Replaced by a string quartet

It’s 8 am in London. My next door neighbor starts practising promptly. I have only met his wife who explained yesterday that he had a concert that evening. They moved into this neighborhood, what, 4 ? 5 years ago. Yet I never bothered to get to know them because one of them smokes, perhaps even both, albeit outside. The cigarette smoke drifts into my garden. And for that, I did not bother to get to meet, much less, know this virtuoso Russian concert pianist.

As the “Flight of the Bumble Bee” wears on, I find myself as the beneficiary of live background music. Ten years ago, I housed a young pianist who practised this exact piece every day while I made my move to the Netherlands. I could only imagine what my neighbors experienced through the brick walls.

Just last week, I unpacked my suitcase to the live background music of the classical guitar — Robert practising for his 3 gigs.

The third guitar concert culminated in Mauro Giuliani’s Theme & Variations. It was a piece I knew like the back of my hand. We went through it many times, the guitar struggling to be heard, the piano unresponsive and unsympathetic. After many years of tug and war, I finally relented.

The guitar cannot sound well if the guitarist has to force it to sound louder than the grand piano. Although it is absolutely possible, as Amsterdam-based composer Allan Segall proved in his first piece for piano and guitar, in most other cases the guitar has to struggle and the piano has to give in. The traditional way in which the duo is written assumes the piano is a fortepiano or some other subservient predecessor of today’s modern piano.

So Robert upgraded to a “concert guitar” — built to match the concert grand piano.

But I still had work to do. I had to constantly adjust to the volume and quality of the guitar sound.

There in Williams Hall at the New England Conservatory, on Tuesday 8th May, at approximately 9 pm, Robert performed Giuliani’s work with a string quartet. The four string players, by sheer nature of their instruments, brought out infinitely more color and texture than I could produce with 88 keys. Each of their four strings was a different instrument. They had the bows to help produce sound at different parts of the strings. They could pull, pluck, strum, hit, and more.

I sat back, resigned to my fate.

I had been replaced by a string quartet.

In the simplest case, my right hand was replaced by two violins and the left hand by the viola and cello. Thinking like this, every piano guitar duo piece can result in guitar and a string quartet or wind quartet or other combinations.

My eyes moistened as I thought of the years of preparation that led to this day. The guitarist can go on — playing solo with other instruments.

The pianist?

I’ve sold my Gerhard Adam grand piano in this Victorian cottage where I experimented with chamber music, house concerts, and eventually decided to pursue a degree in music. My Steinway Grand is sitting in a piano shop in Zeist, the Netherlands, waiting to be noticed, tried, and bought.

And I?

I have returned to where it all began. No piano. No audience. No house concert, but neighbor to a concert pianist who practises all day long.

C’est la vie.

Aranjuez Concerto in the garden of the Victorian Cottage in London, July 2002

Positive feedback

This compact Victorian cottage has excellent feng shui and a history of house concerts that made the neighborhood a community. Shortly before I left London, I set up the Neighborhood Watch which became a resident association. Soon I will experience that familiar feeling of “coming home” once more.  Below are examples of positive feedback from satisfied tenants.

