Jon Kimura Parker and Jamie Parker, percussionists? - photos by Derk Jager

We need to have a quiet talk about pianists and their closet desires to be percussionists. In fact, we already are: by any rational definition, the piano is a percussion instrument – we hit a key, which in turn causes a hammer to hit a string, and sound is produced. But most pianists spend their entire professional lives trying not to make a piano sound like a percussion instrument. Our greatest inspiration in this endeavor is Chopin, whose music invites an approach more akin to singing.

But every once in awhile, the urge to be percussive takes over. My colleague, the great artist Emanuel Ax, took tympani lessons which culminated in a cameo performance in a Beethoven Overture with the Toronto Symphony. My approach is less subtle: I just work in percussion instruments whenever they’re handy. Read More→

The Gryphon Trio - Annalee Patipatanakoon, Jamie Parker, Roman Borys -photo by Derk Jager

Program 2 of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival – “The Archduke” – featured two trios, the romantic Spanish-flavored Trio of Joaquin Turina, and the weighty gravitas of Beethoven’s mighty Archduke Trio. With the presence of the Gryphon trio, Artistic Director Aloysia Friedmann had the choice of who should play what… and wisely chose first to invite Chee-Yun, Desmond Hoebig and I to play the Turina, a work where last-minute rehearsals, a sense of urgency, and a willingness to indulge each other’s spontaneity complemented the music exactly as it was written. Read More→

So what is Gypsy Music? What is Hungarian folk music? How do we even know a folk tune is a folk tune? Why is it called the “Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5″ when it’s not written by Brahms? These are some of the questions that Music@Menlo asked this week in its program Alla Zingarese.

Composer/broadcaster/speaker extraordinaire Bruce Adolphe surveyed these questions with dizzying intensity in a 2-hour encounter last Wednesday, and this past weekend I’ve participated in the musical response, in everything from Haydn’s Gypsy Rondo trio to Hungarian Dances of Brahms, Slavonic Dances of Dvorak, and the glorious C Major Trio of Brahms.

Honestly, though, violist Paul Neubauer stole the show (yes, that’s right, I did just say that a VIOLIST stole the show…) with his spectacular renditions of Gypsy Serenades, Czardas and the most unusual canary you’ve ever heard.

To see Paul’s spectacular stage entry, and to get a little taste of the concert, check out Music@Menlo’s latest video, Alla Zingarese!

Taichung: between us is media celebrity Susan Yeh

I’ve played in Taiwan before, but only in Taipei. This tour also includes stops in Taichung and Tainan. According to Jimmy, the preponderance of “Tai-“ as a city prefix is a point of pride, and is indeed related to “Tai-“ as the country name’s prefix.

On Wednesday Cho-Liang “Jimmy” Lin and I played our first recital in Taichung. It was an evening concert, and although it was billed as an educational concert, it wasn’t like any educational concert I’ve played before. I love giving school concerts, but typically much of my energy is devoted to simple crowd control. This audience had kids of all ages, but they were spectacularly attentive, silent during the performances, and demonstratively cheering after each piece.

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Jackie and Jimmy with Chris and Sue Fan

Apparently you can ask most Chinese in China where to find the best Chinese food, and be told “Taiwan.” Over a one week period I have learned this to be true! Read More→

I’m on a high from today. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to describe the emotions that accompanied the day’s events, but I can certainly describe what happened.

First, a little background: Our recital tour is sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Taiwan.  Outreach and education are as important to them (and to us!) as traditional concerts, so that was always built in as part of the tour. In the meantime, Mercedes G-Class (4 wheel drive) owners have formed a club, wherein the members get together every few months and take an adventurous driving excursion somewhere in Taiwan.

Enter Aowanda National Forest, nestled in the mountains in the center of Taiwan. It’s home to a largely aboriginal community, with a school uniquely appropriate for Cho-Liang Lin to make an appearance (more on that later.) There’s also a lodge for the enthusiastic Mercedes G-Class owners to stay. Read More→

Jackie and Louis

I’ve been fortunate over the years to keep in touch with my Canadian pianistic colleagues, most notably through Janina Fialkowska’s founding of Piano Six many years ago. Although the main purpose of the project (and its successor Piano Plus) was for us to individually bring music to smaller communities in Canada, one of the most fun parts of that project was the occasional multi-piano Gala, in which the two of us shared the stage with Angela Cheng, Marc-André Hamelin, Angela Hewitt, and André Laplante. Read More→