Wednesday, Nov. 9 “Musician, Heal Thyself!”

9:45am Social Time Municipal Arts Ctr, 1119 5th St SW

10:00am Program Dr. James Litzelman, Pianist

In this interactive presentation, Dr. Litzelman will offer helpful methods for getting students to develop good posture and alignment right from the start. When bad habits form early, pianists are forced to make compensations, which in turn can affect their overall well-being and impede good sound production and music-making. In 1994, Dr. Litzelman was diagnosed with focal dystonia and through retraining has been able to return to performing. As a result of this diagnosis, he has spent the last 28 years investigating ways in which pianists may play in a more physiologically correct way, allowing injured pianists to become healed, and keeping healthy pianists from becoming injured.

James Litzelman, DMA, NCTM, enjoys a successful career as a pianist, teacher, and lecturer, teaching piano and piano pedagogy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He has performed and lectured in the United States, Mexico, Europe, China and Russia. In addition, he maintains an active studio at his home in Arlington, Virginia, where his students have distinguished themselves in state and national competitions. Dr. Litzelman is currently the chair of the editorial committee for the American Music Teacher magazine and is a recent past-president of the Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association.