Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts

Photo by Alexandra DeFurio

I am incredibly stunned and honored to be awarded a two-year career grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts, which seeks to make "focused and substantial investments in a limited number of exceptionally talented young dancers, musicians, actors and visual artists as they complete their training and begin their professional life." I was nominated for the grant by the Perlman Music Program, which is one of the arts organizations the Fellowship Fund partners with. My award, which includes $50,000 a year for two years, will go towards the recording and production of a debut CD (including a newly commissioned work by an American composer), the development of educational outreach programs with a psychologist, and a recital tour of the recorded repertoire throughout the United States, implementing the educational outreach programs along the way. 

I never would have thought these artistic ventures to be possible at this point in my career and I am so grateful to receive an award that allows me to focus on my artistic development in such a special way. I'm so grateful to the Perlman Music Program for the nomination, as well as to the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for choosing me as one of its recipients. 

For press coverage, check out the New York Times announcement, as well as the Philadelphia Inquirer piece and the Philadelphia Daily News feature.

On a personal note, the news was publicly announced today, the anniversary of my Father's passing. I'm so grateful for the love and support my Father gave me; he believed in me before I knew how to believe in myself, and I think that, wherever he is, he must be beaming with joy.

Until next time,
Francesca

Lemon Layer Cake Recipe

I made this cake for my father's 78th birthday, during a summer spent at home to practice before chamber music festivals in August and to be with him for chemotherapy treatments. I didn't know at the time that it was the last birthday he would have and in retrospect I am so glad that I was there to celebrate with him. I remember making the lemon filling while trying to babysit my one year old niece Annabelle, making silly faces and jumping up and down while grating lemon zest (uh, not so smart in hindsight). I remember putting together the cake batter the next morning and running into my Dad's room to tell him he just had to come taste it. He watched me assemble the entire thing and I could just see how much it meant to him. We celebrated with a family dinner and this beautiful cake was a winner. I decided that I would make it again this year to remember his birthday.

For birthdays or otherwise, I highly recommend this cake. I found the recipe on Shauna Sever's site (no surprises there) and, though it's a bit time consuming, I absolutely love it. The filling is lemon curd, which basically tastes like sunshine in food form. The cake is incredibly moist, yet light, and the whipped frosting is the perfect accompaniment.

Probably my favorite part of the process is making the lemon curd. You begin by making lemon sugar, combining lemon zest and granulated sugar with a mortar and pestle, followed by some eggs, yolks, butter, and lemon juice. A little gelatin gives the curd some body to it, so it's not as much of an oozing mess as most fruit fillings tend to be. 

The cake batter is fairly dreamy too, I must say. It utilizes a slightly different baking process of combining the dry ingredients before the wet. The result is incredibly light and fluffy.

The assembly for me is always a bit tricky. It's difficult to keep those layers in place while frosting, so this time I used toothpicks to keep everything steady. Don't worry, the billowy frosting is so thick and glossy, it covers the otherwise unsightly holes.

There you have it. Read below for the full recipe and details. As for me, I couldn't think of a more meaningful way to remember my Dad's birthday than to smell those cakes in the oven while practicing this morning. Happy Birthday, Dad...I miss you every day.

Lemon Layer Cake (from Shauna Sever)

Yields one 9-inch, 4 layer cake

Lemon Curd

Zest from 2 lemons

1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

6 large egg yolks (save the whites for the cake!)

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and frozen

Begin by measuring 1 teaspoon of lemon juice into a small bowl and sprinkling the gelatin on top to soften. With a mortar and pestle, work the lemon zest into the sugar, until the sugar is fragrant and coated with the lemon zest oils (after using the mortar and pestle, I also gave the sugar a good mixing with my hands). Heat the rest of the lemon juice, lemon sugar, and salt in a nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot, but not bubbling. Whisk the eggs and yolks in a large, nonreactive bowl. Pour the lemon syrup into the eggs and return the mixture to the saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook the curd, stirring constantly, until it reaches 170 degrees and it's thick enough to separate by running your spatula through it. Stir in the gelatin until it dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in the frozen butter until it melted and curd is smooth. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a nonreactive bowl. Cover the surface of the bowl and chill until firm, at least four hours or up to two days.

Cake

2 1/4 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting the pans

1 cup whole milk, room temperature

6 large egg whites, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, softened and still cool

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans, lining the bottoms with parchment paper. In a large measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the milk, egg whites, and vanilla. In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, mixing on low speed. Add the butter pieces one at a time, until the mixture resembles even crumbs. Stop the mixer and add all but 1/2 cup of the wet ingredients. Beat the batter at medium speed for about 2 minutes, until pale and fluffy. While the mixer is running on low speed, slowly pour in the remaining wet ingredients and crank the speed up to medium for another 30 seconds. If needed, scrape down the bowl and mix for an additional 30 seconds. Divide the batter equally into the cake pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove them (including the parchment paper) and cool completely. 