Garden at Victorian Cottage in London

Historians from Canada and USA, October – November 2008	The house was lovely, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to have a proper home. I’ve been researching with much less comfortable housing for the past three weeks and I definitely miss it.Thanks again for everything. I’ve really loved staying in your house. It’s a wonderful place.
Medical doctor, nurse, and young daughter (3) from Alaska, Jan – July 2008	We are going to have so many fun memories. Icing on the cake to a great sabbatical in London. Thank you so much.
Family of four from New Zealand: grandparents & two grandchildren (10 & 12), July 2006	We would recommend it to anyone considering renting the house! We were all very happy there and enjoyed our holiday immensely.The cottage is ideally situated – sunny and comfortable. Quiet location – handy to all facilities. The house is very well equipped – everything we needed for a family stay. We had a most enjoyable time and, although it was only for three weeks, the house was soon referred to as “home” – such was the pleasant atmosphere that has been created.
Family of four from abroad, 2004-2006	We took a long let (18 months) at this lovely property and have not regretted it for one minute. The house has an ambience that makes it a home. We have two small children and there was plenty of space for them to play in the living room, the dining room and the tiled, walled garden with its gorgeous camellia.It was lovely in summer or winter to stroll in Fielding Walk, which the back garden overlooks, while the close proximity of Lammas and Walpole Parks were such an advantage for the children. The play centre in Lammas Park is a wonderful free resource and close by Fielding School has a great reputation. Street parking has never been a problem and the tube is just a few minutes walk away, great for getting to Heathrow or going to the West End for a night. The local shops were a few minutes walk away and bigger supermarkets just 15-20 minutes walking or a short bus ride. We felt like we were living in caring community where neighbours are neighbourly, helpful and friendly and our landlady, Anne, very easy to get along with. Thanks so much Anne and Robert. When we are settled back in our home country, please come and visit us.
French/Chinese couple (30′s) with 6 year old son, January 2004	We stayed in Anne’s house for five weeks before moving to our own.Anne’s house is lovely and comfortable, especially the very bright kitchen with a view to the garden.The house is in a quiet and convenient area (for those who take the tube). We really made ourselves feel at home in Anne’s house, partly because Anne is a very nice and understanding landlady (not easy to find in London)!!
3rd generation Irish single, harpist, 40′s	As always, one instinctively knows within minutes of walking in the front door, whether or not a house would be a happy place to make your home. On my first visit to Anne’s home, I instantly knew that this house had been given much love, care and attention over the years.The nice exceptionally clean and bright dining room and kitchen are very romantic. The rear walled garden is where we had the most rememberable barbecue last summer, I remember playing harp in the garden after the party till the early hours. The house is in such a quiet road, I slept so well and felt I was on holiday there !
English/American single, pianist, 20′s, Sept-Dec 2003	Anne’s house is a haven of peace and tranquility, the kitchen is modern and very cosy and the antique wooden floors and white walls make the whole house very furbished and very clean with a rich Victorian feel. I loved staying there, there’s lots of room, lots of people could stay as there are 2 bedrooms and a completely furnished loft. You won’t find another house like this that you can rent in Ealing.The garden is very peaceful and extremely well kept and has the been the scene of many garden parties and barbeques. Everyone who has stayed there, including me, have felt disappointed to leave.
English/Italian single, pianist, late 30′s	Anne’s house offers the perfect ambience after a busy day in London. Situated down a pretty tree-lined avenue, the 10 minute walk from the tube station is well worth the effort.Inside there is everything you need: a well equipped kitchen, spacious dining room and lounge, quiet comfortable bedrooms and a modern stylish bathroom. The house is also within easy reach of late night convenience stores, restaurants and take aways.

100,000 visitors to the Concertblog

Wow!

How did this happen?

During my 12-hour sleep when the full moon travelled from the east to the west?

Why is 100,000 a significant number? Is it really time to celebrate?

My piano classes met for the last time this spring semester: a final exam that gave them confidence to perform well in the final recital.

Why is it that the pace seems so slow when the numbers are low? After some point, time seems to zip by. The difference between 99,000 and 100,000 seems miniscule compared to 1 and 1,001.

Why is that?

It’s been just over 4 years since I began blogging about our piano guitar duo’s adventures.

I’ve been yearning to write about other things: electric vehicles, the path to simplicity and nothingness, quenching desire, and changing oneself.

Many people have asked me,”How do you manage to make a living in paradise?”

I reply, “First you need to be able to let go. Start by getting rid of clutter. Lessening your load. Otherwise you can’t leave.”

Now I am returning to London where my memories live in the paintings on the walls, the second-hand furniture, the dishes that served many meals, and my boxes of books and knick-knacks.

Letting them go will be the final frontier. I will walk down memory lane once again, reluctant to part.

Classic FM London in Maui

With internet radio, I can listen to practically any station in the world anywhere.

This morning I’m listening to one of my favourite stations — Classic FM. It’s the station that accompanied those years I lived in London, educated me the composers and their works that laid the foundation for my interest in classical music. I had Classic FM Radio on all the time — first as background music and then as a necessity to my daily life.

Later when I studied music history in Utrecht, Netherlands, I learned to appreciate how accessible the radio programmers made the music to the audience.

Today I am in my home in Maui — a sunny day like any other. The outdoor washing machine is on. I am indecisive about going swimming. The day is young. I switch on to Classic FM at 10 am HST: David Mellor’s special edition of St Patrick’s Day tribute. It ended with an orchestral arrangement of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”

Thereafter John Suchet presented Beethoven: The Man Revealed. His perspective was from that of Beethoven in love. Each time he fell in love, he wrote a piece. The stories behind the Moonlight Sonata, the Appassionata Sonata, and Fur Elise are simply fascinating.

Listening to Classic FM London in Hawaii makes me realise that it’s possible to have the best of both worlds.

