon
Rosenfeld found his strengths lay in
the world of sports, while Steven en-
joyed "going into my own space. I
guess the reason I became a pianist
is that I have a need to express myself
individually?'
Rosenfeld said he feels that there
are exceptions, but generally age
seven or eight is a more appropriate
age for most youngsters to begin for-
mal piano instruction. He explains
that by the time they have been in
school a couple of years, they should
have developed a good concentration
level. A child beginning lessons
"should also be motivated and
preferably show signs of having a
good ear.
"I've taught my share of six-year-
olds, but it's kind of rough at times;'
he says. Actually Rosenfeld said he
feels he personally is strongest today
working with intermediate level
students.
He sees those early musical years
as a reflection of a totality of a very
happy childhood. "My parents came
from two distinctly different
backgrounds. My mother came from
an artistic, wealthy European
background, my father from a poor
family in Syracuse. It was a real con-
trast."
From his older brother, who today
owns, drives, and trains race horses,
he derived a love for sports. "We
played different sports constantly, and
maybe that was why I enjoyed my
childhood so much — we were always
playing!'
Like nearly all professional musi-
cians, Rosenfeld found very quickly
that he could play almost any tune
he'd heard "by ear!'
Playing "in public" was limited to
the annual student recital until
Rosenfeld entered high school and
began entering and winning solo com-
petitions. But it wasn't until his
freshman year in college at the State
University of New York that he
seriously considered a career in
music.
His goals were centered upon a
career in performance until the last
year of his doctoral program, also at
SUNY. "Until then I never really fac-
ed the reality that few succeed on a
performing career alone. Fortunately,
I also loved teaching!'
Rosenfeld advises most students
who are interested in majoring in
music to select a university rather
than a music school. He says that the
university's strength lies in its abili-
ty to give the music student an ex-
posure to "the arts within a general
education!' He feels strongly that a
musician must be "a total person"
with one's music being "a reflection
of one's life;' not one's whole life.
As a result of his own experiences,
Rosenfeld said he believes that pro-
spective young musicians should be
told upfront that very few make it as

I

GOING PLACES I

WEEK OF JAN. 8-14

COMEDY

DUFFY'S ON THE LAKE
3133 Union Lake Rd., Union
Lake, Bob Posch and John
Cionca, throughout January,
9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays, admission,
reservations, 363-9469.
COMEDY CASTLE AND
NORTHWOOD INN
2593 Woodward, Berkley, Thom
Sharp, 8:30 and 11 p.m. today
and Saturday, Bill Engvall, 8:30
p.m. Tuesday through Thursday,
through Jan. 16, admission,
reservations, 542-9900.

THEATER

BIRMINGHAM THEATRE
211 S. Woodward, Promises,
Promises, Wednesday through
Jan. 31, admission. 644-3533.
MEADOW BROOK THEATRE
Oakland University Rochester,
Educating Rita, 8 p.m. Thursday,
through Jan. 24, admission.
377-3300.
GREAT LAKES DINNER
PLAYHOUSE
31 N. Walnut, Mt. Clemens,
Showboat, now through Jan. 30,
admission, 463-0340.
FISHER THEATRE
Fisher Building, Detroit, Tango
Argentino, now through Sunday,
admission, 423-6666.
THEATRE GROTTESCO
Henry Ford Community College
Adray Auditorium, Dearborn,
Cinderella, The Musical, 10 a.m.
Monday through Jan. 15, free,
845-9634.

MUSIC

BIRD OF PARADISE
207 S. Ashley, Ann Arbor, jazz
vocalist Betty Carter, 7:30 and
9:30 p.m. Thursday through Jan.
16, admission, 662-8310.
ORCHESTRA HALL
Woodward near Mack Ave.,
Melrose Brass Ensemble, 8 p.m.
today, admission, 833-3700.
CONCERTS IN THE
GARDEN
3000 Town Center, Southfield,
Lafayette String Quartet, 10:30
a.m. Sunday, admission,
354-4717.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL
SOCIETY
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor,
pianist Horacio Gutierrez, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, admission, 764-2538.

Continued on Page 53

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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