WELCOME!
We wish you a time of fruitful practice, musical revitalization and relaxation.
Thank you for sharing your valuable time and your gift of music with us.
I didn’t notice those welcoming words on the program until I was back home again, putting away music and travel documents and going through papers. And there’s no better way to describe the experience of music@10,000lakes than these opening words.
Founded by artistic director Liz Wolff and co-director Jill Kilzer, music@10,000lakes is a retreat for pianists that takes place annually at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
The welcome greeting sets a focus of well-being, mutual respect and community that I haven’t experienced in this way before..
I’ve been to plenty of conferences and seminars that were inspiring and informative. Yet, there was often a feeling of underlying pressure, produced by participants’ eagerness to learn and get their money’s worth by taking in information, and the organizer’s eagerness to deliver. Tight schedules saw us rushing from lecture to masterclass, to our own lesson with a teacher and then to the concert in the evening, while trying to squeeze in an hour of practice here and there, all in the course of a single day.
The schedule at music@10,000lakes left plenty of open time for individual practice, communication with nature and good conversations with each other. On the first day of the retreat, Tadeusz Majewski gave a vivid presentation on Dances of Poland in Chopin’s music. On the second day, Rebecca Shockley shared ideas on “Mapping Music” – a technique she has developed to help with learning and memorizing music. The schedule of the retreat left plenty of space to let the information sink in.
Every evening from 7-9 we gathered for a “Musicale” in the choir room – the opportunity to play for each other. There was no program. Some participants were professional pianists and teachers. Others were people who love the piano and have taken up playing later in life. What brought us together: we all love music and we all love to play the piano – each at their individual level and ability.
Whoever felt like playing could do so – and that included Liz, who treated us to a complete performance of Brahms’ Schumann Variations on the final evening.
The spirit at music@10,000lakes was one of space, of calm and of being on the way with the shared goal of exploring, learning and, eventually, improving. Instead of playing a concert, we shared the journey that leads to the concert – and ultimately, the concert is only a milestone on a journey that knows no ending point. There’s always more to discover.
On the final evening Jill handed out blank greeting cards. She asked us to list our aspirations for the next year and write our address on the envelope. She will mail them to us in February – and hopefully, August will see us gathering at music@10,000lakes again.
Thank you, Liz and Jill, for creating this wonderful retreat, and thank you, fellow pianists, for being there and sharing.
This post is a reflection by Birgit Mazerath, pianist, teacher, writer and 2025 music@10,000lakes attendee. birgitmatzerath.com
Thank you Birgit!
music@10,000lakes 