In praise of amateur musicians

Since moving to Durham I have been looking for fellow amateur pianists, with some success: the inaugural 'Durham Amateur Pianists' group met earlier this month and another meeting is scheduled for October. I also attended 2 other amateur piano events.

Chris Jolley on the Yamaha piano

First up on Wednesday was Gateshead Piano Workshop, a montly event held at Caedmon Hall in Gateshead Library. The established workshop features teacher and performer Venera Bojkova. The programme, pre-announced about 2 weeks beforehand, included Brahms' Op.117 Intermezzo in Eb; andante from Sonata in C K545 and adagio in B minor from K540 by Mozart; and the last 4 from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky. A really friendly and informative evening!

Something slightly different yesterday, as I went to Manchester for the UK meeting of online group The Piano Cloud. The Piano Could is a SoundCloud and Facebook group whose members encompass all genres and abilities including a lot of very talented composers and improvisers. I have been a member since April and this was the first opportunity to put some faces to names. Also in attendance yesterday were Chris (also website and Facebook), Kevin, Terry (also website and bandcamp), Luke (also bandcamp and Facebook) and Fivos (plus photographers Karen and Sara). 5 hours of truly wonderful and inspiring performances - including fabulous from-scratch improvisations. I brought along favourites by Massenet, Ravel, Maria Szymanowska and Ólafur Arnalds. One of my favourite moments was playing Arnalds' Erla's Waltz, around which the others then improvised. Amazing! Fivos, as well as other excellent compositions, also played an inspired boogie version on Für Elise. The room at the RNCM had 3 pianos: Yamaha baby grand and upright, and Blüthner baby grand. This was my first opportunity to play a Blüthner and it didn't disappoint. The oldest of the 3, the touch on this piano was a tiny bit uneven/sticky in places but the sound was just wonderful.

group improvisation - Blüthner on the right

From the 2 events my head is now full of inspiration and new ideas.

Angela Hewitt Week, 14th-20th May 2012

I just received information from a friend about Angela Hewitt Week in Ottawa, 14th-20th May as declared by Mayor Jim Watson. Ms Hewitt is performing with Chamber Players of Canada on Friday 18th May; there will also be An Afternoon With Angela Hewitt on 20th May at the National Arts Centre hosted by the Canadian Friends of the Trasimeno Music Festival .

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 .

Mini update

I have finally sorted out my site links to reflect some new/renewed interests and my current location. We have something of a National Arts Centre bonanza shortly: I had already booked to see Angela Hewitt on 16th Feb but found a good ticket offer on LivingSocial.com to see Radu Lupu this coming Wednesday, 26th. In addition to all that, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross (his recent book, Listen To This , is excellent, as well as his previous tome, The Rest Is Noise ) is giving a talk there on 13th February. This is all followed in March by a complete about turn to the Bronson Centre to see Finnish band Apocalyptica . They have been somewhere on my radar for a while but I was spurred on to book tickets after a bout of nostalgia. M and I were regular visitors to Wolverhampton UK to see various bands at Civic Hall/Wulfrun Hall; a few months ago a mutual friend posted on that there Facebook thing about seeing said Apocalyptica at Wulfrun Hall. Nostalgia for the venue and renewed intere...

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