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[The below is the last version of a What’s New section I had on my web-site for part of 2008 and 2009 – I gradually revised it as the months went by. I finally retired it but you may still find it interesting reading. If you haven’t already read it, check out my current What’s New on the Home link above, or click here.]
I recently went on a very enjoyable concert tour of Europe during the month of February, giving a dozen performances in four different countries. Most of the concerts were with a jazz quartet (the other three musicians from elsewhere in New England), but I also gave three classical solo piano concerts along the way. The best part of the tour was undoubtedly the extremely friendly people we met at the different concerts, especially in our stops in Hungary and France.
We started the tour in Prague and after two engagements there we took a train out to Teplice, a smaller city in the Czech Republic near the German border. Our quartet played at a jazz club there and produced what I would consider to be our best concert of the tour, in large measure thanks to the audience, who seemed genuinely excited by our music. I was impressed that their roars of approval frequently came in response to our original compositions, which showed that they were truly focused and open to the musical experience of the moment, not simply thrilled by the pleasure of hearing a familiar tune.
We then spent four days in Hungary, mostly in the fantastic city of Budapest, whose active cultural life, organized equally by all generations young and old, I have always appreciated. The Hungarian people seem to have the most sincere love of music. In addition to our time in Budapest (where we played in two cafés and a concert hall), we also made a side trip to the town of Eger where we performed at a magical auditorium, the Ceremonial hall of Eszterhazy College. To say the hall had “powerful” acoustics would be an understatement, as even a fairly modest drumstroke sounded like a cannon-blast! Normally this is the sort of over-resonant space jazz musicians tend to dislike, so I was really proud of our group’s rising to the occasion and figuring out ways to turn the resonance of the hall to our advantage.
After a solo piano concert in Ghent, Belgium at one of my favorite music centers, the Rode Pomp, our travels took us next to France, both to Paris and to the southern and south-western parts of the country. Everything they say about southern France seems to be true. It has a most relaxing atmosphere with small towns and an amiable climate. One of the high points of the tour for me, being a “foodie,” was a great luncheon served to us in the southern town of Congénies of soup, vegetables, and all sorts of amazing French cheeses. All told, the concert tour was a nice experience, and three of the places said our concert was the best music they had ever had, which is always a nice compliment. Before going back to the USA, I treated myself to a few days in Barcelona, where I attended an interesting concert by an older Catalanian singer. The crowd was obviously deeply enthusiastic about the music, but I didn't find out why until a few days later when a cabbie driving me to the airport told me that the singer, in his younger days, had taken some positions against the Franco dictatorship which resulted in the government imposing travel restrictions on him and even imprisoning him for a time. This certainly cast a new light on the music I heard at that concert.
I kept a diary during my tour, chronicling many fascinating people I met - some real characters - while travelling through all these different countries. I hope, with the permission of the people I encounter, to turn journal writings from my various tours of Europe into something readable. This travelogue should offer a bit of a glimpse into the world of the touring artist, plus provide me with a vehicle to write some personal observations and cultural commentaries.
Once, when I was in Russia, I was interviewed on Russian television, and the reporter asked me if it felt different to give a performance to a Russian audience compared to an American one. What a great question! I have to admit I was expecting a string of “fluffy” questions, especially from a television journalist, and this one really made me have to think quick on my toes, partly to keep the conversation flowing, and partly as this interview was taking place right before I was to go on stage. My response was to say that people are people the whole world around. After the audience is seated and the hall becomes completely quiet before the first note of the concert, I can’t see how it should really make too much difference what country you’re in at that moment: in our cores, we all have a lot in common.
If you have any ideas for places I might be able to perform classical music or jazz in Europe, or know of people who might be interested in lodging touring musicians, please contact me at the telephone number listed in the contact information section directly above. I am also contemplating organizing a future tour in the Orient, where I have a special interest as my mother grew up in Korea.
The documentary film about my life and music, “Beyond 88 Keys,” was premiered at a film festival in March, 2004. The film, by Susan Bettmann, was two years in the making and contains footage from live concerts both in the United States and in Europe, along with excerpts from talks I have given about music at colleges and interview segments with myself, musical colleagues, and audience members.
The film has been screened at various film festivals and other venues such as arts centers, museums, and libraries. “Beyond 88 Keys” has been broadcast twice on public television, and received its European premiere in October 2005. The film was recently released in VHS and DVD formats for home use. For further information about the film or to purchase a copy, please click here.
I went through quite a complex of emotions during the course of the making of this film. When I was first approached by the production company with their request for me to be the subject of this documentary, I was quite surprised. A little while later, I began to feel flattered by it all. Finally, both of these emotions passed and were replaced with occasional feelings of embarrassment. It’s hard to be natural and relaxed when one’s every slight move is the focus of the constant attention of lurking camerapeople, eager to capture a candid moment. The exploration of certain episodes of one’s past one regards as best forgotten can lead to more than a bit of blushing when seen on the big screen, and when the film was completed I was quite relieved when the line between one’s public and private lives was re-established. Most people who have seen the film really like the way it came out, and I feel sincerely fortunate the documentary was under the control of such a sensitive filmmaker as Susan Bettmann.
