List: Cat Kitty Names for Musicians and Singers

Here is a list of cute mostly-Musician Cat names  which is by no mean exhaustive:

Kitney Spears (pc: DuPage)

KATchaturian

ChaiCATsky

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 4:29 ***

MacKenzie Childs: Rebecca Proctor's Talented Pianist Son

Young Pianist Alexei's mom is Rebecca Proctor -- Creative Director of MacKenzie-Childs. 

I love their checkered design and I've personally met her -- their main Designer.

[Alexei] will host Classical Expressions  .... when they air their 10 year retrospective of Tri-Cities performance organization Classical Pianists of the Future. For over a decade CPOTF partnered with PBS station WSKG to feature young pianist performers at the outset of their careers. Part One of the two-part retrospective will air on February 7th at 8pm -- Rebecca Poctor

He plays first in the video.
What an articulate, talented young man.  And those quick, perfect Pianist's hands, wow.  BTW, my own daughter has played a few pieces by Béla Bartók also, namely from "Mikrokosmos".

Béla Viktor János Bartók

PBS: Classical Pianists of the Future

MacKenzie Childs

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Tightening our Strings for Many Years

For the large chunk of change $$$ he's gotten from us for servicing our Piano(s) during the past 20 years, how does our Piano Tuner pay us back?  With dog treats, of course!  My pups simply love his visits.

Don is 85-year old.  He is not only a Piano Tuner, he is also a talented Singer, Jazz Musician, airplane Pilot, Accordionist, Organist, Entertainer, Music Teacher, and Owner of the Music School that each of our 6 kids have attended. He rides his motorcycle with his tuning tools stored in the back seat during warmer weather.

link   Piano STRINGS ATTACHED

Danse Macabre Piano Duo by Camille Saint-Saëns

Danse Macabre Op. 40  

Daughter plays same beautiful & "fun" Piano duet, 4 years apart.  Can you spot the difference between the 2 versions? 

Version 1 Jill is happiest with this version;   played with a friend -- a Piano grad student -- April 2017

Version 2 Jill playing  in year 2013.  Aaaaah, this brings back good  memories.  We will forever miss the multi-talented JP 

"Justin Bieber" doing the Blues on Jazz Accordion

The real Justin got beaten in a brawl, 
but our Justin is no loser!

Danny  playing "C - Jam Blues" on Accordion; 

accompanied by Don @ A & A's Recital

Rubenstein Encourged Jan Paderewski

A red-haired, talented Polish lad wanted to be a pianist.  However, teachers at the conservatory gave no encouragement.  He was told that his fingers were too short and thick for the piano.  Later he brought a cornet.  The same answer was given to him with the statement that he should try another instrument.  Passed around like a hot potato, he went back to the piano.

Embittered and discouraged, h chanced to meet the famous composer and pianist, Anton Rubinstein.  The young Pole played for him.  Rubinstein praised and encouraged him.  The lad promised to practice seven hours a day.  Words of praise changed the entire world for Jan Paderewski. ~ Loy C. Laney

Ignacy Jan Paderewski's Steinway piano.  He  was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

Old Pianos Die Hard

fb:ComposerBase:

Will your piano end up in the dump?
Many old pianos are now being dumped, abandoned, neglected, smashed - even burnt. Why is this happening, and should we care?

The advert is up, her husband has spread the word at work, but 12 weeks on and Karen Harper from Baltimore, Maryland just can't find a taker for her piano - not even free of charge.

"I've had no calls - nothing whatsoever," she says matter-of-factly.

But her husband is starting to lose patience, and has threatened to take the thing apart "bit by bit" if they don't find a new home for it soon.

The piano in question - an upright Wessel, Nickel & Gross built in 1927 - is in good condition, she says, and still plays well.

Karen bought the piano when her children were young, but now she just needs the space.

"My daughter loves it - if she knew it was going to a good home it would be easier."

The thought of it being destroyed would devastate her, says Karen. "It's a hard decision to make over a piano."

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

There are more and more pianos reaching extinction, needing to go to the graveyard”

John GistPiano restorer and seller

Unceremoniously upturned in a rubbish tip, and picked away at for pieces, was the sorry end for the Windsor Baby Grand piano at Sandy Spring Friends School, also in Maryland.

A local piano restorer had hoped to take it, says teacher Cathryn Carnevale, but the cost of repair would have been much greater than its value. It would have been for love not money - and when a big tax bill came in, he just couldn't afford it.

