Hopetoun Concert

Well, that was different! Quite apart from having a nice little holiday in Hopetoun, I had a great time playing lots of piano in a long concert in the recently built Community Centre on 19 October. Despite coinciding with the local government election it was nearly sold-out. About ten percent of the local population turned up to this fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which raised about $1,100. This will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a local mine.

Please note: in common with my other blog posts this is NOT a review. I’m a musician, not a music critic. This is simply a record of what happened with basic info about who did what. It’s only of interest to those who were there and perhaps their families. It’s a memento of an event we all enjoyed, the memory of which would otherwise be lost forever. Feel free to share and to make comments at the end.

Screen shot from the video

The concert promoter was the Qualup Choir, led by Richenda (Chenda) Goldfinch, a local artist and poet with endless energy and enthusiasm. And, I might say, she can conduct a beat better than many others, and takes a lot of care over shaping the music.

Mary Roberston. All photos by Sue Leighton except for screen shots (scrn).

I hadn’t met this community choir until a few hours before the concert but they had been working with recordings I’d made for them some weeks prior. After many years the regular accompanist, Mary Robertson, had had to withdraw her services due to ill health.

Toni Arndt

Toni Arndt, a wonderful soprano friend from the Perth Hills, drove me down. We were met there by other friends from the Hills, Jean and Henry Bourgault. In fact, there was quite a Hills contingent and I made new friendships with both Hopetoun locals and people from Perth.

Jean Bourgault at the Yamaha digital piano

Jean accompanied Henry for his songs and some of Toni’s. I accompanied Toni and the choir, and played several piano solos including two originals.

Toni singing “It’s a Fine Life” (scrn)

Toni wowed the audience with Seligkeit (Schubert), Porgi Amor (Mozart), It’s a Fine Life (Lionel Bart), As Long as He Needs Me (Lionel Bart), La Vie en Rose (Piaf and Louiguy), and Rien de Rien (Vaucaire and Dumont), with Jean at the piano. With myself at the keys she sang Liebhaber in allen Gestalten (Schubert), O Mio Babbino Caro (Puccini), Beside the Foyle (my very special arrangement with new music and new lyrics to the tune of Londonderry Air or Danny Boy, being the latest version with an extra verse with a new melody), Black is Beautiful (by Bruce Lawson and Toni’s late husband, Frank Arndt), and Bring Him Home (C-M Schönberg).

Jean & Henry (scrn)

Jean also accompanied Henry in two songs which brought the house down: O Isis and Osiris (Mozart) and The Song of the Flea (Mussorgsky).

Song of the Flea (scrn)
(scrn)

My piano solos were Rainbows Over Hovea and Puck at Parkerville (originals I completed in 2017), Song Without Words, Op. 19, No. 3 (Felix Mendelssohn), Solace – a Mexican Serenade (Scott Joplin), and the slow movement of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata.

(scrn)
Chenda Goldfinch

Chenda has many talents. Months later I’m still slowly reading through her wonderful book of poems, photos, drawings, and paintings called Footprints of a Traveller (ISBN 978-0-9872072-7-2). See her Facebook, LibraryThing or GoodReads. You might need to get a copy directly from her. Great to read at the end of the day!

The Qualup Choir with myself at the piano

The Qualup Choir, led by Chenda and accompanied by myself, sang Some Enchanted Evening (Rogers & Hammerstein), Any Dream Will Do (Lloyd-Webber), As Long as I have Music (Besig & Price), Autumn Leaves (Mercer & Kosma), Can You Feel the Love Tonight (John & Rice), and The Ugly Duckling (Loesser). They began and finished with unaccompanied numbers: Kaya (Welcome Song, by Charmaine Bell), and There Will Be Peace On Earth.

(scrn)

The excellent compare for the evening was Coralie Daw.

My association with Jean and Henry is quite patchy but goes back a long, long way. In 1974, when I was in year 8 at Eastern Hills Senior High School (EHSHS), I was in the trumpet class with one of their sons, Phil. Our teacher was Sam Maher. He was no doubt a good teacher but I dropped out of trumpet after half a year.

