Candlelight dinner with solo piano

It’s been 8 years since I last played background music as a solo pianist. When I was resident pianist at a London hotel, I blogged about the interesting conversations I had with hotel guests and what I thought I should play for the 3 hours in each of the 4 evenings per week. I came to the conclusion that a variety of music was a sure way to please everybody. I also recalled that background music required a balance of the familiar and the unfamiliar, including the familiar played in an unfamiliar way.

At times it did not feel like background music, but rather foreground music. When the people gathered around me and got involved in what I was playing, I felt like anything but a hotel pianist.

Tonight’s 2 hours at the white grand piano reminded me of those winter months in London when I sight read and improvised new selections every evening. Eight winters later in tropical Hawaii, I was not in a hotel but in an upscale holiday home where the residents could stay for long periods and get chef-prepared meals several times a day. There’s a swimming pool outside. It’s in the touristy area of Kihei on the south west side of Maui.

White grand piano in Kihei, Maui

Tonight’s selections (in order of play):

1. Blue Velvet
2. Que Sera, Sera
3. Tango in D by Albeniz
4. Arabesque no. 1 by Debussy
5. Traumerei by Schumann
6. Nessun Dorma from Turandot by Puccini
7. Pachelbel’s Canon in D – jazzy version
8. Tea for Two
9. Diana
10. Main theme from “Forrest Gump”
11. My Heart Will Go On, theme from “Titanic”
12. Volare
13. The Pink Panther
14. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
15. Nessun Dorma  (request)
16. Theme from “Terms of Endearment”
17. Theme from “On Golden Pond”
18. Clair de Lune by Debussy
19. Yesterday (2007) – arranged by Anne Ku for ensemble
20. Theme from “Jurassic Park”
21. Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman from “Don Juan DeMarco”
22. Over the Rainbow — my arrangement of the popular Iz reggae version

Dinner ended half-way through “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” As the guests entered the hall way and sat down, I was suddenly aware that I was no longer playing background music. The first request was “Nessun Dorma.” I had already played it earlier, but the gentleman wanted to hear it again.

“Will you come back?” several guests asked when I ended.

“Tell the management you want me back,” I said.

From Maui to Maine: guitar meets piano

An extraordinary event is set to happen on Sunday 13th February 2011 at 7 pm in Wells, Maine.

Classical guitarist Robert Bekkers will travel from the sunny tropical island of Maui in Hawaii, crossing an ocean and most of the North American continent to the snow-covered town of Wells, Maine. There, he will give a concert with a pianist he has yet to meet — Greg Hall.

Pianist Greg Hall, also known as Gregory Hall, is a composer, pianist, and improviser. He gives regular weekly live concerts in “Second Life” where he is known as Tip Corbett. Below is his avatar.

Pianist Greg Hall, a.k.a. Tip Corbett in "Second Life"

On Sunday 13th February 2011, Greg Hall will appear in real life as himself.

Where is Wells, Maine? Robert Bekkers will take the 1.5 hour train ride from Boston going north. It will be an adventure in New England, now covered with snow.

Snow-covered garden of the house at Meetinghouse Road, Wells, Maine

What a change in weather it will be for Robert Bekkers who has been exploring Maui since Thanksgiving Day 2010 when he ended his coast-to-coast concert tour of mainland USA.

View of Maui from a 4-hour hike

Together, Greg Hall and Robert Bekkers will revive that 19th century tradition of cozy house concerts when musicians played music they wrote (compositions) or music not yet written (improvisation). Back then, musicians were both performers and composers.

Bekkers has arranged a number of pieces for piano and guitar, performed and recorded but not yet published though highly sought-after. Hall’s repertoire can be heard online in “Second Life” as well as from his website.

They will play two sets solo — and join the two sets with duo improvisation and sightreading. It is probably the first of its kind.

Bekkers’ solos will be extracted from his “Cappricho” programme (2 page PDF): virtuosic works of Villa-Lobos, Brrios-Mangore, Brouwer, Bach, Walton, Martin, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

Both Hall and Bekkers will be signing their solo and duo CDs during the intermission and after the concert when guests are encouraged to stay and chat. Bekkers is currently producing CDs of live recordings of two concerts of his own piano guitar duo.

For more information, visit Gregory Hall concert announcements, Bekkers Piano Guitar Duo concert agenda, or download the one-page PDF.