I find myself doing my filing and my chores as background to active listening of Classic FM from London.

Getting close to 94,000

Whenever the total number of visitors inches towards the next notch of 1,000, I feel an urge to write a blog post.

Somehow, knowing that I can influence my blog statistics gives me a sense of urgency and power.

But the visitors that arrive at the Concertblog are not necessarily lured by the latest blog post. There is a time lag. Search engines drive the traffic here.

Originally this blog was intended to chart the adventures of our piano guitar duo as we travel and perform in Europe, USA, and Asia.

Except, we are now on sabbatical.

Robert is pursuing his doctorate in the musical arts (DMA, for short) at the New England Conservatory in Massachusetts. I am teaching piano and running a electric vehicle project in Hawaii. We don’t get to perform or rehearse together.

You can find our music online in video format (youtube) and discography.

Below is probably one of our earliest rehearsals captured on video — in Ealing, London, 2003.

5 steps to concert promotion

One of the most read posts in this blog is “Getting people to come to a concert.” Another name for this exercise is audience development. One goal is to get enough people to come to a concert so that your costs are covered and you can even get a return. Another goal is to have these people that come to your concert come to  your next one and, even better, they get others to come.

The first concert may be a lot of work (to promote). Each subsequent concert should get easier. After you’ve built a reputation and a mailing list, you should get a full house every time.

Empty seats before the first concert at the Monument House Utrecht

In the last 10 years of experimenting with different ways to get people to come to my concerts, I’ve identified 5 steps that have worked for me.

1. Identify who you want to come to the concert.
   This is where you have to analyse your audience make-up. In Houston, I brought my colleagues. In London, I invited my neighbors, colleagues, and new contacts. In the case of Monument House Concert Series in Utrecht, Netherlands, I wanted new people to come so that they can experience the authentic house concert tradition. I knew that previous guests would always come because of the sticky nature of such intimate occasions. I also knew the viral nature of word of mouth. But it was getting new people that was the challenge. If I only expected the same people to come every time, our concert goers would have been a clique.
2. Analyse the lure.
   What is the ace of spades? Is it the music? The performer(s)? The composer(s)? The audience? (People want to come to be with other people they expect to see there.) The venue? The occasion? The date/time? (nothing else better to do). The theme? (benefit concert). Identifying the ultimate lure is the key to a yes.
3. Figure out where these folks are located, i.e. how they can be reached.
   You may start with the low hanging fruit, i.e. your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Beyond that, how do you find your audience? Where do they hangout? Music stores? Music libraries? Music colleges? A concert? How about music lovers groups on Linked-In?  ”If it’s fish you’re looking for, why climb trees?”
4. Use the right communication tool.
   Some folks read their emails and act. Some react to newspaper ads. Some listen to the radio. There are online, offline, face-to-face communication methods. You might have to try everything. See “concert promotion by other media.”
5. Write. Rewrite. Format. Reformat.
   A concert invitation is different from an announcement. You have to write to persuade. You may even have to put a personal touch to it. The result you want is action — which leads to a full house and a guestbook that looks like this.

The secret to success is your mailing list. The bigger it is, the higher the chance of drawing an audience. Mailing lists get built over time not over night. This is the subject of yet another blog post.

Concerts for free or nearly free

Search for “classical concert etiquette” and you will get guides like this one and numerous others. These articles are well-written. It would be superfluous to write more about this subject. In thinking about advice for first-time concert goers, I recall how I became an avid concert goer. It began with the word FREE.

When I lived in London and learned of the free concerts at the local music college, I was curious if I could or should attend. I would show up for a lunch concert. Sometimes there were more people on stage than in the audience. I would make eye contact and feel somewhat uncomfortable because I had seen them before. Perhaps elsewhere in town or at a previous concert, I was not sure. The discomfort could also be described as a kind of guilt. It was a free concert. What did I do to deserve a free concert? It was sheer indulgence for me —- I had the time and interest and desire. The discomfort could also be described as a kind of trespass. I was neither a student nor an employee. I merely lived in the neighbourhood.

After I became a “regular,” someone from the college introduced himself to me and talked to me.  I gasped. I was not invisible after all. Somebody noticed that I had been faithfully attending these free concerts. Was it time to cough up and pay? [It's so English not to say anything unless you are introduced. Self-introductions are an American phenomenon.]

