Hi-Desert Cultural Center Team to Take Center Stage for Innovative Music Education Session at the 2010 Intel Visionary Conference in Washington, D.C.

JOSHUA TREE, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The prestigious annual Intel Visionary Conference is now in its ninth year and scheduled for April 14–16, 2010 at the Hotel Sofitel in Washington, D.C. Policy makers, government officials, and education technology leaders from across the nation will attend the event and, on the final morning of the conference, will see and hear history in the making – while getting a first-hand demonstration of the very near future as well.  

With Radnich, touted as one of this nation's most promising up-and-coming composers and pianists, performing from Joshua Tree's Blak Box Theatre, and with Knudsen, one of Yamaha's top innovators in the area of music technology, emceeing the session in Washington, D.C., the team will lead the prestigious conference audience through a performance and demonstration of some of the most innovative methods available for music education.  

With two Yamaha Disklavier reproducing grand pianos connected to each other over the Internet, Radnich's keystrokes and foot peddling in Joshua Tree are faithfully reproduced live on the piano at the Washington, D.C. conference, with every nuance of Radnich's performance perfectly duplicated on the remote piano.  The keystrokes Radnich creates on the Joshua Tree piano are played live by the piano in Washington, and vise versa, even though the pianos are separated by thousands of miles.

The session opens with Radnich and Knudsen recreating part of their virtual performance that is currently featured at Disneyland's Tomorrowland in the "Home of the Future" exhibit.  This is followed by Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center student, Calista Frederick-Jaskiewicz, who will appear on the conference stage and receive a remote master music lesson from Radnich, followed by Performing Arts Center Director, Stephen Catanzarite, who will walk the audience through the evolution of the Center's remote learning programs with George Litterst of TimeWarp Technologies, the inventor of many of the technologies being utilized.

The session's finale will feature Radnich accompanied live in the curve of the conference piano by Patti Cohenour, originally known as "Christine Daae" in Broadway's Phantom of the Opera.  She will be singing her signature song "Think Of Me" in what might be termed the ultimate example of a "phantom" performance.   This performance with Cohenour will also include several original works from the music of MACAW, written by Radnich and arranged with Knudsen.

The application of this technology to the field of music education and learning is unparalleled, and represents a significant paradigm shift in the way that musicians may learn and practice. It enables remote music learning/teaching without sacrificing teaching quality, and in fact enhances that quality because it enables the student to be taught by a teacher who, although geographically not available, is the best match for that student – and vise versa.  

Dr. Eileen Lento, Intel's Government and Education Strategist, finds the educational ramifications truly amazing.  Says Lento, "Completely dispelling common perceptions of online learning as a dry consumption model of teaching and learning, this amazing interactive demonstration represents a truly compelling example of a dynamic and intimate online learning experience where the learner can go far beyond the technical – exploring the masterful nuances of each technique under the tutelage of maestros from around the world – all enabled by online learning!"

The non-profit Hi-Desert Cultural Center has positioned itself to open as the West Coast Internet Remote-Learning Performing Arts Center.  Already extremely active in the teaching and promotion of youth into the arts, the Center's remote music teaching capabilities will be a springboard for its continued growth and community involvement. 

Intel's involvement in efforts to improve education, particularly science and mathematics education, is a long-standing commitment for the company. Developing excellence in science and math teaching and learning is a competitiveness issue for Intel, the high-tech industry in general and the U.S. economy. Intel contributes millions annually to efforts aimed at improving education.  A focus of the 2010 conference is education and innovation which are areas of significant interest for Intel as well as the United States Department of Education. Two executives from the U.S. Department of Education will be making special remarks: James H. Shelton III, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation & Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, and Karen Cator, Director, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Department of Education.

The first Visionary event was held in March of 2001 when educators and technology leaders from around the globe came together in a landmark event. At the first visionary conference, a standardized model was developed identifying the two most effective technology paths available to schools today: an integrated technology environment and wireless.  The paper that came out of that conference continues to be accessed daily by educators, indicating that the influence of that event is still being felt today. The second visionary conference focused on the future of mobility in education and on improved student learning models.  And so continues the innovative Visionary discussion, bringing us to the ninth annual event scheduled for April 14-16, 2010 at the Hotel Sofitel in Lafayette Square.

For more information see www.HiDesertCulturalCenter.com, www.JarrodRadnich.com, www.Intel.com, www.TimeWarpTech.com.

SOURCE Hi-Desert Culture Center