"It's like a human, it slowly goes downhill in terms of its health," says John Gist, of Gist Piano Center in Louisville, Kentucky, which sells and restores pianos.

"There are more and more pianos reaching extinction, needing to go to the graveyard.

"I get 10 to 15 calls a day from people saying 'So how much is my piano worth?'"

But the reality is, says Gist, sentimental value aside, many old pianos are worthless, though a top-name brand like a Steinway will hold its value well.

Restorers often make the analogy with vintage cars - it is usually cheaper to buy new than rebuild, and keeping an old model going is more a hobby pursuit than a practical one.

A piano has thousands of moving parts, making restoration a very time-consuming, and specialist business. Just polishing a piano can take 70 hours.

Continue reading the main story

88 keys...

• ... That's how many there are on a standard piano, and it's also the name of a non-profit foundation set up by pianist Lara Downes to try to match unwanted pianos with schools.
• "There just seems to be a big need," she says. But the pianos need to be in good condition. "You can't resurrect every instrument - they do need to be retired."

88 Keys Foundation

"It becomes a money pit," says Gist, and so often the best advice - and advice he doles out several times a day - is just to get rid of it.

In the UK, it is a similar story.

"You see some dusty old wreck, and you know it's not going to be tuneable," says Stephen Willett, who runs SW Piano Movers in London, and has recently branched out his business to include piano disposals.

"I used to try to keep them - I had a shed full of pianos."

These days - though it's not something he enjoys doing - he regularly goes to the dump, unloads a ragbag collection of old pianos, and tips them.

Few would have foreseen this sorry scene at the tip in the piano's heyday at the end of the 1800s and start of the 1900s.

That is the era when piano production went into overdrive, and it is the instruments made then that are now, 100 years on, collectively on their knees.

Camden Town in London was the heart of the piano-making industry in the UK, with around 100 small-scale factories and workshops, employing 6,000 people at its height in 1920. New York was the hub in the US. Between them they churned out a flood of pianos to meet the burgeoning demand.

The piano was hugely popular across northern Europe too, especially in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany - home of the Bechstein.

"Every home had to have a piano," says Alastair Laurence, chair of John Broadwood & Sons, the only UK piano maker from the era still in operation.

In the early 19th Century, the piano was the preserve of the upper and middle classes - doctors and lawyers for example - but by the end of the century, pianos were common in the homes of English coal miners, says Laurence, with pianos sold on instalment plans to make them more affordable.

Continue reading the main story

Piano tales

• "Looking at the social history of the piano is like putting your eye to a well-cut jewel": Michael Goldfarb on the BBC's Piano Tales: A Social History of the Piano

The piano was an important source of home entertainment, as well as being a sign of status, and was often put in the best room in the house, ready to show the neighbours - even attract suitors. A young woman who was good at playing the piano was regarded as better marriage material.

Because pianos were being made in such quantities at the time, the quality was not always the best.

"In the 1920s, they were made for the mass market. They were not made to last, they were made to sell," says Marcus Roberts of Roberts Pianos in Oxford.

He says, much like a house, a piano needs to be built with good foundations if it is to last.

"When you are making cheap pianos to sell, you are going to cut corners. Those pianos were never put together properly."

And it is this glut - for want of a better word - of mass-produced pianos that are now finding themselves on the scrap heap.

Also, the piano is just "not as culturally relevant" as it once was says Brian Majeski, editor of The Music Trades magazine.

The number of pianos sold in the US has halved over the last 10 years, according to figures gathered by his magazine.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

It doesn't make any sense to me to have wood and metal in the dump - banana peels go in the dump”

Matt HirschfelderPiano restorer

US sales of digital pianos, on the other hand, have gone up 50% in the same period.

"They've really hit their stride… and found a ready audience," says Majeski.

Digital pianos were once scoffed at by piano connoisseurs, but the quality has improved a lot, he says. They have the advantage of being reasonably priced, they take up much less space and you can plug in headphones, avoiding disturbing the neighbours.

But there is one market where the piano is booming - China.

Around 300,000 pianos were made in big factories in China last year, as well as a large share of the world's piano parts for repairs.

The vast majority of these pianos - as many as 250,000 - were for the domestic Chinese market, which has seen piano playing and ownership rocket over the past few years.

"It's like an atomic explosion and just keeps going and going," says Julia Kruger, vice-president of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, which works in over 70 countries around the world.

The success of pianist Lang Lang has added to the appeal of the piano in China

During the Cultural Revolution, the piano was seen as perhaps the most dangerous of all Western instruments, but now many Chinese families are buying a piano for the first time, and see piano playing as a way their child can get ahead.