Also in that year I was in Henry’s French class. I recall desperately trying to pay attention so he wouldn’t ask me too many questions, on the theory that he would ask questions of any student staring out the window as a crowd control technique. Consequently, he wrote glowingly of me in the end of year report, saying something about how keen I was. But as he said the other day, no-one remembers the foreign languages they learn at school. So true!

When I was in year 10 (?) Jean was (I think) the music teacher at the primary school next door. I recall showing her a theory book I’d been working through, standing outside near where the buses stop. She made some tactful comment along the lines of ‘you need to get a theory teacher.’ I don’t know why that did not happen.

Fast forward to early 2012 when I joined the Hills Choir Inc., based in Mundaring, and sang in the tenor section for a year. That was around the middle of Jean’s 13-year stint as conductor of this very strong choir. Subsequently, I’ve often accompanied them on piano at rehearsals when Libby Patrizi, the regular accompanist, can’t get there, and sometimes at concerts. (Libby is the daughter of Mary Robertson, mentioned above.) Sometimes I have played piano solos at their concerts at EHSHS, including originals.

But it was not until just a few years ago that I discovered both Jean and Henry had been students at Claremont Teachers College together with my father. OK, so now you’re wondering how old everyone is. Well, Jean and Henry are both 82 now but my father, John Joseph Jones (1930 – 2000), would have been about seven years older than they were when they were all at college as he was a mature age student.

Me, Toni, Jean, Mary, Chenda

Back to Hopetoun. What a lovely place, and such warm, friendly people. We all got lots of compliments and expressions of appreciation from the audience, which included tourists. I don’t think I was misgendered once, although, sadly, I didn’t get called by the singular ‘they.’ So much for dire predictions of stuck-in-the-mud conservative old folks. No, they consistently called me ‘she’ and were almost falling over themselves to thank and compliment me.

A big group of us did party, and went sight-seeing together. See my blog post Hopetoun Holiday.

Standing ovation

We made a video of the whole event but it’s just for training purposes and for those involved to keep as a memento.

Artwork on the Royal Flying Doctor Service at the front of the stage. (scrn)
Sue is on the right. (scrn)

Playing Chidlow: Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant

The Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant has been extensively renovated over the last few months (late 2018) and now they’ve got me playing piano on some nights.

Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant, Chidlow

Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant, Chidlow, with new deck and awning.

Last night was my second Saturday and it was a wonderful experience. I can say it was wonderful because I have that on good advice: several patrons came up to me to say how much they enjoyed my classical piano playing. I even got two tips (of folding stuff).

One lady was so overcome by the experience that she and the man with her (her husband perhaps) stayed on longer just so they could enjoy the music. Quite emotional she was, and kept saying how my playing had made it a very special night out for them. Maybe they’re not yet married and just got engaged to the sound of my Bach or Beethoven? Or was it an anniversary? I think she wanted to hug me but there was a digital piano between us.

Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant, Chidlow

Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant, Chidlow

The boss was very happy, too. We all agreed live playing of lovely music in the background really makes the whole experience very special. I’m always pushing the line that music in cafes & restaurants needs to be strictly instrumental, no singing. That way you can think your own thoughts, read a book or hold a conversation. Music even helps conversations to start.

Me playing at The Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant

Me playing at The Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant

With cafes I never know what I’m going to play until I’m there, rummaging though a couple of boxes of music books. Last night I played Mac Dowell, lots of Bach, Chopin and Schubert, and some Beethoven and Brahms.

The Bay Tree Cafe & Restaurant is down the back of the modern suite of shops next to the Chidlow Tavern (Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia). I’ll play again next Saturday 22 December 2018, 5.45pm to 8.15pm. The next one after that should be the same time on Valentine’s Day, Thursday 14 February 2019.

Opening hours over Christmas 2018:

24 December 8am to 2pm

27 December 8am to 2pm

28 December 8am to 2pm

29 December 8am to 2pm

30 December 8am to 2pm

2 January 8am to 3pm, just to be different.

CLOSED: December 25, 26, 31 and January 1.

