#ty #lawrence #pitchko

It was an honour to perform with superb musicians Ricker, Kathleen and Ann on a joint program Thursday June 14th at OrchardViewers Concerts at Northern District Library.  Bonnie Ing (Adult librarian) personally thanked me by email and said “it was privilege to hear you sing and listen to everyone else play on the piano. It was the perfect way of ending the Orchardviewers program for the season.”

But of course it would not have been possible without the guidance of Lawrence Pitchko. Originally he suggested to have me perform jointly with Mario and Ann, but due to scheduling, you will get to hear him later with me in Waterloo. Put it in your calendars folks: #SoloDowlandProject southern Ontario two city tour to Hamilton (July 22nd, 2018) and as mentioned previously, Waterloo (September 8th, 2018).

#SoloDowlandProject: Studio Recordings, Pt. 1 represent a creative self-produced digital album captured from the intimacy of Mario’s living room. Produced with just one single microphone, Mario and I performed 10 songs in a setting that imitated a private recital for ourselves. It was an experience that was exhilarating and alot of exhaustive work but so worth the end result; truly a labour of love and it was a wonderful act of pursuit of Art for Art’s sake. We as artists need to challenge ourselves and this proved to be an ideal project for our special combination of talents.

As an accompanist Mario provides a unique perspective being that he is clearly influenced by Glenn Gould and also Sviatoslav Richter. When recording these precious songs I noticed how much attention he paid to ornamentation as well as terraced dynamics. He influenced me to give a performance that was not overtly romantic in nature yet also observed the doctrine of affections. Clearly his accompaniments provide a type of rhythmic vitality and voicing that is supreme in its achievement. Mario’s devotion to this project greatly enhanced my interpretation of the Dowland songs and I am so grateful for his dedication to the craft of musical accompanying. Congratulations Mario; I am so very proud of you! (and I am so thankful for having the opportunity to collaborate with you through our mentorship with Lawrence Pitchko).

(“Solo Dowland Project: Studio Recordings, Part 1” is available for download from these retail sites)

CdBaby.com

iTunes 

AmazonDigital

GooglePlay