Hello friends- Here’s some information about two concerts coming up this weekend, in which Sarah Cahill and I are performing some fantastic new four-hand pieces by Terry Riley. I hope to see you!

At 8 pm this Friday, October 28, Mills College presents a tribute to Terry Riley, who is Jean Macduff Vaux Composer-in-Residence. Terry himself will perform an improvisation with Fred Frith. Other musicians include the Mills Contemporary Performance Ensemble and Mills Vocal Improvisation Ensemble, saxophonist John Ingle, and the Del Sol Quartet, in compositions ranging from the early- 1960 String Quartet, Dorian Reeds, and Olson III- to more recent, like the two four-hand pieces that Sarah and I will play in their Bay Area premieres. Etude from the Old Country (2004) is a dazzling virtuosic showpiece, and Jaztine (2000) is, in Terry’s words, “inspired by a girl named Jaztine Murillo, a child from the Phillipines that we sponsored for a number of years who would send us very endearing letters. Jaztine evokes images from childhood, skipping over green hills in wildflowers under puffy white clouds against blue skies in odd meter, stopping to let a parade of colorful ponderous elephants majestically pass by.” Mills College Concert Hall is at 5000 MacArthur Blvd. in Oakland. Phone (510) 430-2296 for more information.


The next evening, at 8 pm Saturday, October 29 as part of the Berkeley Arts Festival, Sarah and I will join two brilliant composer-pianists, Katrina Krimsky and Barbara Higbie, for “Two by Four,” in which all of us will team up for duos. Katrina and Barbara will perform:
Rhapsody for Two Pianos (Higbie/Krimsky)
Neptune (Higbie/Krimsky)
Lonnie’s Lament (John Coltrane)
Selections from Baby's Family (Villa Lobos)
Azzola, an adaptation of French Musette music
Fluid Silk, Ambrosia, Golden Gate Park (Krimsky)
Tideline (Higbie)

Sarah Cahill and I will perform Etude from the Old Country, Jaztine, and Tango Doble Ladiado by Terry Riley. Sarah will also play a beautiful new piece by Daniel Feinsmith, entitled Self, in which he sets an excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay The Poet, which she speaks while playing his music. I will perform The Hidden Agenda by New York composer Anthony Coleman. For the finale, we four pianists will join forces for an eight-hand rendition of Katrina’s pattern piece Fluid Silk.

Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery is at 2324 Shattuck Avenue near Durant Ave. in Berkeley.

WEBSITE: www.berkeleyartsfestival.com

PHONE NUMBER: (510) 665-9496
ADMISSION: $10 general

I hope to see you at one or both of these concerts. By the way, we all have websites: www.katrinakrimsky.com, www.barbarahigbie.com, www.josephkubera.com, and www.sarahcahill.com.

Joe... thanks for letting us know about your upcoming performance! Both concerts sound like a real treat!

Ahhh... if only it was a bit closer I could round up a collection of enthusiastic PW members!!

We will have to keep an eye on your website for future events in the Boston area!

Thanks, Terrytunes!

I'll post more about this, either here or in the PF. Of note, the piano we played on in the downtown Berkeley concert was a 10-1/2 foot Fazioli! Donated by Piedmont Piano in California.

When I get my act togeher, I'll post some pictures of us at the Fazi.