The cafe’s Facebook has great pics of their delicious food, and a short video where Carol snuck up on me playing Bach:

www.facebook.com/thebaytreebakery/videos/1403198996476638/

House Concert, USA order, exams, vibes

I’ve had a great few days, feeling the love.

It began on Tuesday when I took my very first online order for sheet music: one copy of my re-published book of dodecaphonic piano solos, Child’s Play, sold to a masterful pianist and teacher in the USA. I was so pleased I put an extra one in the envelope. Must get on to making videos of that group of pieces!

Friday morning came another novelty: my very first paid House Concert. I’ve played background piano for parties before but this time it was a genuine recital with me as the star billing.

MDJ at piano

Friday afternoon: piano accompanying for a couple of young music students doing exams at the AMEB. What’s so unusual about that? They paid me DOUBLE what I asked.

Who cares about money? Anyone who knows me knows I’ve dialled down my own need for income. The less you spend, the less time you need to spend to earn the folding stuff. But it really is the thought that counts and it was great to work with such thoughtful people. The mother didn’t ring and say “My kids have exams next Thursday, can we fit in one rehearsal as well?” No; she said “My kids have exams in five weeks. Can you come to rehearse four times?” My faith in humankind was rekindled, and then she paid double and they all gave me chocolates and a card! Surely, the excellent playing standard of her kids is no coincidence.

The house concert was organised with only four weeks’ notice but finding material to play was easy as I’ve been exploring a big repertoire in many recitals over the last two and a half years.

My programme featured four original works, plus pieces by Bach, Debussy, and Schubert. We also had a sing-along of my in-progress arrangement of Londonderry Air, with new lyrics. The audience and the host were absolutely stoked with the whole performance.

A non-camera shy section of audience.

What a joy it is to be so appreciated, and what a stark contrast that is to the insults I sometimes get.

I expect every year about this time to get tapped on the shoulder to donate my time and expertise to play piano for some worthy cause. It happens to every musician. People say ‘Please do it for free, it will be great exposure/experience/practice/publicity for you.’ Yair, right!

In reality they don’t value our expertise and/or they want something for nothing. It’s a huge insult. They pay thousands of dollars for a venue and publicity but peanuts for the players. What are they saying? “We need a stage, but you’re not worth paying for.”

Being asked to play for nothing is not a complement, it’s a tremendous insult. It’s ALWAYS an insult and people should be ashamed of themselves for daring to suggest any skilled musician should play for peanuts.

I ration myself to no more than one free gig per year, by invitation only. That’s MY invitation, not someone else’s. That is, I offer to play for free sometimes. Insulting me automatically disqualifies any application.

Sigh. Deep breath. I think of my upcoming residency at a cafe. More fun soon!

Two years of piano recitals comes to an end

Classical Music, Old and New

I’m sorry to disappoint my small band of followers who I’ve had the pleasure and honour of playing for since early 2016. You’ve heard me in various local venues, sometimes braving very cold conditions, and some have made 160 km round trips. Thank you for your loyalty! For the time being I’m putting on hold my classical piano recitals so I can focus more on composing and publishing my own music.

Since emailing over 400 people about cancelling my recitals scheduled for 16 September and 18 November 2018 in Mundaring in the Perth Hills, Western Australia, I’ve had a couple of unexpected questions. One person asked if this meant I was also giving up teaching, and another wondered if I was ill. Yikes! Human nature, filling-in gaps and making stuff up! To clarify: still teaching, feel remarkably healthy (mentally and physically).

I suppose people wonder why I would cancel if I’m not ill. You must remember that each recital is a major investment of time & energy, and ‘brain real estate.’ I am now so enthusiastic about composing and arranging that I just can’t contemplate all that practice. Every time I sit down to practice I soon stop practicing; I pick up a pencil and resume composing. This composing thing will have to run its course before I can get back into serious playing. When that happens I might put on a recital with fairly short notice (but don’t hold your breath).

