Funny Post About a Piano-Shaped Object

We pianists have the mixed blessing of not having to lug our instrument all over kingdom come to do a job. I say "mixed" because sometimes you have to deal with some exceptionally crappy instruments and just make the best of it. Slightly out of tune (or even moderately out of tune), I can deal with. Some things I've had to work around:

• Sticking keys that don't release once you've played them. If you're lucky, the key might bounce back if you hit it sharply.
• No damper pedal. Can you say "legato fingering?"
• A key that, when depressed, sticks together with several of its neighbors who all come along for the ride. This happened to me during a performance in high school (it was in a mall and no one was listening, but still!) Fortunately it was all in the high register, so I just didn't use that octave for the rest of the performance.
• And of course, the most common: one particular nasty out-of-tune note, the aural equivalent of moldy leftovers crawling with orange and green maggots and fungus. If I don't have a tuning wrench with me, as is usually the case, I just either 1) don't play anything that includes that note or 2) transpose everything to a key that doesn't include that note. This requires lightning-quick mental acrobatics and music theory geekiness, which keeps me on my toes, and isn't always successful.

One of my Windsong friends pointed me to this funny blog post by the pianist for the Bread and Roses Feminist Singers. She referred to this Piano From Hell as "the piano incarnation of Florence Foster Jenkins." Enjoy--it's hilarious!

( Go to Bread and Roses MySpace page and click on the blog entry called "In the Loosest Sense of the Word." Sorry about this indirect link. It wouldn't load when I tried to post it the normal way.)

High Notes

I played for Windsong's winter concert this past Saturday, and we got a fabulous review on coolcleveland.com! Check it out--it's near the bottom of this page. One of our singers thanked the reviewer, and passed me along this excerpt from a follow-up email, which made my day:

Well, Karin is a treasure for anyone! She really understands collaborative piano, which all too few pianists really do!

It made my day. Besides, I just had to brag a little. ;-)

I also landed a temporary gig at Stages Restaurant at the Cleveland Playhouse, which just happens to be a 5-minute walk from our house. I play from 5-8 pm for the next 2 Friday and Saturday nights. My first night was last Friday. I had to put together a 3-hour playlist of mostly non-classical music, which took some hours, but now it's done and written down. I would have been lost without it, I can tell you! I actually have more than 3 hours' worth of music, probably 2/3 standards and show tunes. The piano there is beautiful and in tune, two things I never take for granted. I had a really good time, got lots of compliments from the diners, and forgot to take breaks! (I've got to remember to pace myself, though--my back and brain were pretty fatigued at the end of the evening and the whole next day!)

Who knows--maybe it will become a semi-regular gig. That would be great!

Holidays in Portland

It's always "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" around here, as Paul and I have 2 birthdays, Christmas, and New Years all in a 12-day period. We had an evening, 5 jam-packed days, and a morning in Portland with my family. It was mostly a really lovely visit, and for once nobody got sick (at least so far).

Memorable moments:

• Going to the NikeTown store to try on shoes with Eric and Rusty, who had given me a "design your own" gift card. What a fun idea! Wanna see what my future trainers will look like? They have a very girly color scheme! :=)



• Mom's delicious soups! She had 3 kinds: squash (with a nice kick to it), ham and bean, and chicken noodle. She and Ron hosted a soup supper and invited Dad, Becky and Hannah. With Eric and Rusty, Paul and me, it was a full table, but we all fit.



• Playing the bowling game on Hannah's brand new Wii with Hannah, Dad and Paul. I never play video games, so expected to suck, but I was pretty good and actually won!



• Making candy cane cookies and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with Dad, Hannah, Becky and Paul



• Snowshoeing on Mt. Hood in a winter wonderland of snow that was almost warm enough to melt.
  

• Becky's car's troubles stranding some of us in a restaurant for 3 hours waiting for a tow that never came. Fortunately our group had 3 cars and Gene came back to get us.
  
• My birthday morning, low key, the only time I played the piano all week. Funny how when I don't see dancers I have a hard time thinking of things to play! Actually felt a bit self-concious as Dad and Hannah recorded me on their respective video cameras while sightreading. I was still playing when Mom came over to pick me up. I was sightreading one of Hannah's requests, a beautiful song her youth choir will be singing. I can't get it out of my mind. You can see it in this video.
  
• Seeing Betsy, Tim, Annie & Mike and meeting Annie's young kids for the first time at her open house for the christening of her baby daughter Katherine. My "birthday cake" was a silver bowl full of chocolate truffles with one long, skinny candle sticking out. Loved it.


• We went to the christening service a really cool jazz evening service with first rate jazz musicians. Haven't been to a Christian service in years, (opted out of reciting the Nicene creed along with the congregation) but felt pretty comfortable and was glad we went.


• Afterwards we met my old friend Bob Litt and his wife Sonya at a wonderful Mexican restaurant for excellent, adventurous food and margaritas.


• Rediscovering the "time capsule" box of my old treasures that has been lost in Mom's rafters for 25 years, which includes tons of old pictures and every diary I kept from ages 13-20. I mailed it to myself and it should get here by next Wednesday. I read one of the diaries and dreamt that I was in eighth grade again.


• Lunch with Dietrich and his bride Lisa. This was great fun, as the essence of Dietrich has hardly changed in the 30 years I've known him. Lisa was really nice and down to earth. It was fun to hear the story of how they met (skinny-dipping while camping at a state fair!) We hung out for 3 hours and even had a little photo session:
  

• A nice, quiet New Year's Eve hanging out with Mom & Ron watching the New York Philharmonic on TV. When Pink Martini came on at 11:30, Paul and I were inspired to do a rhumba and a cha-cha on the living room rug, much to Mom's delight! What a great band.