Eleven years ago, I inherited a piano from a very generous man named Douglas Bieler. He was moving to a smaller apartment and didn't have space for his grand piano. I nearly dropped the phone when he told me I could have it. Around this same time, I auditioned at a place called Fat Tuesday's to be part of a duelling pianos show.
A few months later, he brought over a painting that he was also getting rid of because he thought I might like it. As it turns out, it was a painting of a certain corner in the Byward Market, depicting the place where I had just started to play most Saturday nights, and would continue to play for the next eleven years. I always thought this was a neat coincidence: the person who gave me this instrument to practice piano on also had a painting of the place where I would play piano and hone my performance skills over the years.
The piano and the painting are both in my living room now, and for today's video I am playing Carrying Cathy, by Bend Folds, the same song that I auditioned with. It's also funny that I haven't played this song there since I played it back then.
At the end of this video, there is a more present day (print of a) painting of Fat Tuesdays, from the inside, done by the talented Sharon Epic who does live paintings and created this as we played a few years ago.
A few months later, he brought over a painting that he was also getting rid of because he thought I might like it. As it turns out, it was a painting of a certain corner in the Byward Market, depicting the place where I had just started to play most Saturday nights, and would continue to play for the next eleven years. I always thought this was a neat coincidence: the person who gave me this instrument to practice piano on also had a painting of the place where I would play piano and hone my performance skills over the years.
The piano and the painting are both in my living room now, and for today's video I am playing Carrying Cathy, by Bend Folds, the same song that I auditioned with. It's also funny that I haven't played this song there since I played it back then.
At the end of this video, there is a more present day (print of a) painting of Fat Tuesdays, from the inside, done by the talented Sharon Epic who does live paintings and created this as we played a few years ago.