In just over two years (May 2016 to July 2018) I performed twelve times, each time playing long programmes of standard repertoire and my own compositions. There were ten recitals in the Hills or Wheatbelt areas outside of Perth, Western Australia in Toodyay, Chidlow, Mundaring and Forrestfield. Two of these were with one or two associate artists, my very talented friends Toni Arndt (soprano) and Naomi Millett (classical guitar).

Many composer names appeared in multiple programmes, both because I played other works by the same composer and because some items were repeated at other venues. The composers were myself, J. S. Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Scott Joplin, Felix Mendelssohn, Mozart, Mussorgsky, Ravel, and Schubert. From these twelve composers 66 solo piano works were performed, not counting items repeated in subsequent programmes. Wow, I didn’t know I’d played so many pieces over those couple of years until I added it all up. Even so, this list is only a fraction of what I may one day perform.

My YouTube channel has some videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz318nZdr520zMNK6GNfnjQ Precise details of the items played at each recital are at appearances-performances.

I played long programmes for a renewal of wedding vows at Woodbridge (music-for-renewal-of-wedding-vows-peggies-passing) and a complicated wedding ceremony in the function centre in John Forrest National Park (blog coming soon). In the middle of the latter ceremony the couple insisted I play my 3-minute composition “Rainbows Over Hovea” in its entirety. Everyone had to stop and listen!

I’ve also played for several special days at Yallambee Aged Care and accompanied music exam students at Governor Stirling SHS, something I also did at Eastern Hills SHS in 2013 (I attended both these schools myself a hundred years ago). Since 2014 I have played a few times with the Hills Choir as accompanist or soloist and I’ll accompany them for their December concert coming up.

I will still be available to play for wedding ceremonies, students doing exams, and choirs. Perhaps house concerts? Still also available for teaching piano, singing and music theory, plus house sitting and pet minding.

Will blog soon about my current compositions in progress.

Music for Renewal of Wedding Vows & Peggie’s Passing

This was my idea of fun: playing my favourite classical music and getting paid for it. I even managed to sneak in a couple of originals, “Puck at Parkerville” and “Rainbows Over Hovea,” which are very bright, bubbly, happy pieces.

MDJ at piano

Me at the piano

A few days ago Kelly & Marcus renewed their wedding vows twelve years into their marriage. This time they had two lovely daughters, Maya and Zoe, to help them with the ceremony.

Marcus renewing his wedding vowsI’ve been teaching piano to Marcus and his daughters so I was very happy to take on the role of pianist for the ceremony.

I hope to do more playing like this. The original intention was to play the repertoire from my 16-month Soul Tree Organic Cafe residency (sadly, that cafe exists no more). However, it quickly became apparent the occasion was more like a party, so much more lively music was called for.

We’d already agreed on a couple of items for special points in the event, being Pachelbel’s Canon in D and Debussy’s Clair de lune, which are not exactly exciting though they are very lovely. So for the rest I played other selections which happened to be in the scores I’d brought with me.

Riverside at Woodbridge Cafè & Restaurant. Above the tables you can see vineyards on the other side of the Swan River.
www.facebook.com/riversideatwoodbridge

I was told by several people my playing was “Perfect, like a CD.” I guess ‘perfect’ has become a relative term! It wasn’t quite note perfect but I did play musically.

The happy occasion came just two days after a very sad one. My fiancée, Jenny, said goodbye to her dearly beloved mother at a very moving funeral service attended by a large contingent of family and friends. It was a privilege to make recordings of Clair de lune and Für Elise for Peggie’s service.

One day I must revisit these and many other works and make some serious recordings for my first proper CD. A couple of times Peggie had urged me to record an original item, “Reuben’s Big Day Out,” and send it to former PM Paul Keating, to whom it is dedicated. (Note to self: must get on to that.)

Peggie Nairn was a much-loved lady I only knew for about a year and half, though we did have some long talks. She cared deeply for all her close and extended family and welcomed me into that family right from the start. So thoughtful and always thinking of others. She is sorely missed.

Hills Choir 30th anniversary concert & party

The Hills Choir Inc. celebrated their 30th anniversary with a lovely concert on 11 December 2016 and a private party a week later.

