I always hear that people here have "met" concert pianists after their performances. It seems whenever I go to a concert they all just dissapear and I never see them again.. just wondering how.

yea....i've thoght of doing that, but then I realzied how busy they must be and an ameteur like me may be wasting their time.

Sometimes there are receiving lines or receptions afterwards. It helps if you donate to the series that is putting it on.

I'm going to see Joshua Bell in a concert in a few days... On a radio interview recently he said that he just about always sticks around and chats with audience members. I can't think of what I would say though... Guess I'll have to see what happens. Should be a good concert.

every concert i've ever been to with a famous artist there is a receiving line afterwards where audience members can come up and have a few words with the performer.

what you do is make your way back stage after the performance is over. there is usually a line. get in it. when it is your turn, offer your hand and tell the performer how much you enjoyed their performance. some people even get into fairly extended conversations with them.

It's also good if you wear something skimpy and bring a fifth.

Oh wait, I guess that depends more on the type of concert you're going to...

Okay, joke time:

C, E flat and G walk into a bar.
The bartender takes one look and says:
"We don't serve minors here."

So E-flat leaves, and C and G have a fifth between them.

LOL

...and palm one of the roadies a C note.

Oh wait, I think you're right. Wrong venue.

I'm sure I've told this story here several times before:

Arthur Rubinstein gave a recital in Victoria, BC's Royal Theatre way back in the dim dark ages when I was still a teen-ager. After the recital I went back stage to see if I could catch a glimpse of the legendary man, and there he was, sitting by himself in a dressing room.

Had I been more than a teen-ager or had I had my wits about me (I had no more of them then than I have now), I may have had a memorable conversation with the master; as it was, I babbled a few inanities about hoping one day to be half as good a pianist as he then was, but I remember his being very kind, shaking my hand and wishing me luck.

I guess in those days Victoria was enough of a cultural back-water (along with the then typical Canadian reserve) that people just didn't think about thronging backstage to greet and ogle the artist.

Could I do it again with an artist of similar stature, I probably would not be any more intelligent than I was then. I think, in recent years, I've babbled just as incoherently in the presence of Marc-Andre Hamelin.

Oh, well!

Regards,

BruceD and others, Rubinstein was a real gentleman. My piano teacher's parents met at a concert on a very rainy day in Lewisohn Stadium here in NYC in the 1940s. Both were pianists and came to see him, met while there and later married.

They wrote a letter to him years later with a picture of their daughter (my teacher) describing how much they enjoyed his playing and showed them the their darling young pianist/daughter.

Rubinstein (from Paris), sent them the kindest note and a picture he signed saying how much he enjoyed hearing the story.

Very, very gracious and yes I saw the original letter (copy) and AR's letter and the pic.

Don't know how he was after concerts, yet he was certainly approachable in this manner.

Ed

When I was 18 I saw Rudolph Serkin with the Detroit Symphony doing a Beethoven Concerto. I somehow got the courage to join in on that line and get back-stage. I recognized the arrogant head of Music at my University in line and then eventually babbling with Serkin about "Eastman" this, "concert hall" that. Annoying butt-kissing. I was so nervous when it came to my turn, that I just thanked him and then impulsively gave him a hug! - to my astonishment and the others around me. He smiled and did not mind. What a great human being.

I know a guy who met Horowitz, said he was a very nice guy.

When I was an undergrad, and even before, I'd go to lots of classical concerts and often go back and meet the soloist, especially if it was a pianist. I had no trouble getting access, and the artists were usually pretty friendly. I'd sometimes get programs autographed, but those programs got lost over time.

It shouldn't be too hard to meet the artist. See Pique's note.

Davies has a "green room" or you just go backstage. Met lots and lots of them this way. BTW, Barry Douglas has the most incredible eyes. There is always a mob of Russian mafia for Kissin - the last time he was here, I got in line, gave him my business card and said "the next time you are in town, I will take you out for a drink." He gave me a look that said: Take me away NOW!! Innaresting...

i love rubinstein stories! he was a great man, judging from these stories.

my uncle was a close friend of horowitz's. i think "nice guy" is probably not the first description that would come to mind.

That's great! There must be a whole slew of notes of the scale jokes. I want more!!

I met Claude Frank (one of the first recorders of all the Beethoven Sonatas - and still a great performance) during a pre-concert dinner about a year ago. This old, old man (must be in his late 70's now) was kind, gracious and friendly. I had some of his recordings from when I was much younger, and told him that I had been a fan for 30 years. He smiled and thanked ME!

At the concert he played the Beethoven 1st piano concerto. It was impressive as hell seeing this little, old man sit down at a huge piano with a chamber-sized orchestra. I was skeptical. When he began, though, fire came out of his fingers.

Ludwig would've been proud.

George

I've met 2 "performers", one before and one after concerts. They were very different artists: Rafael Puyana, the harpsichordist and John Browning. The former was introduced to my by my Spanish Professor. I was able to sneak in on Browning while he was practicing in the auditorium.