After last year's success, I was really excited about this year's The Piano Cloud meetup event at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Even more so once the room booking was confirmed - 2 Steinway Model D pianos!!!
Present for the afternoon were Andrew (Keyquest Music), Terry (Purple Rhapsody), Luke (Freemondo), Jacob Uhlig, Chris, and myself. Amongst a lot of chat and eating of Krispy Kremes, we enjoyed a super afternoon of music. Terry and Andrew both played pre-written pieces: Terry played a few songs from his new album Momentary Muse, including the fabulous Legions of Poppies, as well as treating us to a rare live improvisation:
Andrew treated us to 'Prelude to a Better Year', and the pair treated the rest of us to a really fun sight-read of Kevin Olson's 'Hoedown at Cripple Creek'. Andrew's good friend Chris also pleased with a few improvisations.
Luke once again showed his breathtaking improvisational ability, including a duet with Jacob. Jacob, although still very young, has recently crowd-funded and recorded a new album which will be out soon (EP available here). His 'classical new age' style has a fresh and uncluttered sound; it was a real treat to hear.
For a little fun, we also attempted 8 hands sight-reading as well as 2 explores of 8-hands 12 bar blues and 8-hands Chopsticks improv. Counting gets really hard sometimes! Having not attempted the 'group play' last year, I really enjoyed this, even though it was a real step outside of my comfort zone.
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| The Piano Cloud in Manchester |
For my part, I brought along a few improv-based pieces(one semi-written and another on the spot improvisation), a little Philip Glass, some Tolkien songs (this book is amazing! - The Road Goes Ever On) and Clara Schumann's 'andante con sentimento'. Before the event, I thought that the 'repertoire' pieces would be easiest to perform, but when I sat down to play, I was much more nervous for the Schumann. A little disconcerting, as I am scheduled to play 'andante con sentimento' in a concert next month...
All in all a fabulous day and lots of inspiration!
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