Music played at the February 1, 2015 session

Thanks again to Mitchell for hosting our Sunday afternoon session at Ottawa Pianos.  It was a great reunion with Liz (the group's founder), meeting old friends and making new ones.  This might have been the largest number of performers that we have had at one gathering.

Here's what was played:

Gregory — Chopin, middle section of Fantasie Impromptu, Op. 66 No. 4
Lynda — Mozart, 2nd movement of Piano Sonata No. 16, K. 545
Karin — Edward MacDowell, Beauty in the Rose Garden
Liz — Charles-Valentin Alkan, Petit Air Dolant
Nick B — Beethoven, 1st movement of Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 10 No. 1
Nick M — Kabalevsky Preludes,  Op. 38 No. 2 and No. 6
John — own composition, Chorus of Morning Glories
Irina — Chopin, Waltz in A Flat Major, Op. 69 No. 1
Elizabeth — Beethoven, 1st movement of Piano Sonata No. 6, Op. 10 No. 2
Gared — Chopin, Étude Op. 25 No. 1
David — Bach, Siciliano from Flute Sonata No. 2, piano transcription by Wilhelm Kempff, SoundCloud recording of David playing this piece is here
Sachie — Rachmaninoff, Étude, Opus 39 no. 6 in A minor “Little Red Riding Hood”
Christopher — Borodin, Nocturne from Petite Suite
Mitchell — Mendelssohn, Venetian Boat Song, Op. 30 No. 6
Julie — Rachmaninoff, Étude Tableau, Op. 33 No. 8 in G Minor
Eleanor — Bach, Arioso

2nd round:

Gregory — Jimmy McHugh, I’m in the Mood for Love
Nick M — Arvo Part, Fur Alina
Liz — Cecile Chaminade, Meditation
Gared — own composition, Dusk
Lynda — Oscar Peterson, Laurentide Waltz
John — own composition, Black Key Improvisation 1 2 15
David — Chopin, Nocturne, Op. 9 No. 2
Liz — Samuel Maikapar, Matin Calme

Vote for Mary Ann in CBC's piano competition!

Long-time Ottawa Piano Group member Mary Ann has entered CBC's amateur pianist competition. You can read all about the contest and view her entry here http://piano.strutta.com/entry/8301092.

To show your support, you can vote for her each day until January 22.

Good luck, Mary Ann!

Music played at the January 18, 2015 session

Host: Mary Ann

Round 1:

- Greg Z: “The girl with the flaxen hair” by C. Debussy
- Karin T: “Beauty in the Rose-Garden” by E. MacDowell (Op. 4#3)
- Christopher C: “Petite Suite #6-Serenade” by A. Borodin
- Irina B: “Waltz in A Minor” by F. Chopin (Op. Post.)
- Winnie C: “Sonata in D Major” by J. Haydn (Hob. XVI:51)
- John W: Russian and Polish national anthems
- Mary Ann: “Song without words (Duetto)” by F. Mendelssohn (Op. 38#6). Note that Mary Ann entered her performance of this work in this year’s CBC amateur pianists contest “Piano Hero”.

Round 2:

- Greg Z: “I dream of Jeannie with the light brown hair” by S. Foster
- Irina B: “Waltz in A flat” by F. Chopin
- Karin T: “Prelude” by F. Chopin (op. 28 #6). Note that Chopin requested that this piece be played at his own funeral.
- John W: Two Russian folk songs, Serenada (Serenade) and Serdtsa (Heart)
- Christopher C: “Petite Suite #7-Nocturne” by A. Borodin
- Winnie C: “Meditation from Thais” by J. Massenet

Music played at the December 15, 2014 session

Thanks to Sachie for hosting our Sunday afternoon session and for sharing her Yamaha grand piano.
In addition to the usual diversity, there were some delightful arrangements of Christmas favourites.

Here's what was played:

Liz -- Enrique Granados, Vals Poético No. 6
Lynda -- Pietro Alessandro, Gesù Bambino, arrangement by Tom Roed from Christmas Encyclopedia
Vanessa -- traditional, What Child is This, arrangement by Charlie Bisharat
Christopher/David  -- Johannes Brahms, Intermezzo O. 117 No. 1, transcription for clarinet and piano by Eric Simon
Winnie -- Adolphe Adam, O Holy Night, arrangement by John Sullivan Dwight
Julie -- Dimitri Kabalevsky, Prelude Op. 38, No. 9
Sachie -- Alexander Scriabin, Sonata No. 4, 1st Movement, Op. 30
John -- own arrangement, Jingle Bells, variations in the style of 10 classical composers