Jean Bourgault conducted the choir for her final performance (again). Next year the conductor’s role will be taken by the very talented local singer, Storme Reeves.

Sitting in the audience I was privileged to hear a string of wonderful performances by the choir and the long list of guest performers including the student percussion ensemble of Eastern Hills Senior High School in Mount Helena, Western Australia, where the concert was held.

There’s always a bit of nostalgia for me when I listen, play or sing in this wonderful and fairly new auditorium at EHSHS. In the 1970s I was a student there, doing years 8, 9 and 10 before heading ‘down the hill’ to Governor Stirling SHS to do my final two years before university. For years 11 and 12 I needed to change to Govo because Eastern Hills didn’t have a classroom music programme in those days, though in year 8 I did get six months of trumpet lessons in a demountable classroom with Sam Maher (a classmate for that, much better at trumpet than myself, was Phil Bourgault, one of Jean’s sons). Now the school has an amazing specialist music programme (largely developed I suspect by Maurice Bourgault, another son), with the student performers often participating in the choir’s concerts.

Jean Bourgault was the music teacher at the primary school next door. Her husband, Henri, taught me French in Year 8. Jean and Henri were classmates of my late father in teachers’ college (Dad was a mature age student) but I didn’t know this until a few years ago. Small town, Perth, eh?

Jean was never my teacher but I distinctly remember standing by the side of the road outside the schools showing her a small music theory book in which I’d written answers. She had a quick look at it and very politely and tactfully said “You ought to have a theory teacher.” This must have had quite an impact because I subsequently had a lot of theory teachers.

There’s no great review of the concert here from me, really just a few pics for posterity including the printed programme (zoom in to read it). More pics have been put up on a Facebook page.

At the party a week after the concert I had the opportunity to play a couple of original piano compositions which I completed earlier this year. Puck at Parkerville is a playful neo-baroque solo inspired by the mischievous character Puck from Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was produced in my childhood home, the Parkerville Amphitheatre, in the 1970s.

Rainbows Over Hovea is a moody but ultimately uplifting work inspired by the Jane Brook valley, particularly the lovely areas around the amphitheatre (which, despite its name, is in Hovea) and the John Forrest National Park. Both piano solos will be published soon.

20161211-64-toni-arndt-hills-choir72

Jean Bourgault conducting the Hills Choir. Eastern Hills Senior High School Auditorium, Mount Helena, Western Australia.

20161211-74-melissa-mikucki-bassoon-brandon-scherrer-pno72

Bassoonist Melissa Mikucki accompanied by Brandon Scherrer.

Hayley Ferris playing Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90, No. 4 (piano solo).

Hayley Ferris playing Schubert’s Impromptu Op. 90, No. 4 in A flat (piano solo).

Storme Reeves singing Have Yourself a Merry Christmas, with Alan Banks

Storme Reeves singing Have Yourself a Merry Christmas, with Alan Banks

Hills Choir concert programme for 11 December 2016.

Hills Choir concert programme for 11 December 2016.

Hills Choir concert programme for 11 December 2016, inside pages.

Hills Choir concert programme for 11 December 2016, inside pages.

Below are pics from the large end-of-year Christmas Party at a private residence in Glen Forrest, 17 December 2016. Many former choir members were able to attend.

Choir history display board One.

Choir history Display Board One.

Chloe Mauger and Display board Two, which she had a big hand in making.

Chloe Mauger and Display Board Two, which she had a big hand in making. I saw myself in some of the pics on this board.

The piano on which I played Puck at Parkerville and Rainbows Over Hovea, plus another Schubert Impromptu (No. 3 in G flat).

Me at the party, sitting at the piano on which I played Puck at Parkerville and Rainbows Over Hovea, plus another Schubert Impromptu (Op. 90 No. 3 in G flat).

For these pics and more see www.facebook.com/MixMargaretDylanJones

See the choir’s own website at www.hillschoir.org.au

Please feel free to make a comment here and/or on Facebook.

