Music played on October 20, 2019

Our group enjoyed a sunny afternoon performing on a truly great Steinway concert grand. The mid-fall weather may have kept some folks away, but there was room enough for a few members who were there just to listen. We welcomed first time member Hedda.

Jennifer Messer, our gracious Steinway host, provided a short overview of the regular events that are held at the Steinway Gallery. This includes a monthly Adult Music Sharing session similar to our own OPG meetings. You can sign up for the event reminders at Eventbrite.

We had an interesting programme of music at this meeting. In addition to the usual repertoire of classical and romantic music, players performed three excerpts from movies or musicals.
Does this continue the trend started last month?

• My Heart will go on (used in 'The Titanic')
• Carousel Waltz (from Carousel)
• Cruella De Vil (from 101 Dalmatians)

We had a run-away winner in the 'most popular composer' competition: our dear friend Ludwig. There were five performances of movements from his Sonatas, ranging from Op 14 to Op 110. No other competitor had more than one performance. Congratulations Ludwig!

Round 1:

#	Performer	Work
1.	Gregory	Magnetic Rag, by S. Joplin
2.	Gordon	Sonata Op. 14 No. 1, 1st mvt, by L. van Beethoven
3.	Jackie	Sonatina in F major, by Anton Diabelli
4.	Lynda	Carousel Waltz, by Richard Rodgers
5.	Jeff	Etude Tableau Op. 33 No. 7, by S. Rachmaninoff
6.	Adrian	Sonata Op. 110, 1st mvt., by L. van Beethoven
7.	Caryn	Noturno Op. 54 No. 4, by E. Grieg
8.	David	My Heart will go on, by James Horner arr. Dietmar Steinhauer
9.	Jorge	Ground in D minor, by Henry Purcel
10A.	Hedda	Consolation, by F. Mendelssohn
10B.	Hedda	“Cruella De Vil” from 101 Dalmations

Round 2:

#	Performer	Work
1.	Jackie	Theme from “Love Story”, by F. Lai arr. By P. Keverin
2.	Adrian	Sonata Op. 78, 1st mvt, by L. van Beethoven
3.	Lynda	Sonata Op. 13, 2nd mvt (adagio), by L. van Beethoven
4.	Jeff	Prelude No. 24, by D. Shostakovitch
5.	Jorge	Sonata op 27, #2 (Moonlight), 1st mvt, by L. van Beethoven
6.	Gordon	Prelude Op. 28 No. 4, by F. Chopin
7.	Randy	Pieces Froides: Danses de travers No. 1 and 2, by E. Satie
8.	David	Prelude in F minor, WTC2, by J. S. Bach

We are adding additional group meetings!

New performance meetings being added.

Based on our recent poll, there has been very strong support for increasing the number of meetings.

The plan is start with two sessions per month in January.  We will evaluate the success in summer, 2020. 

 

Here are some of the ground rules that we will be following:

• The meetings will typically be on the first Sunday afternoon and third Sunday afternoon of each month.
• The expectation is that you would attend one session or the other in a month and not both.  
• We will be staying with only one meeting in the months of July, August and December.  The first two months typically have lower attendance due to vacations. December is a time with other social activities.
• We will only have one meeting in those months which have larger venues such as at Ottawa Pianos and the Steinway Gallery.

Members have been sent a doodle poll so that can volunteer to host meetings.

 

The full list of meetings will be posted on this site.  Doodle polls will be circulated to members so that they can sign up for meetings.

Remember: sign-up for at most one meeting in each calendar month.

Performance at the Carlingwood Retirement Community, October 6, 2019

Concert presented to the Carlingwood Retirement Community

Six members of the Ottawa Piano Group preformed a concert for residents at the Carlingwood Retirement Community. Many thanks to John for arranging this.  We played on a nice Essex piano.  There were about 40 people in the audience in large meeting room with very comfy chairs!. John acted as MC.  Many thanks to the staff for managing the arrangements and coordinating the arrival and departure of the audience.

Music played at the concert

Jorge
      ◊ Ground in E minor by H. Purcell
      ◊ Intermezzo by Manuel M. Ponce
Jeffrey
     ◊ Three preludes by A. Scriabin
         ◊ Op. 11 # 12
         ◊ Op. 11 # 10
         ◊ Op. 17 # 3
Janice S.
      ◊ Prelude in C+, from Well-Tempered Klavier, book 1by JS Bach
      ◊ The Entertainer (first part) by S. Joplin
John
      ◊ A chorus of morning-glories (own composition)
      ◊ Free improvisation on a tune composed on 27 July 2003.
Nick
      ◊ Moment Musical #5 by S. Rachmaninoff
      ◊ Today by Randy Sparks
Sachie
      ◊ Sonata #10, op 14 #2, 1st movement by L. van Beethoven
      ◊ Sinfonia no 6 in E major, BWV792 by JS Bach

Music played on September 22, 2019

Today marked a return visit to Luc. Hosting two visits in one year is 'above and beyond'. We we had to cancel a prior visit to Luc in 2018 due a severe ice storm. Many thanks.

