John McDonald celebrated three decades of teaching and composing with a sprawling three-hour retrospective concert at Tufts University on Sunday, The Boston Musical Intelligencer reported.
The marathon event drew friends, former students, and fellow composers to Medford for dozens of short pieces, piano solos, and chamber works. The program’s title, “Once Down Left Once, Two Up Right Twice,” referenced the physical hand gestures and note attacks characteristic of McDonald’s keyboard style.
Organizers structured the afternoon around a massive collaborative tribute titled “36 Years, 36 Composers, 36 x 36 Seconds.” Thirty-six different writers penned ultra-short solo piano pieces for the occasion, all performed in succession by McDonald himself.
“I am a composer who tries to play the piano and a pianist who tries to compose,” McDonald famously says of himself.
Music and Memories in Medford
The celebration highlighted works spanning decades of McDonald’s creative output, from newly minted chamber pieces to complex song cycles. Karol Bennett joined the composer on stage for vocal performances, continuing a musical partnership that began when both studied at Yale in 1981.
The afternoon also honored T. J. Anderson, McDonald’s predecessor in the Tufts music department. Anderson stepped down from his professorship in 1990 and continues to compose at age 98.
“Zartbitter Waltz,” a solo piano piece composed by musicologist Mark DeVoto and played by Thomas Stumph, offered listeners a moment of tonal calm during the first half. Harmonica virtuoso Leon Li followed with a dynamic reading of McDonald’s Mahler-influenced “Counting Canto.”
Future Plans for Jamaica Plain
McDonald is now preparing to leave Medford and relocate to a new home in Jamaica Plain. Colleagues and former students expect him to remain active in the greater Boston music community despite stepping back from his university classroom duties.
“Retirement from teaching doesn’t mean retirement from composing; he should have more time for it, and we will savor the results,” Mark DeVoto told The Boston Musical Intelligencer.
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