My journey as a pianist: from student to passionate player

[rhimmon]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a bit about my journey as a pianist and some lessons I’ve picked up along the way. I started playing piano at nine years old with a dedicated teacher, and by the time I was learning Beethoven’s Pathetique, I knew I was in for something serious. High school brought new challenges as I studied under a college professor who really opened my eyes to the depth of my commitment.

Playing through high school, I won some competitions and had the amazing opportunity to perform with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. This experience was a huge milestone for me. At the Crane School of Music, I was deeply engaged and continued playing with the Crane Symphony Orchestra, which further fueled my passion. I left Crane with a Bachelor's in Piano Performance and Psychology after doing one final performance playing Rachmaninoff's 2nd piano concerto (first movement) with the Crane Symphony Orchestra (link to this performance below).

I eventually combined my love for music with a psychology PhD program, which has allowed me to explore my musical interests in new ways. Now, I play piano for the sheer joy of it, and looking back, I’m grateful for how this journey has shaped who I am.

I just wanted to share these experiences and hope they resonate with some of you!

[rhimmon]

re: post above about this performance

[bryfarr]

What area of psychology did you focus your PhD in, may I ask?

Nice rendition of Rach 2 first movment, btw.

[rhimmon]

Thanks! It's a fun piece to play.

I did my PhD in experimental psychology, specifically music cognition. I focused on time perception and musical illusions with speech. Here's my ResearchGate profile and one of my talks: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rhimmon-Simchy-Gross

[dizzyfingers]

I'm interested in the field of Time Perception, going to watch your video.
I think it's unfortunate that the modern mindset has essentially abandoned the mystery of experience, believing that science is going to explain everything, including Time.  Some science vloggers admit that we do not know what time is, but then launch into the science and math of time.  People essentially think of time as how we count seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc.  This is only counting.

Have you read Henri Bergson?  He was the strongest voice in the 1890's -1920's emphasizing the mystery of experience over the reductionism of science.  His first book was "Time and Free Will: on the immediate data of consciousness".

[essence]

St Augustine was way ahead of his time regarding time. He wrote about it in his confessions.

Well worth reading.