Chidlow Recital, May 2016

With a couple of friends I held a classical music recital last week. We were  SO  STOKED  at the big attendance and all the great comments we got. Everyone had a great time and it seems it was a tremendous success. Yay us!

We three had a lot of fun preparing for the event, and we really enjoyed playing and singing our favourite music. It is such a joy to share music you love with a really appreciative audience. We held it at the Chidlow Hall, built in 1905 in the Shire of Mundaring, way out east past the hills of Perth, Western Australia. In recent years the Shire wanted to do away with the hall but now the local residents have taken it over and are refurbishing it.

Audience at Chidlow Hall

Audience at Chidlow Hall

Many people told us they loved the way we all spoke about the music before playing it. They said they found the music easier to follow and it made it all the more enjoyable. I can well understand that as I got used to hearing quite a bit of spoken introduction in countless wonderful performances I attended when I was a university student. It just seems like common sense to me and I don’t understand why anyone would do otherwise. In many situations it would be disrespectful, and unnatural, to simply walk up to the instrument and play without saying anything.

For my part, I talked about how I used to find Mozart’s music rather boring until I realised I was listening for something that is not in it. When I figured out how his style worked about ten years ago it was a revelation to me, and I think that resonated a lot with the big audience.

I illustrated the Bulgarian rhythm of a Bartók piece before playing it, and showed how it is identical to one of the most common and most loved rock or pop rhythms, sometimes known as the frug. Later someone asked me if that was from Bach, and I realised he thought I’d said ‘fugue.’

Naomi and Tony also gave very useful spoken insights into their guitar solos and songs, respectively (see the full programme below).

I took the opportunity to play a couple of original piano solos. I wrote Androgyne Prophecy in 1977 around my 16th birthday. Puck at Parkerville was completed just a month ago, and depicts the mischievous elf or sprite Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, from Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play was produced in my family’s Parkerville Amphitheatre ca. 1974.

Naomi Millett, classical guitar

Naomi Millett, classical guitar

Our programme:

Mix Margaret & Friends
Classical Music, Old and New

Naomi Millett, guitar
Toni Arndt, soprano
Margaret D. Jones, piano

Naomi
Courante and Galliard by Silvus Leopold Weiss
The Maids in Constrite from the Jane Pickering Lute Book
Go From My Window from the Jane Pickering Lute Book
Allegretto in A major Op. 10 No. 4 by Matteo Carcassi
Alla Polacca (Polonaise) by Ferdinando Carulli

Toni
Lieder by Franz Schubert (b. 1797, d.1828) (accomp. by MDJ)
Romanze (from Rosamunde)
Frühlingsglaube
Liebhaber in Allen Gestalten
An Die Musik

Margaret
Piano Sonata in C, K309 (first movement) (1777) by W.A. Mozart
Androgyne Prophecy (1977) by MDJ (sheet music available)
No. 6 of Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm (from Mikrokosmos, 1926 – 1939) by Béla Bartók

INTERVAL   Free refreshments

Naomi
Sarabande by Francis Poulenc
Llanura by Reginald Smith Brindle
Estudio Sencillos No. V ‘Allegretto Montuno’ by Leo Brouwer
Allegro No. 26 by Brouwer
Movido/Rapido No. 20 by Brouwer

Toni
Two arias from Mozart’s opera, The Marriage of Figaro (1786) (accomp. by MDJ):
Porgi Amor
Non So Più

Margaret
Song Without Words, Op. 19 No. 3 in A (1829-30) by Felix Mendelssohn
Sonatine (second movement) (1905) by Maurice Ravel
Puck at Parkerville by MDJ (2016)

About Naomi
For many years Naomi was the presenter of The Guitar Show on RTR 92.1 FM community radio. (The show is now called Plucked Strings.)

As a fine soloist and performer she has played guitar or mandola in many duos and other ensembles. She was an Arts journalist with The West Australian newspaper for fourteen years, where she interviewed many leading classical guitarists, and has been a leader in the classical guitar (and mandolin) community of Perth behind the scenes. For many years Naomi has been an examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB).

