"Harvesting the Ivories"

Sometime its hard to describe some of the good times we have. I don't think last Saturday was one of those times. On the contrary, I'm quite willing to say it was a complete scream. We had a ripping time of it. Ok, so most people who know what I'm talking about are looking a little blank right now. Why would I describe something as elegant as a piano concert in such vulgar terms--as if I have the answer to that question...

Let me get down to the details.

Ron, besides being a good friend, is also a big fan of good music, so he talked to various aspiring young pianists that he knew and got them interested and committed to a concert. My sister Anna was one of those aspiring pianist he tapped.
After quite a few months of preparation and planning, it was finally pulled off two days after Thanksgiving. The evening was billed "Harvesting the Ivories" and there was a lot of buildup. A lot of that was due to the fact it was held at Jackie's house (another one of those aspiring pianists). If there is one rule that Jackie's family lives by it would have to be The Preacher's exhortation to "do it with they might." Ron, by his own account, was expecting "an evening where he could sit back to some good music and a beer." Not even close. The following is just a skimming of the preparation that went into the house turned concert hall.

The valet parking was part of the ticket price. The food, as prepared by Jackie's older sister, was, as could be expected from her, exquisite. I don't have time to "bother" you with the mouth watering details of the assortment of gourmet appetizers, dishes and wines. The piano stood there under the dimmable spotlights. Most of the irrelevant furniture was discretely marginalized with tasteful touches here and there. A sound system was wired so that, in the more relaxed parts of the concert, the music was broadcast in the reception area in full stereo quality. It was all quite charming.

There were four performers in all; about 50 to 60 people attended. The program was arranged into three sections with two intermissions. They started with the serious section, in which there was to be no distracting movement from the audience and the music was more formal. After that it was a more laidback version of the same. Finally, there was the selection period, where the concert goers could select, from the several pages of options, the pieces they wanted to hear. The only thing was that they wouldn't know which pianist was attached to each piece--that was part of the plan of course.

Anna was happy with the way the songs she was more nervous about turned out. There's also a good chance that a recording will be made available! On the whole, it was a big hit. Thanks to all that worked so hard to make it so. As a music lover myself, I was not in the least disappointed.