The standard of the pianos varies, just as it did 100 years ago in the US and UK. Some are much like "peas in a pod", says Alastair Laurence, though there are some good quality pianos coming out of China, he adds.

But as for the old pianos in the West, "as a culture, we don't know what to do with them," says Matt Hirschfelder, a piano restorer in Salem, Oregon, who was recently awarded a grant to look into recycling options for old pianos.

"It doesn't make any sense to me to have wood and metal in the dump. Banana peels go in the dump," he says.

On the other hand, it's not that easy to salvage parts from a piano.

Because of the tension in the strings, it is dangerous to dismantle a piano if you don't know what you are doing - and a slow task if you do.

Continue reading the main story

Piano as Art

• Shauna Holiman and Penny Putnam turn old pianos into art. They have made more than 35 pieces - using wood, keys, strings and wippens (the mechanism that joins the key to the hammer). "The insides of pianos are really beautiful," says Holiman. "Every key is unique," says Putnam, as is every pedal. "Sometimes the toe has tapped on those brass pedals so many times that it has worn a hole," she says. "It seems everyone has an old piano they want rid of," says Putnam. However there is only a limited number of pianos they can take on. They encourage people to save the ivory keys at least.

• Piano as Art

Loosening the strings, and separating the wood from the metal takes around 10 hours, says Hirschfelder.

If a piano has really been neglected it might have attracted rats or mice, who like to eat the animal glue used to hold it together and nuzzle up to the felt, meaning that hantavirus - a deadly disease spread by rodents - is a danger.

But it is well worth the bother, argues Hirschfelder. The strings for example are made of high grade steel, and are so strong they can be used as cables for airplanes.

The keys are made of ebony and ivory, which he has seen made into jewellery, artwork - even exclusive tiling around swimming pools.

Pianos are often not made of solid wood, but have a thick wood veneer instead, and this is still worth saving and re-using.

Some people make furniture of it, but this is usually done on a small-scale piece by piece basis.

Where Hirschfelder lives wood recycling services are not available, so it is often burned or turned into wood chip to scatter on gardens.

But even recycling doesn't always seem right to a piano's owner, who typically associates it with music, the memory of a child or parent, moments of emotional intensity, and the finer things in life.

Even those who take a business-like approach to piano disposal, don't always feel happy about it.

"I'm not going to tell them I'm going to chop it up and put it in a hopper," says Blake Cooper at Cooper Piano in Atlanta, Georgia, who regularly throws out pianos which are beyond repair.

"It's an emotional thing," says Cooper, whose family has been in the business for four generations.

"The piano is like a form of expression, and all of a sudden, you're dealing in a strange situation.

"All those pianos had somebody happy at some time. All those pianos did that. They really don't owe us anything.

"People were happy, even if only for a moment. Did the piano smile?" he asks. "I don't know - it might have."

Read more here ---> BBC News 

Joy and Laughter

Praying through Psalm 30: 10-12

 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.

 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Come Saturday Morning

After my early-morning walk with Mr Bubbles, I take the kids to their Piano Lessons. The Music School has free WiFi, so my time waiting is spent on the internet, reading magazines, reading books, memorizing verses ---some of the above, all of the above. 

A 30-minute drive after Piano lessons results in our arrival at yet another Music School for Choir. By the time that's over and we drive home, we're just about ready for Chow Time. Bathroom cleaning and general cleaning follows soon after. Then, it's time to relax, whew.  A busy season of life, indeed.

** 

Justin Bieber on Jazz Accordion

...betcha didn't know he could jam on Accordion

^ _ ^

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IRL, this is Danny, student of Music School owner, Don (accompanist on keyboard)

Chopin-Waltz No.7 in C sharp Minor

Mr Alex, two of our children's Piano teacher, can not stop raving about this man, his personal favorite ---Pianist, Evgeny Kissin.  
When a Russian-schooled/trained concert Pianist, who happens to be my kids' piano teacher, starts raving about another Russian concert Pianist, I had better pay attention!!

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Humpty Dumpty

...he was such a good egg!

daughter's delightful Choir group

Franz Liszt is exquisite!

Franz Liszt's Transcendental Etude No.9,

Ricordanza ...  

as performed by Russian Piano virtuoso,  Boris Berzovksy 

This beautiful piece was performed by a Wheaton College student at the Master Class  attended by Jillian and conducted by William Wolfram . 
It was the first time I had heard it, and instantly fell very much in love with the piece. 