Since having two children and moving to the Wheatbelt in 2007 Naomi has continued to teach, write, perform, record CDs and adjudicate at eisteddfodau, most recently the successful Pilbara Music Festival held in Port Hedland. She works part time in consumer advocate/peer support areas with the WA Health Department.

About Toni
Well-known to Hills audiences for her many solo appearances at concerts with the Hills Choir, Toni has a great love of soprano arias and art song. Her extensive repertoire includes Lieder and other music by Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Fauré.

About Margaret
Margaret grew up inside the Parkerville Amphitheatre, which her family founded and ran from 1966 to 2001. See www.parkerville-amphitheatre.com

For five years Margaret studied composition at UWA with Roger Smalley AM. Margaret’s piano compositions have been in the AMEB exam syllabus for many years. See her extensive website at www.mixmargaret.com for sheet music, free recordings and videos, and information about her many musical qualifications and accomplishments. Margaret is available to play her wide repertoire of classical music for private functions, cafes, exhibitions and book launches.

Margaret is an androgyne (a type of non-binary transgender) and is referred to as she or they. Instead of Miss or Mr, her title is Mx (Mix). Margaret has continuously used Mx since 2002 and is one of its earliest adopters. This honorific title was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its online form in 2015 (see Margaret’s major online article on Mx/Mix, with a little about the singular they).

Many thanks to Kim Graham (Chidlow Progress Association), young Clive (Fuzzy) Millett, and to all those who helped spread the word.

More info (including how to buy scores online): www.mixmargaret.com

7.30pm Friday May 20, 2016 at Chidlow Hall, Chidlow, Western Australia.

 

Soul Tree is on the market, with no piano

This amazing organic café in Glen Forrest in the Perth Hills is now up for sale. In the few years Marilyn and Charl have owned and run it they have completely transformed it in almost every way.

In December I gave my last performance there. I’ve discontinued my piano playing residency at the café partly because of the uncertainty over the ownership, but also because I’ve been playing there two to five times a month for fourteen months and it feels like it’s time for a little break.

All the staff and patrons have been delightful. It’s been wonderful playing three hours each time from a repertoire of maybe 10 or 12 hours’ worth of scores, but there are other works I couldn’t play there because they aren’t suitable for creating a relaxing, laid-back atmosphere.

A few originals were sneaked in and were always very well-received. Recently my creative music-composing side has been taking off (well, slightly), so I will soon have more original works to perform, somewhere.

But if you’re looking for very delicious and very healthy food and drink in daylight hours, check them out www.soultreecafe.com.au

 

Zig Zag gallery video now online

Anne-Marie & her daughter, Sophie, have made a lovely video showcasing the artwork from the exhibition at the Zig Zag gallery in June, which features my piano music as the sound track. Very interesting and unusual artwork by three artists: Anne-Marie Wharrie, Christiana Gagiano and Sultana Shamshi.

Making the piano recording was quite a job, lots of wrestling with the computer, devices losing communication etc, but the effort was worth the result.

See Anne-Marie’s channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHiRJFXbZB4cECjSF3enrQ

See my previous blog post about playing at the Zig Zag:
http://mixmargaret.com/blog/2015/06/24/zig-zag-art-gallery-exhibition-music/

New edition of Androgyne Prophecy

1st page

1st page Androgyne Prophecy

Today I will pick-up from the printers the new sheet music for Androgyne Prophecy. Yay! It’s only been eleven years since the first edition, but who’s counting?

I will make more videos of it and a really good recording soon. In the meantime you can see me play the whole piece at http://youtu.be/nzDjcSDs7j8

To get your copy of the sheet music click on the green Shopify buttons below, or see HMP Sheet Music to buy direct with a cheque or direct credit. There is also an easy version.

Or drop-in to hear me play at Soul Tree Organic Cafe and get the special price of $15 and save on the p&h too!

I play there on the 2nd & 4th Sundays of each month, so 23 August, 13 & 27 September 2015, 12 noon to closing time at 3pm.

Of course, they also have the most amazing food, very special indeed. See you soon for coffee, cake and music?