It wasn’t until I enrolled as a full-time conservatory student in the Netherlands, that I saw the concerts from the other side. The concerts were always free. There was no budget to administer tickets. There was hardly a budget for publicity. The free concerts were never full unless it was someone’s final exam, opera, orchestra, or composition concert.  There could easily be more people on stage than in the audience. There were regulars from the community. I would give them a nod and sometimes a grin. We acknowledged each other as conspiring in the same indulgence of classical music.

As a composer and performer, I wanted to see more people in the audience. Yet as a student, it was not for me to change the policy of the school. The doors were wide open for anyone to come to concerts. But the concerts were not actively promoted. The shops around the school did not have posters of the concerts. The shop keepers and assistants didn’t know about the concerts. The conservatory once welcomed Mozart, Schumann, and Brahms. That was history. The teachers were busy teaching. The students were busy studying.

And that’s how I clocked up thousands of free concerts. Every conservatory and music school seemed to have the same policy or lack of a policy when it came to concerts. Free.

Audience at final exam concert in Utrecht Conservatory, 2008. Photo: F. vd Meer

University of Hawaii Maui College (UHMC) is situated directly across from Maui’s equivalent of Carnegie Hall (New York) and Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and the Royal Albert Hall (London). Its largest concert hall seats 1,200. The smaller hall seats 250. There’s also an outdoor stage. When I first arrived on the island, I assumed there was a connection between the two. Just as Amsterdam Conservatory gets to use the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ  and the Royal College of Music has access to the Royal Albert Hall, I thought UHMC had access to the Maui Arts and Cultural Center (MACC).

Well, it doesn’t work that way. UHMC is not a conservatory. Yet the MACC is very much a world-class facility with state-of-the-art acoustics and instruments. Perhaps the association is not about sending students to perform on stage but to fill the seats with last-minute discount tickets, as is offered elsewhere. While students cannot afford higher priced tickets, they can tolerate the uncertainty of not having a ticket well in advance.

In England, there are always last-minute standby tickets (lowest price for whatever is available) about 30 minutes to 1 hour before the show. These are offered to students, unwaged, low-income, and pensioners. One of the perks of studying in London was attending concerts at the South Bank, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and countless other venues, on a last-minute standby student discount. Could such a perk be offered to the 4,000 students at Maui College? If they know of this discount, they can look out for it.

** From the point of economics, one could argue that those that can afford to pay for a ticket will not necessarily buy the most expensive ticket. Thus the best seats risk being unsold. To avoid such front-row seats being empty, offer these to those who are flexible with time and tolerant of uncertainty yet can’t afford the high prices. The rationale is that these seats would otherwise not get sold at all.

Prelude for Anne by Robert Bekkers

When I changed the generic title of the mp3 file to “Prelude in d” while preparing the last blog post, the file list automatically reordered alphabetically in itunes. Just above the newly renamed file was “Prelude for Anne.”

Listening to it brought back memories of my early days with Robert Bekkers, who wrote and played the guitar solo piece for me.

Prelude for Anne by Robert Bekkers (mp3)

It was the first time anyone had composed a work dedicated to me. I am pretty sure of that. I was not only flattered but genuinely taken by it. I suppose it’s like receiving a love letter, a love poem, or a gift that is totally original and unique. Such is the gift of music — a composition written for a person and dedicated to that person.

Robert Bekkers in London, April 2001

Shortly after I met Robert in Amsterdam, I organized a small house concert in my home in London in April 2001 in which Robert played several solo pieces. I cannot remember for sure if he included this prelude as I did not mention it in my blog. Nor did I list it in the subsequent house concerts.

Somehow I do recall a premiere and several performances. But when and where?

Would this blog post jog his memory? Or inspire him to find the sheet music?

When busking becomes an outdoor concert

In my previous blog post, I mentioned busking as a barrier-free way to perform to an audience without the guarantee of payment. In Utrecht, Netherlands and the London Underground, a busking license is required. Aside from adverse weather conditions and the odd listener, busking has much lower transaction costs than a concert, which has to be organised, publicised, etc.

My harpist friend Peter Murphy uses busking as a shopfront for listeners to hear him play, chat with him, and book him for higher-revenue gigs of greater certainty, e.g. weddings. He became so successful in London that he appeared in a special documentary on UK television.

When does busking become a concert?

Dutch guitarist Robert Bekkers and the soprano Mirella Reiche had agreed in advance when, where, and what they would be playing. Yesterday, he gave me their set list for this afternoon’s performance outside the central library in Utrecht. He told me they would play at 2 pm.