Fluffy White Frosting

2 large egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Pinch of salt

In the bowl of a standing mixer or another aluminum bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients. Bring about an inch of water to a gentle simmer in a saucepan, placing the bowl over it and stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 160 degrees. Alternatively, if you don't have a candy thermometer, stir until the sugar dissolves and the consistency of the mixture is even. Dry off the bottom of the bowl and attach to the mixer (or set up a hand mixer). Whip the frosting on medium speed for 5 minutes, until it becomes opaque and soft peaks form. On medium-high speed, whip an additional 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes billowy, shiny, and cools to room temperature. Use immediately. 

*I have always made the lemon curd the night before, as it takes some time to zest all of those lemons and make the lemon sugar. You can also choose to bake the cakes in advance, making sure to store them wrapped in plastic and in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Assemble and frost the cake as close to serving as possible.

Until next time,

Francesca 

New YouTube Upload

While the title of this post is indeed true, the newest YouTube upload is not actually one of my performances. It is a live performance of my father performing the Korngold Violin Concerto with conductor James DePreist and the Philadelphia Orchestra in December of 1994. While I have numerous recordings of my father's performances with the orchestra (which occurred every other year for the duration of his 42 year tenure), this performance is undoubtedly one of my favorites. My father used to love watching old, black and white films with lush, hollywood soundtracks to match the old-school romantic love scenes. Korngold was actually a film composer and there are so many moments in his violin concerto which remind me of watching these movies with my Dad.

Alongside the recording is a slideshow of photos throughout my father's career, including pictures with artists such as Maurizio Pollini, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Mstislav Rostropovich, Eugene Ormandy, Beverly Sills, Zubin Mehta, Sergio Peresson, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Dutoit, and the members of the dePasquale String Quartet. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Francesca 

2012 in Photo Review

2012 was a huge year for me. Personally, professionally, it was certainly full of challenges, triumphs, and growth. As the year comes to a close, I thought I'd reflect on the most eventful moments via photographs.

I started 2012 in Sarasota, Florida at the Perlman Music Program's winter residency. This was a time of incredible personal growth for me. I had my first lessons with Mr. Perlman, began to ponder the direction of my future studies, met one of my closest friends, and experienced the true sense of the PMP "Littles" community love.

This photo was taken on my 22nd birthday, celebrated with my boyfriend and friends at the German sausage kitchen and beer house Wurstkuche in Los Angeles. Literally days after my birthday, I came down with one of the worst cases of the flu I've ever had--so bad that it actually traveled to my lungs and became pneumonia. I've never been that sick before in my life...spending those 2 months in bed and the subsequent months in such a weakened state taught me to be so grateful for good health.

In February, I had the chance to perform Haydn's Piano Trio in C Major, HOB 27 with pianist Robert Levin and cellist Se-Doo Park on Colburn's Chamber Music Society series. For the first three years of my undergraduate studies, I was in a very intensive piano trio coached by Ronald Leonard--we rehearsed for two hours every day, learned a ton of piano trio repertoire, performed throughout Los Angeles, and participated in the Fischoff Competition. This performance reminded me of my love for the piano trio chamber music medium, not to mention how inspiring it was to work with Robert Levin. It's always an incredible joy to work with a musician who is amazingly talented and very kind.

In March, I was accepted to the quarter-finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. I have always dreamed of participating in this competition and preparing for it was a considerable challenge--not just because of the sheer amount of repertoire required, but also because my father's health began to take a considerable turn for the worst during this time. Though I ultimately decided not to go to the competition, what I learned from the preparation was immense.

In April, my father passed away. This was and still is the biggest change I have ever had to deal with in my life thus far. He was an amazing father and, as I've come to realize more and more each day, my best friend. What I have learned about love, loss, and life from this experience continues to astound me. I still am trying to figure out what it means to live a life where he no longer exists.

Right before our graduation in May, my boyfriend and I decided to take a small road trip to Santa Barbara and Solvang in California. It was during this trip that I realized just how beautiful California is, how grateful I am for the past four years there, and how much I appreciate my relationship.

In May, I officially earned my Bachelor of Music degree from The Colburn School Conservatory of Music.

Over the summer, I participated in my third summer at the Aspen Music Festival and School. I was lucky enough to sit second chair in the Aspen Festival Orchestra (pictured above with Robert Chen, Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and Concertmaster of a baroque ensemble lead by Nicholas McGegan. This summer, in addition to being fulfilling professionally, was also incredibly healing--I had a beautiful home where I lived with my boyfriend and friends from school, filled with lots of love, laughter, and food.

I also attended my second summer at the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, which was amazing as always. Working with such an incredible group (the cellist just won a position with the New York Philharmonic!) and wonderful coaches, not to mention the beautiful surroundings and good food, was the perfect way to cap off the summer.