“Beyond 88 Keys” was shown in September at The Anthology, a nice theater in New York City on 2nd Street in the East Village. A week and a half after the film was shown, I performed two live concerts in New York City at Hunter College on the Upper East Side. I gave one concert of solo classical piano music entitled “Reflections on Time’ and one of improvisation with the jazz tenor saxophonist John McKenna. Both concerts went really well musically, and I also enjoyed re-connecting with many old friends I hadn’t seen in years.
I have revised and greatly expanded the written material on this site about my jazz performance programs. If you’re interested in what I’ve been up to in the realm of improvisational music, I encourage you to click here to read descriptions of my latest jazz program ideas. I am seriously considering making a recording of my original jazz tunes; I recently wrote up little descriptions of my originals, which you can read on this site by clicking here.
Other news: My piano playing has been recently used as music beds for two DVDs of visual art. Some of my Beethoven playing, from a recording I made of the “Pastoral” Sonata, is the soundtrack for a DVD by the veteran Vermont photographer Daniel Neary, Jr. entitled “VisioNEARY: Vermont in Black and White.” The disc’s 66 exquisite images, shot between 1994 and 2004, are grouped by the season of the year. These visual scenes marry well with the Beethoven piano music, and since I live in Vermont, I”m naturally quite partial to the landscapes of this part of the world. You can order the DVD for $23 (includes shipping and handling) directly from Daniel A. Neary, Jr., 170 Perkins Rd., Montpelier VT 05602.
The unique art of Janet Van Fleet’s recent exhibits based on buttons and other real-life circular objects is the subject of two short DVDs utilizing my piano recordings. “Quantum Entanglement,” a short art film by Gail Schwartz using photographs of Van Fleet’s exhibits as the visuals, contains my playing of the first movement of Anton Webern’s reflective “Variations for Piano,” while “Circular Statements” is a brief three-part document of the art shows, with voice-over interview segments with the artist and music by Orlando Gibbons and William Byrd. The Webern, Gibbons, and Byrd music in these DVDs are material recorded in London, Ontario that will eventually be released on a commercial 2-disc recording entitled “Homage to Glenn Gould.”
In recent years, I have begun a collaboration with the author and photographer Marjorie Ryerson. Her new book, “Water Music,” contains her photographs about water along with written thoughts about water from over sixty wonderful musicians such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mark O’Connor, Taj Mahal, Midori, Renée Fleming, Pete Seeger, Carol Maillard (of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Brad Mehldau, and Bobby McFerrin. The book has been receiving a lot of attention from environmental organizations, arts groups, and government officials interested in this cultural look at water, our planet’s most essential element.
Our collaboration presents a live performance where I play water-related piano music interspersed with her reading excerpts from the book, while some of the water photographs from her book are projected by a Power Point CD onto a screen as a visual backdrop to our live readings and music, making this a true multi-media performance. I play compositions of Debussy, Chopin, Ravel, Rzewski, Britten, plus some jazz improvisations. Click here for more information about this program. We most recently performed Water Music at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we added Native American flutist Mary Youngblood to the program. This concert was specially broadcast simultaneously on the internet where people from many countries from around the world viewed the performance on-line.
I am on two tracks of a new compact disc entitled Garden of Delights by the Canadian percussionist Beverley Johnston. We play arrangements of compositions by Astor Piazzolla. I also play piano on the song “Checking In” as a duet with the guitarist and songwriter Jon Gailmor on his new CD of the same name.
New thoughts: I am wondering if it is possible to do a performance where I improvise piano music simultaneously with an artist painting or drawing art spontaneously, with both performers reacting to each other. A year ago, I wanted to do a related idea with music combined with poetry improvisation, but I couldn’t find any poet willing to improvise poetry live in public. I don’t know if any good artist might feel that to do art so quickly might be similarly embarrassing.
Another idea I have for a future project is to create an educational video about a piece of music with some interactive content so the viewer can control the depth and direction of exploration of each educational point presented. Possible pieces that might be good candidates for the subject of the disc are: Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto, Chopin’s 24 Preludes, or Bach’s Goldberg Variations. If any of you know of someone with experience doing the computer programming for such an educational product, please contact me.
Two years ago I had the thrill of playing a tune with Pete Seeger at a memorial event for a mutual friend at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. As always, his wonderful, lively sense of rhythm and phrasing got everyone singing with true feeling.
This past summer I worked on a program of music of Beethoven and Chopin (which always brings back memories of the old student days at the music conservatory). Over the fall and winter months I will be continuing to learn the piano études of Ligeti and also some pieces by Ferruccio Busoni and Joan Tower. I am also working on a new lecture-demonstration entitled “The Music of Poetry,” about the rhythms and sound qualities of classic poems through the centuries.