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Piano Network UK event, 12th November

About a year ago I was invited to join the Facebook group Piano Network UK. The group is for pianists, teachers, composers, promoters, tuners, journalists: anyone with a specific interest in the UK piano scene. A very friendly bunch, as shown by the 'launch event' held in London last Thursday, 12th November. 

The event was initially booked months ago and in the meantime my diary has become very full - such that 3 hours each way to London and back became valuable downtime!  I had also booked an audience ticket rather than performer - it would have been great to perform, but a good decision in the end as I had (still have!) no brain space to prepare anything at the moment.

The meetup was held in 1901 Arts Club which is a really small, intimate venue just next to Waterloo station - along one of those curious super-narrow London streets. The ground floor was our performance space for the evening; upstairs there is a cozy bar and lounge.

Once we got started, the vibe was very much a piano group atmosphere. No pre-announced programme; Network founder/organiser Andrew called up performers, who each announced their piece; fellow organiser Lorraine was documenter-in-chief (photos and set list) Very relaxed and friendly with a generous interval/drinking time.

The repertoire choice was fabulous! A good few 'own composition' pieces (by way of explanation, 3 of the performers are/have been affiliated to The Piano Cloud, an online grouping for creative pianists) and a great selection of more traditional repertoire, as follows below. All of the own-composition pieces were superb, really atmospheric. The performances of pieces by Ireland, Scott, and Mayerl in particular captured my attention; definite ones to investigate for further listening. 

Setlist:

Andrew - Departures (own composition)
Nikolas Sideris - The King and the Dragon/The Deaf Girl's Music Box/The Cook and The Duke from "Fairyland in Treble" by Nikolas Sideris
Anne  - John Ireland The Island Spell
Peter  - Chaminade Concert Etude Pathetique
Claire  - Cyril Scott Lotus Land
Ed - Hope (own composition)
Jane - Shostakovich Preludes op.34 nos. 3 & 19
Liz  and Mark  - Rachmaninov Vocalise
Luke  - own improvisation
Marie  - Billy Mayerl Railroad Rhythm
Martin  - Nocturne (own composition)
Zheer - Ludovico Einaudi Divinere  


Great listening, and I had a fantastic time chatting to friends old and new! Just about made the train back home....
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