At the end of the summer, I moved to my first apartment in New York City to begin my Master's degree at Juilliard. I was so excited to finally have my own space to make completely my own and I definitely value that living in New York. In addition to the obvious things, like paying your rent and utilities bills on time, living on my own has taught me a lot!

Starting at Juilliard meant a lot of new things...new teachers, new classes, new building, new policies, and learning a whole new system, from figuring out the orchestra cycles to using the post office in the mailroom. Things were a lot busier than I anticipated during my first semester--frequently, I would get to school by 9:00AM and wouldn't leave until 10:30PM. It's been exhausting, but I feel like I finally understand how things work and have somewhat settled into a routine. I also managed to win a spot on the Concertmaster roster, which I'm very excited about! I'm hoping, now that I understand things a bit better, that next semester is less crazy and a bit more balanced.

In October, I was lucky enough to participate in Juilliard's Transatlantic Music Project. The project involved one week of intensive rehearsals and coachings, as well as two performances in New York with groups comprised of students from Juilliard and the Hochschule fur Musik in Cologne. Our final performance in Paul Hall was one of my favorite performances at Juilliard thus far and I felt very grateful to work with such beautiful musicians.

On October 17, my second niece and goddaughter Juliette Rose Johns was born!

In November, I traveled to Stowe, Vermont for a 5-day residency with the Perlman Music Program. Stowe was incredibly beautiful and, as with every PMP program, I felt a renewed sense of community and love for music.

At the end of November, my boyfriend and I celebrated 4 years of being together. Moving to New York meant that, as of September, we found ourselves in a long-distance relationship. Needless to say, that transition was extremely difficult and I'm happy to say that we are managing it very well. I still miss sharing my day-to-day life, but I feel a renewed sense of appreciation whenever we visit each other.

Just about a week ago, I helped my brother propose to his girlfriend! On her birthday, we took her to the art museum steps in Philadelphia, which has the best view of the city, under the premise of taking some birthday pictures. Instead of taking a picture, I recorded my brother dropping down on one knee and completely surprising her. She said yes and I couldn't be happier to welcome her to our family.

Finally, one of the biggest things that's happened this year was being accepted into Itzhak Perlman's studio at Juilliard. I found this concerto, with his note written over it, in a stack of old music recently. It made me realize, as I do every week in lessons, how lucky I am to learn from such a true artist.


2012 was definitely an eventful year. As we approach 2013, my resolution is simply that I don't expect anything of life. I don't mean that in the negative sense, but more so that I always maintain perspective and try to remember what is ultimately important. I hope the remaining days of 2012 are happy and wish you all a very happy New Year!

My Father

I've been attempting to write this post for quite a few days now. I keep re-writing, but despite my efforts putting what has happened into words is exceedingly difficult.

On April 8, 2012 my father passed away. A cancer patient for 13 years, things finally took a turn for the worst in the last month of his life. Beginning the day after my audition for Juilliard, my father underwent 4 surgeries in 8 days. The plan was that, with chemotherapy, he could expect 6-12 months. Unfortunately, he never recovered enough from his surgeries to begin chemotherapy and in that time, the cancer went rampant. He died from respiratory failure on Easter Sunday, while listening to a recording of the Bach C Major Sonata Adagio from my senior recital.

I'm not sure if I can ever put into words just how special of a man my father was, nor could I adequately explain how close we were.

In light of what has happened, I have withdrawn from the Queen Elisabeth competition. I have not been able to practice for the last two weeks and I simply can't go to a competition of this magnitude knowing that I am not as prepared as I should be. In one of our last phone conversations, my father vehemently told me that my decision about the competition in no way changes how proud he was of me. It's difficult to let go of something I have been planning and preparing for over the better part of a year, especially when I fought so hard to continue practicing despite the emotional turmoil of my father's illness. At the end of the day, I know that there will be many competitions and opportunities in the future. The death of your father only happens once in your lifetime.

Below are his obituary from The Philadelphia Inquirer, an article from The Strad magazine, a dedicated blog post, and a slideshow featuring photos alongside his live performance recording of Dvorak Romance with The Philadelphia Orchestra.

To the overwhelming amount of people who attended his services and the endless proclamations of love, support, respect, and sorrow--thank you.

To my father, I thank you for twenty-two years of indescribable love and support. I am so lucky to have had such a meaningful and beautiful relationship with someone as unique and extraordinary as you. You taught me to be strong and I promise you that I will be. I love you and will miss you every day, but I am glad you are no longer suffering. It still doesn't seem real...and part of me believes that it seems that way because you will always be with me. Rest in peace.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer obituary
• Article from The Strad magazine
• Dedicated blog post

Slideshow in remembrance of William J. dePasquale
July 15, 1933-April 8, 2012