PrettyInScarlett

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 ...

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...