10 people enjoyed an afternoon listening to our usual diversity of music.  We welcomed first-time member Curt, who played a work by a composer none of us had heard before. Curt also brought his music on an iPad rather than in paper format.  We had a fun chat about how that works.

The afternoon wrapped up with John facilitating an engaging reading of humorous musical definitions. John also brought a large supply of music that he made available for free to members - many thanks!

The 'most popular composer' competition was tough this month.  No one composer was in the lead, with three tying with two performances.  What stood out was the 'Return of the Baroque'! Four performances came from the period, including one written by F. Couperin.  So, I will award the coveted price to the "Baroque Era".

Round 1:

#	Performer	Work
1A.	Luc	Prelude in A, by F. Chopin
1B.	Luc	Adagio in F, by G. F. Handel
2.	Gregory	Songs Without Words, Op. 30 #6 (The Gondolier), by F. Mendelssohn
3.	Randy	Les Barricades Mysterieuses, by F. Couperin
4.	Erin	Suite II in F (2nd mvt.), by G. F. Handel
5.	Nick	Moment Musical Op. 16 #5, by S. Rachmaninoff
6.	Curt	Prelude Op. 6 No. 1, by S. Bortkiewicz
7.	David	Prelude in F Minor WTC2, by J. S. Bach
8.	Jeff	Etude Tableau OP. 33 #5, by S. Rachmaninoff
9.	Janice S	The Entertainer, by S. Joplin
10.	John W	Improvisation on his own theme

Round 2:

#	Performer	Work
1.	Gregory	Songs Without Words, Op. 19 #6 (Venetian Boat Song), by F. Mendelssohn
2.	Erin	October, from The Seasons, by P. I. Tchaikovsky
3.	Randy	Nocturne No. 1, by E. Satie
4.	Nick	“Today”, by Randy Sparks
5.	Jeff	Prelude in B minor OP. 89 #6, by D. Shostakovitch
6.	David	Summertime, arr. by Mercuzio, by G. Gershwin, SoundCloud recording of David playing this piece is here
7.	John W.	Dictionary of music (text): a read-about of fun definitions

Music played on August 18, 2019

Nine members assembled at Janice's house to play music on a summer's afternoon.  We enjoyed playing on her vintage 1918 Steinway grand piano. The summer seemed to bring out the adventurous side of the performers.  The music was eclectic, with a number of composers who had yet to make an appearance at our events: Barber, Peterson-Berger, Shostakovich.

The 'most popular composer' competition was won by an unexpected under-dog: D. Shostakovich.  I don't recall previous performances of his works.  Today, we heard three of his Preludes op 87.  Another new composer to the group (W.O. Peterson-Berger) was gtied for second place.

Round 1:

#	Performer	Work
1.	Janice G.	Pas de deux, by S. Barber
2.	Gregory	Menuet from le tombeau de Couperin, by M. Ravel
3.	Randy	Gnossiennes 2 and 4, by E. Satie
4.	Adrian	Sonata #31 Op. 110, 1st m., by L. van Beethoven
5.	Jeff	Prelude Op. 87 #4, by D. Shostakovich
6.	Jane	Spanish Dance Op. 5 no. 5 Playera (Andaluza), by E. Granados
7.	Christopher	Going to Church, by W.O. Peterson-Berger
8.	Caryn	Nocturne Op543 #4, by E. Greig
9.	Walter	Prelude Op87 No. 5, by D. Shostakovich

Round 2:

#	Performer	Work
1.	Janice G.	Pianissimo from Suite de Danzas Criollas , by A. Ginastera
2.	Gregory	I’m in the Mood for love, by Jimmy McHugh
3.	Randy	Adagio from the Gayane Suite, No. 1, by A. Khatachurian
4.	Adrian	Sonata #20 Op. 49 #2, m. 2, by L. van Beethoven
5.	Jeff	Etude Tableaux Op. 33 Np. 5, by S. Rachmaninoff
6.	Jane	Prelude #1, by G. Gershwin
7.	Christopher	Summer Song, by W.O.Peterson-Berger
8.	Walter	Prelude and Fugue Op. 87 No 24, by D. Shostakovitch