Fun with Ensemble Music

While my students are enjoying their summer off from lessons, I'm practicing madly for an intense one-week piano camp, offered by the Calgary Arts Summer School.

One of the songs that I'm working on is a two piano, eight hand arrangement of Stars and Stripes Forever. I'm learning the Piano II - Primo part.

Now, I can't vouch for whether my quartet members and I will be able to play this sucker at this speed after only one week of practice together, but this performance is pretty exciting:


I haven't played in a piano quartet since my university days. For an April Fools' Day recital, my classmates and I performed the Blue Danube for one piano, four noses!

At any rate, ensemble playing can be really fun - once you get over the hurdle of everyone counting beats together.

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