Christina Perri's A Thousand Years, Arranged as a Piano/Cello Cover by the Piano Guys

Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson of The Piano Guys are back, this time in the Utah woods with Christina Perri's A Thousand Years arranged for cello and piano. Listen closely and you'll hear a cleverly disguised Bridal Chorus quote. Look closely and you might see a lizard or two:

Tim Fain and Peiyao Wang Play Aaron Jay Kernis' Air

You might need to turn up the audio a bit, but you'll be glad you did in this elegant and moving 2010 Poisson Rouge performance with violinist Tim Fain and pianist Pei-Yao Wang:

Pasek and Paul's Do You Remember

Here's a hidden gem that one of my students introduced to me earlier this year: Do You Remember by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, from a projected and as yet uncompleted Peter Pan sequel. The ageless Peter Pan (sung here by Gavin Creel) meets an aging Wendy:



This performance is with Tampa-based pianist Robert Jarosh and a very talented, though unnamed singer David Michael Bevis (thanks Robert!):



You can purchase the sheet music on the Pasek and Paul website. It's well worth the $8.99 price tag, and the piano part is very well written.

(Thanks, Stevie!)

Ask the Readers: Which Classical Music/Music Ed Blogs Are Worth Reading?

I've always prided myself on staying up to date with the goings-on of the classical music blogosphere. However, with over two months spent moving house, I fear I may have lost touch with some of the best blog reads while setting up the ultimate music studio.

Collaborative Piano Blog readers are known to be some of the most discerning of musicians, so the call goes out: which classical music and music education blogs are worth reading?

Leave a comment below.

SongFusion Presents States of Mind on May 8 in NYC

If you're in the New York City area, head on over to the DiMenna Center for Classical Music on May 8 for States of Mind, a recital of new American art song presented by SongFusion featuring visual artist Kevork Mourad. About the project:

"States of Mind" uses as its point of departure the Baroque Doctrine of Affections. Over the course of three mini narratives held together thematically and visually, SongFusion explores opposing pairings of affections - love/hate, joy/sorrow, wonder/desire to create a joint multidisciplinary artwork with projections of visual art. Mourad, who has a deep musical understanding and has worked with the leading musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, has a highly individual artistic style in which he provides his response to the poetry and music. “States of Mind” aspires to be a modern look at everyday states of being. In America. Today.

This concert will feature sopranos Mary McKenzie and Victoria Bowers, baritone Michael Kelly, flutist Henrik Heide, and violist Ed Klorman, with Liza Stepanova and Kathleen Tagg on piano. Tickets are $15 advance/$20 at the door.

Singers: What To Put in an Audition Binder

The Young Person's Guide to the Opera Audition has an informative guide on what to put in your audition binder. Included are sections on head shots, resumes, rep sheets, audition instructions, directions, as well as the all-important sheet music:

Audition Music - The preparation of the audition music is a whole other post, but it’s good to remember to make sure it turns well in a three-hole punch binder. The easier it is for the pianist to turn the more a pianist can play and not have to worry about page turns. It’s also a good idea to put the piece you want to sing first as the first selection in the binder. You would think this is assumed, but sometimes, in the rush of getting everything ready, little things are forgotten. 

To which I would add the following:

• Arias for the current audition need to be at the front of the binder.
• Each aria needs to have its own flag for easy discovery by the pianist
• Mark in start points for each aria if it's not at the beginning.
• Mark in all cuts as obviously as possible. Use tape, blank paper, and highlighter and assume that pianists won't get it unless you're as obvious as possible.
• Mark in ritardando and accelerando points with arrows, squiggly lines, large letters, or whatever will get a pianist's attention. Rehearsal time is a luxury and you might not even get time to talk about the aria with the pianist.
• Use double-sided pages and make sure that all pages are securely in the binder.
• Don't put photocopy paper in laminated sleeve pages - they tend to reflect light in the most unfortunate way possible when the pianist is backlit. You want them to see the music, don't you?

There's an unwritten code among pianists that if a singer shows up to an audition with a completely organized binder (including marked start points, cuts, and tempo indications), it's automatically assumed that the singer will be in contention. In other words, if I see a well-organized binder, I damn well better play at my absolute best for this person.

Pianists: what are your suggestions on what to put in an audition binder? How do you like music presented? Leave a comment with your ideas.

[Update] Thanks for the great comments, everyone. It's also worth checking out the discussion on the CPB Facebook Page.

Opera Cheats: La Voix Humaine and Bluebeard's Castle

These two irreverent mini-synopses are from Opera Five, a Toronto-based collective founded by Rachel Krehm and Aria Umezawa. You can check out Opera Five's Bluebeard's Castle on May 15, 16, and 18 at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.