GUITAR MEETS PIANO

Greg Hall, piano and Robert Bekkers, guitar

Sunday 13 February 2011
Doors open 6:30 pm for 7 pm concert
Suggested donation $10 at the door
Guests are welcome to bring their own drinks to share (BYOB)

Reservations requested
Free parking
169 Meetinghouse Road, Wells, Maine
Meetinghouse Concert Series

A percentage of the proceeds will go towards the selected charities of the late owners of this house: Animal Welfare Society of West Kennebunk and Maine Children’s Cancer Program, in memory of Dennis and Nella Hudon.

Steinway grand piano at Meetinghouse Concerts

House concert formula a la Jeff Abrams in Houston

One of the aims of our USA concert tour 2010 was to discover best practices in house concert production. Producing a successful house concert requires experience and know-how. We define success as meeting the expectations of all stakeholders: venue host, performers, audience, etc.

Performers feel rewarded by a full house, an enthusiastic and appreciative audience, a return invitation, sell-out of CDs and merchandises, and remuneration.

Bekkers Piano Guitar Duo concert in Houston Photo: Melissa Noble

The Glass Vase Concert we had organised in our Monument House Concert Series in May 2010 was a prelude to the house concert we gave in the home of Jeff Abrams in Houston, Texas. I say prelude because we designed it to mimic what we thought Jeff Abrams did for his concerts. A passionate supporter of the arts, Jeff Abrams has been hosting and producing house concerts for nearly 15 years. He has a strategy for getting full house concerts. We wanted to learn how he did it —- and we experienced that in the run up to Sunday 14th November 2010.

House concert in Montrose area, Houston, Texas Photo: Melissa Noble

Some key success factors:

1. Build a big mailing list. Not everyone can come. The larger the list you have, the greater the chance you’ll get a full house. Cast a wide net and you get more fish.
2. Send out your e-mails not just once, but several times in different ways to remind people.
3. Word your invitation to sell, promote, and persuade. Don’t just announce but actively get people to action.
4. Choose your dates and times carefully. If it’s a Sunday, start early and expect to end early as people go to work on Mondays.
5. Promote your concert with another concert. Get people to get a taste of the artist elsewhere. In this case, Robert Bekkers played a few solo pieces in a concert the previous evening.
6. Allow (and invite) people to stay after the concert to get to know the artists, buy CDs, and “jam” with the artists. For some people, the jamming or free improvisation is a lure.
7. Ensure there is something to eat and drink so people will stay and not leave immediately. Networking is an important part of building a return following.

We had a few surprises that Sunday evening at Jeff Abrams’ home in the Montrose area of Houston. The music stand on the piano fell forward when I turned the page of the Aranjuez Concerto. Luckily my friend Wendy jumped to the rescue and held it so I could finish the movement. She reminded me later that this had happened years ago when we were in high school in Okinawa.

Another surprise was getting photos and videos of our performance. Melissa Noble, who also volunteers as a radio announcer on KPFT Pacifica Radio Network, asked for permission to record our concert. We have learned from past concerts that we should never refuse such an offer from professional photographers and videographers. Thank you, Melissa!

Jamming to Pachelbel's Canon Photo: Melissa Noble

What surprised me most was how fluidly we improvised to Pachelbel’s Canon in D (though we transposed it to C) after the concert was over. By the time we finished talking and the majority of the guests had left, we felt it was time to jam. We moved back into the piano room. I explained the circle of 5ths and started round the clock with a C major chord followed by G major and then the corresponding relative minors A minor and E minor. With Robert on the guitar and me on the Chickering grand piano, we formed a nice back-up for others to join in the jam. Jeff caught on quickly with fast runs on his silver flute. Others drummed on.

Jam session in Jeff Abrams' house concert Photo: Melissa Noble

It was a brilliant end to an unforgettable week in Houston, Texas. Thank you, Jeff!

Glass Vase Concert in Utrecht to support young musicians

The Glass Vase Concert on Sunday 23rd May requires no advance reservation (unless you want dinner). It’s free entry.

Well, not REALLY free. There are costs we have to cover to make it feasible.

We suggest a minimum donation of 10 euros into the GLASS VASE to support EACH concert. There will be coffee, tea, home-baked pastries, and other refreshments of course.

One unique aspect of this house concert is the free-for-all jamming after dinner. Guests can perform. They can improvise. Guests can jam with the musicians.