2nd round:

Christopher -- traditional, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, In the Bleak Midwinter, arrangements by Christopher Norton
David -- Maurice Ravel, Piano Concerto in G Major, first section of 2nd Movement Adagio Assai, SoundCloud recording of David playing this piece is here
Vanessa -- Irving Berlin, White Christmas
Lynda -- Lee Mendelson & Vince Guaraldi, Christmas Time is Here from a Charlie Brown Christmas, arrangement by Tom Roed
John -- own arrangements, O Holy Night, Huron Carol
Winnie -- Don Besig, Sleep, Little Baby, Sleep
Sachie -- traditional, O Tannenbaum, arrangement by Vince Guaraldi
Julie -- Sergei Rachmaninoff, Études Tableaux, Op. 33 No. 8 in G Minor

Are you Canada's best amateur pianist?

The CBC is running a contest for amateur classical pianists. Does anyone dare to enter?

http://music.cbc.ca/#!/Piano-Hero

Wine expert Natalie MacLean donates Yamaha baby grand to city

And you can play on it!

http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/city-of-ottawa-gets-gift-of-music-1.2140036
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/video-donated-piano-brings-music-to-the-lobby-at-ottawa-city-hall

Should all piano keyboards be the same size?

The loosely-organized group PASK (Pianists for Alternate Size Keyboards) doesn't think so: http://www.paskpiano.org/

They also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pask.piano

Demise of a Karn pump organ

This article in the Ottawa Citizen shows the sorry end of an antique pump organ, dumped beside a city road:

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/abandoned-organ-strikes-sour-note-with-park-piano-project

Music played at the November 16, 2014 session

These performances were on a Pleyel grand piano and a Grotrian-Steinweg upright.

Round 1:
- Janice G: Elmokhum-mus Elmasry for Harpisichord by Ali Osman
- Gared: Prelude and Fugue in D Minor Book 2 by J. S. Bach
- Gregory: June from the Seasons by P.I. Tchaikovsky
- John: “Impromptu after hearing Tchaikovsky” (original improvisation)
- Karin: Album leaf by C. Debussy
- Irina: Valse Op. 69 #1 by F. Chopin
- Julie: Prelude Op. 38 #5 by D. Kabalevsky
- Sachie: Sonata # 4 Op. 30, first movement, by A. Scriabin
- Winnie: Sonata in C major by W.A. Mozart
- Janice and Karin (two piano duet): Gavotte varié (Variations on Ba Ba Black Sheep) arranged by M. Mungo-Park

Round 2:
- Gregory: Solveig’s song by E. Greig
- Gared: Prelude in C major, original composition
- John: Original improvisation on “Twinkle twinkle little star”

Music played at the October 19, 2014 session

Thanks again to Mitchell for hosting our Sunday afternoon session at Ottawa Pianos.  It's always a pleasure playing on such fine instruments.  Again, there was a pleasing diversity of modern and classical music, and some new discoveries.

Here's what was played:

Mary Ann -- Mendelssohn, Song Without Words "Duetto", Op 38. No. 6
Gared -- Amy Beach, Hermit Thrush at Eve, Op. 92 No. 1
Liz -- Oskar Merikanto, Valse Lente, Op. 33
Gregory -- Ross Jutsum, Rivers of Living Water
Karin -- Robert Palmer, Evening Music
Mary Lou --  Shostakovich, Preludes, Op. 34 No. 1 & 2
John -- Haydn, Symphony No. 94 "Surprise", 3rd movement, own piano transcription
Jennifer -- Respighi, Three Preludes on Gregorian Melodies, No. 1
Lynda -- Gerald Martin, Dark Eye Boogie
Jorge -- Bach, Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846
Sachie -- Rachmaninoff,  Prelude in E Flat Major, Op. 23 No. 6
Julie -- Debussy, Prelude, Book 1 No. 9 La Serenade Interrompue
Elizabeth -- own composition, 12 Bar Blues
Christopher & David -- Bach, Concerto for Two Keyboards, Second Movement, BWV 1062

2nd round:

Jorge -- Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14 "Moonlight", 1st Movement, Op. 27 No. 2
Gared -- own composition, Patience
Julie -- Kabalevsky, Prelude, Op. 38. No. 5
John -- own arrangement, Daleko-daleko (Far away, far away)
Christopher -- Oskar Merikanto, Valse Lente, Op. 33
Elizabeth -- Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathétique", 2nd Movement, Op. 13