Fresh Starts: September Community Concert

Sat Sep 19 at 11 AM - 1 PM PDT

Event by Team

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85733994528?pwd=IbgufMwChYrQdb6XCiTTxaTcNFBTsn.1

A new season is here, and it’s time to make some music.

Join us for our September Community Concert, a celebration of fresh beginnings, new goals, and the excitement of getting back to the instrument.

Whether you’re returning after a summer break, starting a brand-new piece, or simply feeling inspired to play again, we’d love to hear what you’ve been working on.

All levels and repertoire are welcome. Come perform, support your fellow community members, and start the season with music.

How to participate:

• Reply below with the piece you’ll be playing
• Share a recording, or let us know if you’d like to play live

Recordings will be shared as time allows. Thank you, as always, for the care you bring to your playing and to this community.

Looking forward to hearing what you’ve been up to at the piano.

General information and Guidelines below!

Reply to this topic with your name and repertoire selection if you would like to perform! If you don't know what you want to play yet, you can always just let us know your intent!

ABOUT TONEBASE COMMUNITY CONCERTS:

These events are NOT live-streamed OR recorded, but are private zoom meetings where tonebase members can share their hard work and perform for each other!

These concerts can be played LIVE, or if you can't attend, you can submit a recording!

This is a GENEROUS and SUPPORTIVE space.

Performing is one of the best ways to push yourself, and really evaluate the work/progress you have made!

Repertoire is open to any piece!

Memorization is NOT required.

You can play select movements, or even sections of pieces! No need to perform a complete work!

Playing the piano is fun, but sharing your music with others is one of life's great joys. Join in on the fun and cheer each other on!

FOR OPTIMIZING YOUR ZOOM SETTINGS PLEASE SEE THE SHORT VIDEOS BELOW!

Because we use zoom for these concerts, it is important to have the best audio and visual settings available!

Check out these videos depending on the device you are using!

FOR LAPTOPS/COMPUTERS

https://youtu.be/U2K6saBm8fI

FOR IPAD/IPHONE/PHONES

https://youtu.be/UwLo5CzLX2o

- Andrea_LeVan
- 4 wk ago
- Reported - view
So I may be too optimistic here but I’m working on my own composition that, if ready I would love to play. I still haven’t even finished writing it though but so far it’s coming out of my mind pretty quickly. This will be my second ever composition and although I do like the first I feel that this one is by far better. Anyway let’s see if I can not only finish it but also get it under my fingers! Otherwise I will play something else. So for now let’s plan on:

Fuego en los Pasos (Fire in the Steps) - by Andrea LeVan
- Mom, fitness instructor, lover of music
  
  Michelle_Russell
  
  4 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Awesome Andrea! Looking forward to hearing your composition.
- Larry_K
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  I can only conclude that I have no soul, for I have no compositions, and desire to write none.
  
  I am happy to play the compositions of others.
  
  I believe that interpretation is noble work.
- Peter_William
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  It is very rare that musicians compose - you do - so if you ever need a quiet/non critical audience let me know I will listen with appreciation. Thank you!
- Ken_Radford
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  vive la différence as we say in Wales.
- Larry_K
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  I see the primary focus of Tonebase piano to be teaching and showcasing interpretation.
  
  You seem to see it differently when you say that you don’t want to hear people play works written by others.
  
  That statement discounts the thousands of hours that people on here devote to learning difficult piano repertoire.
  
  There must be websites devoted to composition.
  
  Surely, the works of the great masters are worth playing and listening to.
  
  An interpreter expresses something in their own soul by playing such works.
- Andrea_LeVan
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  I thought Ken’s post was simply saying to embrace the diversity of all music 🎶 and I believe none of us would even be here as tonebase members if we didn’t love and play the great works of the many composers that came before us ❤️
- Larry_K
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Well, you are putting words into his mouth.
  
  I don’t know what he meant but it didn’t strike me as an endorsement of interpretation.
  
  Without interpretation, all of the music ever written dies a silent death.
- Have a growth mindset, no matter what!
  
