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Thursday, June 17, 2004 An Officer's Wedding and a Piano Duet 15th June: An Officer's Wedding I am really glad that I made the decision to buy the privia. I was rather afraid that nobody would want to rent the piano, but my fears turned out to be unfounded. This wedding was held at the Marriott, and the couple had their solemnization in the open area next to the swimming pool. We played two church hymns that the groom had passed to me earlier that the congregation .. I mean the guests .. sung to. After that, we moved to the ballroom, and boy, were there loads of balloons! As usual, there was much fun and energy performing together. I was supposed to play a piano solo for the last set, but after my previous experience of lonliness, I beseeched my first violinist to stay on a while and perform a duet with me. She, the dear soul, willingly agreed. We took the chance to run through some songs that we would be performing together the next day too. 16th June: A Piano/Violin Duet I was really looking forward to the violin duet tonight, I really enjoy playing with my first violinist, for she is a superb violinist, having earned her LRSM at a tender age of 12! The music world lost a prodigy when she decided to pursue her career in another direction. Nevertheless, performing for weddings help us satisfy our yearnings to play in public. This wedding was held in the Pacific ballroom of the Pan Pacific. It was rather rectangular too, though not as narrow as the Vista ballroom. I played a piano solo set for the reception, and then my first violinist arrived, to my great delight. Have I stated how much I enjoy performing with her? I had had a pseudo dress rehearsal with the emcees, who were the bride's friends. So when they signaled to us, we started the Piano - Violin version of Pachelbel's Kanon in D, while the emcees were at the same time welcoming the entrance of the bride and groom. I don't know why, but I was smiling away, perhaps because of my company, or perhaps because I enjoy playing the duet version of Kanon. Time flew by very quickly while I was immersed in performing in the duet, there's a subtle difference between the various groups of STRIIIINGS, and the piano duet is very lovely, an interplay between two voices taking turns to express themselves. However, we had to be miked up as the duet was not able to fill the whole room, but the hotel's sound crew was very, very helpful. I'm looking forward to working with them again, in October! # posted by Paul @ 1:34 AM 0 comments

Friday, June 04, 2004 Piano Trio. AND String Trio! I brought both my new digital piano and my cello to the wedding tonight. And a suitcase full of books and music arrangements, and music stands, and the piano stand. Phew! The bell-captain at the Hilton Hotel was extremely patient and helpful, he allowed me to park the rented car in front of the hotel while I carried all the instruments and equipment up the escalator to the Vista ballroom. Double phew when it was all over. The string trio was supposed to perform for the reception outside the ballroom, and as it was a rather small area, the trio did just fine, compared to the usual string quartet. The audience appreciated it so much when we performed my arrangement of the Radetsky March they actually clapped! Needless to say, I was beaming and grinning from ear to ear for a long time. For the actual dinner, the piano trio was requested, and that was when it really got fun for the group. We had been looking forward to performing my arrangements! After playing Mendelssohn's wedding march as the March-In Music for the couple, we performed all our favourite arrangements including Somewhere In Time. The Privia was simply divine! Vista ballroom is rather long and narrow, so the couple had the stage set up right in the centre of the room, while one end of the room was turned into a children's play-pen: a stroke of genius from the groom! Setting the stage in the centre meant that it was a really short march to the stage from the doors, but it worked well with our music. The couple made many speeches, and I played sweet piano solos that blended into the background, and when there was applause, I played louder. The effect created was superb! The last set was for the piano to perform alone, so I sent my musicians back with a merry wave and continued performing alone. I felt a little alone though, and I wasn't looking forward to packing the things up, so I kept playing way past the stipulated agreement, sweet music from Kevin Kern and light jazzy piano solos. Suddenly I found myself sitting with the couple and their friends at the end of the table chatting into the night! It was another lovely wedding dinner, and I am really glad to have a vocation that allows me to be part of joyous celebrations. # posted by Paul @ 1:28 AM 0 comments

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