A New Duet for Halloween!

Take a listen to my new intermediate piano duet: A Beastly Boo-rrée!

A New Year and a New Duet!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful start to the year. The holidays have flown by and I find myself only three days away from heading back to work. I can't say I accomplished everything I wanted to over the break (I have such a lot of planning to do, not to mention writing and practising. I also want to revamp my website soon as well.). I did get a fair amount of practising in though (considering all the holiday get togethers) and today I want to share with you a new fun duet!

Two New Playlists and a Spooky Performance Class

So Irene and I made videos of my published ensemble pieces and posted them to my YouTube Channel! Take a peek:

And I finished the latest playlist for the Grey County Kiwanis Festival of Music (solo piano classes 9-16 yrs and over):

New Challenges: 2 Pianos 8 Hands

I have been having so much fun writing music for ensembles lately. When I started writing duets last fall I didn't really have a clear idea of how to approach this genre, but it turns out I really enjoy it and learn so much from it (and in fact seem to be quite addicted!). Last month I finished up my first duo for 2 pianos 4 hands-- In The Hall Of The Mountain King-- and in keeping with that theme I decided to arrange another classic orchestral theme, but this time for 2 pianos 8 hands.

Trying my hand at Two Pianos

Just a quick post to let you in on some of my recent work. I've expanded my ensemble writing to include not just duets but duos too! The following are my first 2 piano 4 hands arrangements for piano. The process was definitely different from writing for 1 piano 4 hands, but I really really enjoyed it. I can't wait to try some more two piano works and may even try a double duo soon!

A Bluesy Duet and Other News

I started this duet when the "spring" weather was still very bleak and cold and everyone was complaining about the long winter. I was in the mood for writing a bluesy duet, and out came the Long Winter Blues. This piece has a walking bass line, swinging eighth notes and some long lines and long notes to emphasize the "looong" winter. 

A Brand New Duet!

Ok, I've been wanting to get this one down on manuscript paper for a long time. This past winter-- probably around Christmas time-- I was thinking how much I liked the song My Favorite Things, and how great it sounded set in a jazz style. I had been on a bit of a duet roll in the fall, so my idea was for another piano duet. A jazzy duet. A jazzy arrangement of Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins!

Sounds of the Season

Well, the holidays are creeping up on me. I'm really tired from trying to prepare for them, and even though I keep running around doing things I don't feel as though I'm getting ahead! I do enjoy this time of year though-- all of the get togethers with friends and family, the fun winter activities and of course an abundance of festive sounds. I love to listen to holiday music while I'm working away at home. And when I take a break I play through some of my Christmas piano music. Last week I read through one of my all-time favourites: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

A Composition Project: Duets Part 2

As you may know, I am working on completing three piano duets by the end of November.  I got the idea for my second duet as I was exploring the website of Canadian composer and teacher Rebekah Maxner.  I was ordering a fantastic new book from her called Madge's Notebook- A Piano Tribute to The Hunger Games and while exploring the site came across a duet called Jolly Pachelbel.   In this duet the teacher plays Pachelbel's Canon while the student plays Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.  It's a really cool arrangement!

Ensembles are fun!

On August 28th my friend and colleague Irene and I attended a fun workshop at Debra Wanless Music Studio called Ensemble Fun.  Irene and I have been playing together for a couple years; we try and make an effort to get together regularly, and are always working on something new and challenging.

I have loved playing duets, trios, duos, and double duos since I was a kid.  I have only great memories of ensembles: playing ridiculously fun music together and laughing a whole lot.  The bonus is that ensemble playing is good for musicians!

At Debra's workshop we learned about the history of piano ensemble, choosing ensemble partners, rehearsal tips and of course repertoire.  We read our way through tons of new Canadian ensemble music, then got to go shopping at the end.  What a fun morning!