  Gail_Starr
  
  8 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  can’t wait to hear you!
- Tom_Pascale
- 3 wk ago
- Reported - view
I am submitting a short and medium length recording in case there's time for one or the other (maybe not - looks like a big crowd). Would love to play live - and I admire those that do - but I just fall to pieces if I ever even think someone is listening to me play (and I'm too old for that to change).

The first piece, "Melancolie" is an absolute masterpiece by Poulenc. If you don't know it, it may be the most beautiful piano piece you've never heard. I'm still working on it but the first 2 minutes more or less stands on its own so I went ahead and recorded it. (I'm a big Poulenc fan; recorded his Novelette No. 1 for the May concert.) The second piece is an original that I wrote years ago and am curious to see if anyone likes it. I think it's pretty good but I may have crammed in a few too many notes.

Poulenc, Melancolie (excerpt, 2 min)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YpwvC9qLZpf8jCmUtwXKFQRHyRPGTSX8/view?usp=drive_link

Dance (original composition, 4 min)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1csE_K3Uhn47phMhij2iW7Gsa9ovMw6cy/view?usp=drive_link
- Kerstin
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Wow! An absolutely wonderful composition. Congratulations!!!
- Tom_Pascale
  
  3 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thanks for listening - and for the kind words.
- Bernice_vonSaleski
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  wow! I loved both pieces. I was mesmerized by your composition. You fly across the keyboard, and one feels like dancing. Your articulation is crisp, too. Bravo. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👩‍💻
- Tom_Pascale
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thanks, Bernice, glad you liked it !
- Vicki_R
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  I loved your playing, enjoyed the composition, and increased my awareness of Poulenc. The composition evoked feelings of joy, of spaciousness and grandeur, and created images of dancers swirling, waltzing, and pirouetting. What was the inspiration for the short contrasting phrases in the introduction? (apx first minute or so). Altogether inspiring, and thank you for sharing this . :-)
- Tom_Pascale
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thanks for the feedback - this piece is from 20 years ago - so it's hard to remember how it came together, but I think the dance theme came first and the intro later. I can't say there was a method to it - just noodling at the piano and stitching together snippets that fit. It would certainly be easier if I heard the music in my head (alas, I don't). The title is after Debussy's "Danse" which I used to play a lot - fantastic piece and fun to play.
- Vicki_R
  
  2 wk ago
  
  Reported - view
  Appreciate the explanation. Well - the 'noodling' resulted in a fine composition! :-)
- Dolores_Bacon
- 8 days ago
- Reported - view
Good opportunity to continue with a piece I started working on in camp plus address performance anxiety, always a work in progress. Will do Mozart Sonata K 332, Adagio.
- Pediatrician
- a_weymann
- 7 days ago
- Reported - view
I’ll play “Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth” by Franz Liszt. I will play live. Some of my friends must be beyond sick of hearing this piece; apologies tendered, but I have a performance of it coming up at the end of the month, so this is a welcome practice opportunity in front of a famously friendly and supportive audience. The piece is about 7 minutes long.
- Tom_Pascale
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  I'm a huge Liszt fan but somehow have never heard this piece before. I just checked it out - and it's absolutely gorgeous. Great choice (and I'm sure your friends can certainly stand to hear it a few more times).
- Pediatrician
  
  a_weymann
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  you’re not alone, my friend. Nobody knows this piece, and that includes no less than six eminent concert pianists and highly respectable piano pedagogues for whom I have had the honor of playing it over the years. The only one who did know it is my current piano teacher who actually had played it himself while still at school, in a recital for one of his degrees.
- PViseskul
  
  6 days ago
  
  Reported - view
  count me on hearing it first time Liszt 😉 looking forward!
  
  PS generally I'm not a fan of his well known pieces but this I like! Thank you for introducing it 🙂
- Pamela.3
  
  21 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Alex, looking forward to hearing your piece. Where is your upcoming performance?
- Pediatrician
  
  a_weymann
  
  3 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Merkin Hall (New York City)
- Pamela.3
  
  2 hrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Congratulations on your upcoming performance!
- Hai_Nguyen
- 7 days ago
- Reported - view
Scott would like to play live Chopin's Nocturne in B major Op. 62 No. 1. Thanks!