Addendum - Ottawa Piano Group masterclass

Continuing my week of excellent piano music, last night I logged on to Skype to attend a special meeting of Ottawa Piano Group, featuring a masterclass by performer and teacher Jenny Regehr.

Jenny started the session with a short introduction on the themes of what one wants to say musically and how to say it, focusing on alignment and the importance of listening to what one is playing. She touched on the 'vibrancy' of the OPG - it seems the group has developed quite a reputation!

The three brave students for the afternoon were: Christopher, playing Milonga del Angel by Piazzolla; Nick, playing Schubert's Impromptu Op 142 No 2; and Julie, playing the 2nd movement from Beethoven's Sonata Op 10 No 1. All excellent performances, and the common themes from Jenny's analysis included comments on the melodic line and buoyancy in chordal playing - the emphasis being on constant movement and flow. It was certainly an entertaining and informative few hours' class.

Comments

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Piano salons

Catching up on LinkedIn after a vacation, I came across a link for The Saturday Piano Salon . This caught my eye as I organise and attend an adult amateur piano group here in Ottawa. The Saturday Piano Salon, based in London, is an impressive step up from our friendly afternoons, giving amateur (and semi-professional, according to their site) pianists an opportunity to perform on a Steinway Model D at Steinway Hall. I read the review of their first Saturday event with interest. Maybe next time I find myself in London...

Bits and bobs

Bit of a gig lull these past few weeks but we did go and see Walk The Line, the new film about Johnny Cash. Really enjoyed the film - even if you're not a Cash fan its a good story (and need I mention about the Oscars?) Something else to add to my list when next browsing! Back to new music, recently acquired the new Arctic Monkeys (me too) and Kooks albums (on vinyl). Not quite got all the songs stuck in my head yet but I would recommend them (despite the hype). Bonus disc with the Kooks is an acoustic session of their album recorded at Abbey Road, which I really like as acoustic that's not James Blunt!! Final bob (fraid its unrelated to music): http://www.no2id.net/. I'd like to keep my rights!

PrettyInScarlett

Search This Blog