LAKEPORT >> Elizabeth MacDougall, one of this region’s best and most prolific pianists, will take to the stage on November 19 to play Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, opus 23 with the full Lake County symphony. She interrupted one of her practice sessions recently at her home in Ukiah to talk about her love of music and why she has been playing the piano since childhood.
“I love the piano. It’s a way I emotionally express myself,” said MacDougall. “I played this Tchaikovsky piece once before in a performance with the Ukiah Symphony about 15 or so years ago. That means I am basically starting over. I have to get back in shape for a piece like this so I have it all together for the upcoming performance at the Soper-Reese.”
Keeping her fingers limber and strong is a big part of it. The other part is relearning the music.
“It is a very interesting piece,” explained MacDougall. “It has a unique combination of notes and once was thought to be unplayable due to its harmonic complexities.”
She says it is these complexities that make it so dynamic and create an emotional experience for listeners.
MacDougall’s varied musical background has prepared her well for performances of all types. She has played frequently with the Ukiah Symphony-as a soloist or with the entire orchestra. She also has performed in more casual venues like local restaurants and lounges in the greater Ukiah area, where she enjoys playing everything from boogie woogie, old and new popular standards or classical.
“I like it all,” MacDougall said. “I play pop when I play in restaurants and also like dance music, swing, and all the old and new hits.”
A graduate of University of the Pacific, MacDougall went on to get her Masters in Music at Northwestern University. For the Soper-Reese performance, she will be working with an old friend, John Parkinson, the conductor of the Lake County Symphony.
“He was teaching instrumental music and music theory at Mendocino College when he hired me to teach music there back in 1985,” MacDougall recalled. “I had been giving piano lessons to children in downtown Oakland when I heard there was an opening in Ukiah.”
MacDougall says she really enjoyed working with her Oakland students, and for a while, she worked both jobs, commuting between Oakland and Ukiah.
These days, MacDougall spends much of her time teaching piano to 22 students, (both children and adults) and still teaches a day and a night class at the college. She also found time to make a CD a few years ago of popular classical pieces.
“It was fun to do, but my favorite thing is playing for live audiences,” she said.
Settling in her home town is a move that MacDougall has never regretted. “I feel very fortunate to be living and working in Ukiah. I think it gave me more opportunities to play the challenging and diverse selections that I may not have been offered had I been living in a larger city like San Francisco or LA where the competition is greater.”
Parkinson says he is just “grateful that she was available” for Lake County’s Fall concert. “She was my first choice because she is so good and plays with such intensity and emotion. She does an excellent job.”
What makes music so rewarding for MacDougall that she puts in hours of practice for a one-time (usually unpaid) performance with local symphonies? “I don’t know. I really love doing it, I guess,” she explained.
Or, it might just be in her DNA. “My grandmother was a piano teacher. My grandfather was an orchestra director in Blackpool England. The whole family was involved in music in some way, or at least, appreciated it. My dad worked as a forester, but also played the harmonica. Mom played the piano a bit. They both thought it was good to expose children to music, so I was taking lessons from a young age.”
MacDougall started with the flute, but eventually found her way to the piano.