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Master Class with William Wolfram

What a privilege to partake in a Master Class at the college level.  This was the opportunity presented to our daughter Jill today, along with 2 other students.  The "master" was professional Pianist William Wolfram, pictured in the ad flyer below. 


He had terrific ideas on how she could play her Beethoven Tempest Sonata piece even better. Forty minutes was devoted solely to critiquing her piano playing.  He was not nit-picky or harsh. He had a down-to-earth attitude, and came across as friendly and helpful. No wonder  I could  spend hours picking the mind of famous, long-time professional Pianists such as he.  Anyhoo, it was a great end to a long day for our daughter as well as her  good, ol' Momma.  This rare event was another great opportunity that the  Lord Jesus Christ threw across our path.  I continue to be awed by His goodness to us as a family.

More on Mr Wolfram here

....and here

Anton Diabelli @ Monster Concert

...Opus 149 No 28 in E Minor

Monster Concert 2011

8 Grand Pianos

32 Hands

(Farrah & Jill are on the right)

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Perpetual Commotion

...by Kevin Olson

Monster Concert 2011

8 Grand Pianos

32 Hands

(daughter Jill is on the right side)

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Piano Strings Attached

One of our pianos, our baby grand,  needed a string replaced. The combination of a new piano wrench, an initial wrong threading, and a very dusty piano  meant three hours of work instead of one.  The good news is: Don, our piano tuner, did not charge a penny (he said we were his guinea pigs for his brand-new piano wrench). He did accept a cup of black coffee.  He will be back later to tune the piano.  BTW, how does ONE note with its broken string  result in FOUR, new strings?!  

118.07.04.17

How timely is this?

Miss L. only has a handful of Preparatory Music students; she has many more Suzuki students.  The time for the Music School's Preparatory Contest was at hand, and Jillian was IT in the Senior Division. The last time one of Ms Lim's students entered the contest, he had also won (Kevin, 2 years ago).  We were in need of the prize money, and we prayed for God's help.  He had helped us 4 years previously, when Jill won 1st place in the Junior Division.

Contestants (Senior Division):

1st  -- Cello/Piano by Ester

2nd -- Piano by Jill,  Tempest Sonata by Beethoven

3rd -- Violin by Sajani, Concerto # 9 by De Beriot

4th -- Piano by Luke, Tales from Hungary by Martha Mier


Jillian Won 1st Place!
Praise God!!  

Sajani won 2nd Place!
...this is the Violin piece, though played by someone else on youtube:
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Womanly Intuition is Highly Overrated

pc: Wheaton College

It was early in the afternoon, and I was the lone parent in the waiting room of the Music School.

Entry door opened; I got up to take a look.

I did not recognize the man -- short, stocky -- wearing a light-coloured coat; peering into the empty practice rooms.
He stopped and smiled when he caught a glimpse of me.

"Where is the owner?" he asked.
I gave directions to the outside stairs which lead to the owners' residence.
"Uhmmm....what's her name?"
I said her first name.
"Are YOU one of the teachers?"
No. Did he want someone in particular?
"Never mind. So the stairs are where??"
They're outside of the front doors, to the left.
He smiled once again and exited.
My anxiety level suddenly shot up.

I hurriedly found my cell phone and called my husband.
I paced from hallway to the waiting room, and back again, as I explained the situation.
He was just as perplexed as me; but after five minutes I'd calmed down enough, 'tho still feeling wary, to hang up.
I continued to wait.

Don, the school co-owner walked in through the back door.
Did a man show up at their front door about 10 minutes ago?
"What man? I didn't see anyone?" he answered.
Once again, I felt anxious.
"Let me go back upstairs and ask my wife."
I waited for his return, all the while thinking that the Music School needed a better security system.
A camera by the door?  Doors that lock behind you?
A Guard? One can never be too sure in today's society.

Don returned with the missing pieces to the puzzle.
Don's wife had given a donation months (years?) ago to AA.
The stranger had  remembered her (tho' not her name).
He had successfully completed the Alcoholics Anonymous program.
He's sober.  He's happy.  Most of all, he's thankful.
And that's why he'd shown up at the Music School.
Talk about misjudging a fellow!!

12.8.23.18

Mozart: Concerto for Piano & Orchestra No 26 Coronation in D

WoW!! Played by Japanese prodigy, Aimi Kobayashi, then 10 y.o.

She even had block supports under her feet!

Japanese Classical Pianist, Aimi Kobayashi

19.12.13.17

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