It started with an e-mail from a Shanghainese tenor asking if he could perform his final exam concert in our Monument House Concert Series. Then I heard from a Russian pianist about a Dutch pianist who wanted to give her solo concert. So I broadcasted to my musician friends on Facebook to see if anyone else would like to participate.

House concerts with attentive audience in relaxing home environments are ideal for those musicians preparing for competitions or final exams (both Bachelors and Masters). I recruited a few more musicians who have already graduated but are still early in their professional careers to make it a full-blown concert.

The list of musicians grew. The programmes grew. It is no longer one concert, but four different concerts — from Baroque cello to modern voice/piano improvisation. Solo. Duo. Trio. There’s Italian aria. There’s virtuoso piano solo. I will only get to play 10 minutes with French horn and guitar from 2 pm to 11 pm. The rest of time, I will play hostess.

Actually, it began earlier than that. As producers of the Monument House Concert Series, we get unsolicited e-mails from musicians who want to tour Europe. They google “house concerts” and somehow find our website. Most of the time, we are too busy with our own performances elsewhere. But occasionally, we get excited about hosting and producing concerts for other musicians.

Then there are those, just like us, who organise and produce concerts from their homes. What is the secret to a successful house concert? [This is the subject of a forthcoming blog.]

Hungry musicians eager to play — can’t eat before they play — and thus get very hungry afterwards. Join us musicians for authentic Egyptian dinner (15 euros advance reservation or 20 euros at the door). Wine will be sold separately at 1 euro per glass, to cover the costs of good quality wine.

Robert spent an entire evening tonight (5 hours) brewing his special red-coloured, double hopped ale for this occasion. He finally gets his chance to share the fruit of his passion —- in glass mugs he designed, using the MONUMENT HOUSE crest. These mugs will sell for 9 euros each. If you already have one, bring it to get your beer (1 euro each serving).

I should write another blog about the music that will be played.

Improvising piano guitar in Belgium

Live music performance can get everyone’s attention and even unify a group. It can also give rise to meaningful conversation afterwards.

At the opening of the new exhibition at Artonivo Art Centre in Brugge, Belgium on 26th February 2010, I told the invited guests about the Creative Encounters in Crete experience.

Anne Ku introduces the experience of Creative Encounter in Crete, photo: Liz Miller

Afterwards I played something I wrote a few years ago on the electric piano, explaining the kind of conversation that could take place between two strangers, hence the title “Encounter” or “Ontmoeting” in Dutch.

Where was the guitarist? I didn’t want to play another piano solo. I am too used to playing duo these days.

“Robert?”

“Yes?” I heard a voice from the back.

“Are you there? Are you ready?”

Robert Bekkers joins Anne Ku on stage in Belgium, photo: Liz Miller

“Ah! You blew my cover,” he said as he walked on stage. He thought I was going to play another piece.

Now, I can’t remember if we played our arrangement of Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Or if we ended with an improvisation. Nothing was recorded. But I do remember the reaction of the audience.

We had talked about improvising many times. But it was the first time we improvised before an audience. The concept of improvisation is simple: you have a conversation through music. You don’t know a priori what to expect. You just have to go with the flow.

Unlike jazz improvisation where chord progressions do matter, contemporary “art music” improvisation is about gesture and communication. You don’t need perfect pitch to play the right notes. The notes don’t matter. Without the constraints of melody and harmony, we’re free to explore other territories of rhythm, dynamics, and self-expression.

The audience watching Robert Bekkers and Anne Ku at Artonivo, photo: Liz Miller

The next day we met with Liz Miller, the photographer whose polaroid exhibition is currently on display in our monument house in Utrecht. “What did you think of our performance?” I asked.

“I love the improv!” She was sure everyone else loved it — more than my composition or the Vivaldi.

“But we didn’t even practise for it. And I’m not sure we will be able to repeat the same improvisation again,” I said.

“That’s precisely why it works well here,” she said. “We were the only ones to have seen that improv.”

Notice the word “seen” not “heard.” An improvisation has to be seen, for it’s about gestures and expression.

No live performance is ever the same. We can play the same piece over and over again. Each time it will be different. However, no improvisation can ever be repeated.

Live music cannot be captured in a bottle or caged in a glass container for all to see, like the items Liz collected from Crete (below).

Display by Liz Miller at Artonivo Art Centre, Brugges Belgium, photo: Liz Miller

It can be recorded. But it will never be live.