Last year I finally picked up Thayer's Life of Beethoven, which had been sitting on my shelf daring me to read it since way back in college. It was very interesting. I loved reading about Beethoven's style of playing and conducting and his opinions about other composers and musicians. It was also instructive to see just how mundane the life of even a great artist could become when reduced to receipts and family bickering.
What I dwelled on the most, though, was speculation about what it would have been like to have played for him. What would he have told me about how I play his Op. 109 or Op. 110 piano sonatas? How inspiring that would have been!
Then it hit me. If it would be so cool to play for a composer, what's stopping me? Go find some composers to play for right now. That was the provocation for Tangent Shores. I did find composers and I'm producing my first release of new music, Amethyst, right now.
I just demoed Joseph Prestamo's Ballade for him. Joey's music is ravishing and he was very encouraging. How satisfying it is to connect with the creator of the music I'm presenting. So far, I have demonstrated for the composers 80% of the music I'm recording for my next CD; in addition to Joey's Ballade, music of Garrett Shatzer, Richard Cionco, Ryan Suleiman and Waddy Thompson. More to come soon...
What I dwelled on the most, though, was speculation about what it would have been like to have played for him. What would he have told me about how I play his Op. 109 or Op. 110 piano sonatas? How inspiring that would have been!
Then it hit me. If it would be so cool to play for a composer, what's stopping me? Go find some composers to play for right now. That was the provocation for Tangent Shores. I did find composers and I'm producing my first release of new music, Amethyst, right now.
I just demoed Joseph Prestamo's Ballade for him. Joey's music is ravishing and he was very encouraging. How satisfying it is to connect with the creator of the music I'm presenting. So far, I have demonstrated for the composers 80% of the music I'm recording for my next CD; in addition to Joey's Ballade, music of Garrett Shatzer, Richard Cionco, Ryan Suleiman and Waddy Thompson. More to come soon...
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