Piano Talent

PianoTalent Promotes Pianists.

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Performance, improvisation and composition have been means of expression and communication for me. I like music that takes me somewhere, that makes me feel confident, happy, optimistic, proud and /or that makes me shiver, or that reflects the mood I am in. Music has also been, and continues to be, a way of making friends, to communicate and connect with others, to express / be myself, to be part of the world.

Music is quite literally my first language. When I was young (3 or 4), I was still not talking so I had speech therapy. That didn’t have much impact so I moved to music therapy. My parents thought music therapy was amazing. I asked my mum about her memories of my speech & music therapy. She thinks that I was;

Free to ‘shout’ because I’d found my voice
Enjoyed the ‘music’ making very much,
Very happy to be communicating with ‘musical’ speech,
Emotionally charged because it was something I loved,
Able to ‘talk’ in a language instigated by me
Excited by the music,

I started having piano lessons around the age of 5 or 6 and carried on learning on and off with 4 teachers. . As a pianist, I love playing music by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Glass, Handel, Tchaikovsky and Mozart amongst too many others to mention.

My mum used to play guitar & sing folk music (songs performed by musicians like Peter, Paul & Mary, Tom Paxton, Joan Baez).

My dad encourages me to sing with him in various choirs; music by Bach, Beethoven, Haydn et al. I loved taking part in a performance of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius as a member of the Roehampton Uni choir.

My oldest brother gave me a tape of Queen’s album The Works when I was 8; I’ve loved them ever since. I saw the musical We Will Rock You in London twice. I wrote about Queen's music for the films Highlander & Flash Gordon and was fortunate to receive an email via the Queen fan club from Brian May about Highlander. I heard Brian May play at London's Royal Albert Hall in May 2004 as a 'Friend' of the Italian singer Zucchero. I went to the same venue to see / hear Brian May and Kerry Ellis perform their Anthems album when they released it.

My next oldest brother introduced me to Cat Stevens, Suzanne Vega, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, 10cc, Supertramp as well as Mike Oldfield and Jools Holland.

My 3rd brother and I started to have drum lessons when I was in my teens.

I joined another band around 2004 (Mark on vocals + guitar, Jon on bass was replaced by Jan). We then split, and I started playing with Mark again in 2008, first as a 2 piece a la White Stripes. We were then joined by Sam on bass and carried on rehearsing and performing in London (Angel /Islington, Camden, Canning Town, Kings Cross…).

I studied music at school and then at Richmond Upon Thames College. Whilst at college, one of my music teachers took us to a Gamelan workshop at London's Festival Hall; I later learnt more about Gamelan whilst at Roehampton Uni. The same teacher also teased us with snippets of Minimalism (Reich, Glass and Riley). I was hooked!

I went with my parents (and a German exchange student we were hosting) to see Lerner /Loewe’s musical Guys n Dolls at London’s National Theatre in 1997.

I've seen /heard Glass perform a number of times; as a solo pianist, with his ensemble and with other musicians. I saw Glass' 1980 opera Satyagraha, and John Adams' 2005 opera Dr Atomic (both at the ENO in London). Glass' collaborations with Ravi Shankar opened my ears to Indian classical music in the same way that Glass' collaboration with Richard D James (aka Aphex Twin) opened my ears to more electronic music.

I studied music at Roehampton Uni during 1999-2002 and graduated with a BMus. During my time there, I was briefly in a band although we never performed, was a member of the Uni choir, studied theory, history, piano and composition and wrote a thesis on Philip Glass' opera trilogy; Einstein on the Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten. I also accompanied musicians including "Shades of Harmony" (an intimate female choir), solo singers and a string trio. I also helped a solo singer pass a grade exam singer.

I heard Jools Holland perform with his band at Roehampton, and again at London's Royal Albert Hall. A friend gave me a CD by Jimmy Scott and also took me to one of his gigs,

I went to Kingston Uni for a year to study TV /Film composition. I am increasingly interested in music for media, including film, TV and theatre.

As a composer I produced the soundtrack for a short film produced by Right Charlie Productions (Death (G)row) and a score for a short film (The Spotter, dir. Li, prod. Main), at the London Film Academy in 2005. I am increasingly interested in music for media, including film, TV and theatre and the interactive nature of music for computer video games.

I worked with Sheen Mount School as a pianist from Feb-July 2005.

I joined Mark Chester (vocals / guitar) and Jon (bass) as their drummer around 2004 and then left around 3 years later.

I’d joined another band with someone I was working with (Lester on bass & Paul on guitar & vocal) during 2006 /7 and left as I moved away.

[I can’t remember the chronology of these bassists so I’ll put it here] . After Jon left, we performed as a 2-piece, White Stripes style, then another bassist joined, who was replaced some time later and then we had a 3rd bassist.

Although I didn’t do very well academically at Kingston it did provide the opportunity to get involved as a performer in a touring arts event / exhibition called “transit station’ which took me from Kingston (Nov 03) to Edinburgh (Feb 05) and Berlin (Feb 06), gave me the chance to collaborate /perform with dancers / musicians / performance artists & film makers and opened my eyes and ears as to what art and music could be.

I started playing with Mark again in the summer of 2008. We performed at various venues in London including the “Grey Horse” (Kingston), "Hope & Anchor" (Islington), "Dublin Castle" (Camden), Proud Galleries (Camden) and the “Comedy” (Piccadilly). In August 2012 we recorded 4 tracks at London indie label The Animal Farm but it didn't go anywhere and I left soon after.

I accompanied a singer-songwriter called Nix Nugent during 2010-12 - we performed around London - our first Gig was at The Purple Turtle, we also performed around Camden and ventured to The Brunswick in Hove / Brighton once.

I was involved in a road accident in Sept 2011 (which resulted in a broken top jaw, damaged / lost teeth, a bone graft operation from my right hip to my lower jaw and some dental implants), and was treated by the amazing doctors & staff of London's Air Ambulance

I played drums in Kingston based band Euphoric Recall for between Jan-Sept of 2014. We performed im Kingston (Fighting Cocks, Cricketers) and Camden (Fidler’s Elbow).

I’m organising an arts festival in London to raise money for the UK's leading music therapy provider & trainer - Nordoff Robbins & London's Air Ambulance.

I'm looking for people in London who are passionate about music to join me as co-founder(s) of a music community / music promotion startup called Cheeky Promo

Any support will be rewarded with as much Cheeky Promo as possible. If you'd like to get involved in the festival - as a performer, volunteer or sponsor, and /or with Cheeky Promo in the long term, please email me at rupert@cheekypromo.com

I’m also composing / producing a music theatre / musical / opera based on a book ('WAKTM') by the same friend who introduced me to Jimmy Scott and looking for artists of ALL sorts to get involved.