I am now free to publicise it and draw an audience. I can even tell them to donate into his guitar case. I can tell this audience that his share of the donations goes towards his forthcoming studies with maestro Eliot Fisk in Boston where he is headed next. All this additional information dispersed in advance for publicity to draw an interested crowd on Market Day (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday in Utrecht) large enough to make an outdoor performance worthwhile is what turns busking into an outdoor concert.

As with all outdoor performances, good weather is key to entice people to come and stay. Unfortunately summer in Utrecht, Netherlands is not winter in Tucson, Arizona.

Consider a pre-notified and publicised event: an outdoor concert outside a restaurant in Tucson in February 2011. That was not busking — but where was the audience?

Robert Bekkers gives solo guitar concert outside a restaurant in Tucson, February 2011 Photo: J.Rhoads

Benefit concerts to fundraise for Japan

The earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan on 11th March 2011 has ignited various fundraising events for the Red Cross and other relief organisations. Among them are benefit concerts organised by musicians.

At time of writing, I have been notified of three forthcoming benefit concerts for Japan that are initiated and/or given by my musician friends. It’s a brave undertaking that requires extra effort beyond a normal concert.  As I am unable to attend any of these concerts due to my current location in Maui, I share these here and invite my readers to pass it on.

Wednesday 30 March 2011 @ 5:30  pm
Church of St. John the Evangelist
35 Bowdoin Street, Boston

Thursday 31st March 2011 @ 7 pm
JP Concerts
1 Roanoke Avenue, Jamaica Plain (a neighbourhood of Boston, Massachusetts, USA)
GANBARE JAPAN! FUNDRAISER FOR JAPAN

Linda Kernohan, composer, pianist, organist, and prolific blogger of Miss Music Nerd, will be giving two concerts in Boston. I met Linda at the  first concert of 5-week USA tour on 21st  October 2010. Her husband had worked in Okinawa, where I spent 11 years of my youth. Since meeting Linda, I have followed her on Twitter and her blog. The concert features herself on the organ together with a host of other musicians, including countertenor Yakov Zamir.

Miss Music Nerd, Linda Kernohan flute extract from her website

Friday 1st April 2011 @ 8:30 pm
Amstelveen (a neighbourhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Doors open 8 pm for 8:30 pm start
Pop concert at Poppodium P60

Keiko Kotari, my classmate from Utrecht Conservatory, and her husband Marten Tilstra, both concert pianists initiated this charity pop concert. Keiko was in Kobe when the previous big earthquake hit Japan in 1995.

I had immediately assumed when Keiko mentioned her intention to organise a charity concert on the Facebook wall that it would be a classical concert and that she would play. What a surprise to learn last week that it was to be a jazz, latin, rock and pop concert.

The concert features highly acclaimed blind Dutch pianist Bert van den Brink whose performances have inspired many people. I don’t know the other musicians, but you can hear the sultry voice of Latin singer Denise Rivera here. The website of the 5-member experimental rock band NiCad takes awhile to load, but it’s worth visiting to see how they met and skyrocketed to fame. The concert ends with the 14-member party band “Night Flight to Rio.”

Tickets are € 15 and can be ordered through the website of P60. The complete revenue of this concert will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross, for immediate relief for the victims in Miyagi prefecture. More info at SOS Japan Website.

SOS Japan Benefit Concert, Amstelveen, Netherlands 1st April 2011

Wednesday 6th April 2011 @ 7:30 pm
Central London (near Warren Street tube station)
Bolivar Hall, 54 Grafton Way

Algerian singer and artist Houria Niati and her duo Habiboun will be performing in a mega concert featuring many artists of that genre: flamenco, arab-andalucian, and latin music. Tickets are 12 pounds each by reservation or at the door.

Aid for Japan concert in central London, Bolivar Hall 6th April 2011

The economics of benefit concerts is the topic of another blog. Concert production is an activity that involves high transaction costs. Benefit concerts require that extra mile to attract people to come, get people to pay, and generate the income that more than breaks even.

One way is to ask musicians give their time and talent (for free or for a reduced fee) while the public (the listeners) pay more than what they would normally pay for such a concert, resulting in above average income for a good cause. For this to work optimally (i.e maximise the funds raised), the venues should have large capacity and need to be filled. Listeners are persuaded to give as much as possible to maximise revenue. Profit maximisation requires not just revenue maximisation but cost minimisation or elimination. In other words, hire the venue for free, get piano tuners to tune without charge, get additional sponsors to defray other production costs, and get all of this done as efficiently as possible.