The Page Turner.

As we begin another year of collaborative music concerts and recitals, I would like to offer a few thoughts and observations about that essential person on stage who will not be listed in the program, who will need years of musical training in order to read complex musical scores, who will frequently be called into service on a moment's notice, and who will be expected to perform his/her duties without compensation. The subservient page turner will only be noticed if a turn is missed, if music falls on the floor, if she wears a bright orange dress with pink flowers, or if he does an awkward slapstick fall while entering or exiting the stage. At the conclusion of the performance, the page turner will be lucky to receive a perfunctory "thank you" as the performers prepare to receive backstage superlatives and accolades from their adoring audience.

Is there any other profession where a highly trained, highly visible professional consistently works for gratis? Maybe the relationship between the professional caddie and golfer has a few shared traits. An old saying about a caddie states, "they should show up, keep up, and shut up." Some might say this is good advice for page turners as well. But the caddie has evolved. Today, the well-paid caddie is part player, part coach and part psychologist: roles totally foreign to the page turner, whose professional status has remained historically stagnant. Is it time for an annual "Page Turner Appreciation Day?"

Here are a few basic guidelines that all good page turners should follow. The page turner should participate in at least one rehearsal before the performance. The choice of clothes for the page turner is critical. Don't out dress the performers. Predominately black attire is usually safe. If you wear a tie, be sure to have a tic tack.

Ties swinging randomly above and on the keys and brushing against the hands of the performer during the turn can be quite distracting. A free-flowing, plunging neckline, that becomes the main attraction as the young female turner leans forward toward the audience executing the turn, should also be avoided. As much as possible, one should stay out of the way of the performer. Casually leaning on the piano between turns is a major faux pas. The basic technique of the turn, from the traditional left side of the piano, is to anticipate the time needed for performing the turn, then stand, reach over the music with the left hand, and secure the top corner of the right page and turn with confidence and precision on the performer's cue. How early one stands and secures the page depends on the speed of the composition and on how far ahead the accompanist reads. Other refinements, which will eliminate embarrassing moments, include the avoidance of a turn during a silent, dramatic moment in the music, as well as being secure about signs such as repeat, da capo and da segno.

Everyone has a favorite story of a page turning disaster. These blunders, funnier remembered than experienced, include two pages turned at once, music dropped in the lap of the performer or being swept away by the music and simply forgetting to turn. There was a famous piano trio performance in which the turner was continuously messing tip the turns. Finally, the pianist indignantly queries, "What is wrong with you, can't you read music?" The turner sheepishly responded, "No, I can't read music." Incredulously, when he secured a turner, the novice stage manager didn't realize that page turners needed to read music.

It is probably not practical to suggest that all printed programs contain the name of the page turner, although, even the non-speaking walk-on butler is listed in the theatrical play program. But if you do decide to list the page turner, here are some humorous program notes you should not imitate:

   Tonight's page turner, Ruth Spelke,
   studied under Ivan Schmertnick at
   the Boris Nitsky School of Page
   Turning in Philadelphia. She has
   been turning pages here and
   abroad for many years for some oat
   the world's leading pianists. In
   1998, Ms. Spelke won the Wilson
   Page Turning Scholarship, which
   sent her to Israel to study page
   turning from left to right. She is a
   winner of the 1984 Rimsky
   Korsakov Flight of the Bumblebee
   Prestissimo Medal, having turned
   47 pages in an unprecedented 12
   seconds.... Ms. Spelke performs
   both the finger-licking and the
   bent-page corner methods.
   (Source: www.unconservatory.org/humor.html)

With emerging technology like eStand, human page turners may soon become obsolete. With eStand Mobile, you can scan your music into the software program. Your music can then be read from a small, flat screen placed on the piano rack while seamlessly turning pages with a foot pedal or by simply touching the screen. Happy page turning to all.

--Paul B. Stewart MTNA President