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.

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