To celebrate Piano Day, the Sydney Opera House will be streaming an exclusive broadcast of new performances, pre-recorded packages and interviews by classical, experimental and contemporary musicians including Amanda Palmer, Andrea Lam, Ian Munro, Vatche Jambazian and Zubin Kanga.
The broadcast will air for free at 7:30pm Tuesday 29 March on Stream, YouTube, Facebook and WeChat, and will be available to watch on-demand on Stream.
Founded by Nils Frahm (who features in an interview in the broadcast and will perform Music for Sydney at Vivid LIVE this June) in 2015, the 88th day of the year was declared Piano Day – a nod to the 88 keys on a modern piano.
The free Opera House broadcast will feature performances that reframe, rethink and reimagine the piano, showcasing both the piano and the diversity of musicians who work with the instrument.
Some highlights of the broadcast:
- Amanda Palmer on solo piano, recorded at her NZ studio
One half of punk-duo The Dresden Dolls and a best-selling author, feminist, songwriter, community leader, pianist and ukulele-enthusiast who simultaneously embraces and explodes traditional frameworks of music, theatre, and art, Amanda Palmer will feature in a special performance of her emotional original, The Ride, filmed in Roundhead Studios, Auckland.
· Andrea Lam performs on the solo piano in the Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House.
Andrea performs ‘Sad Piano #6’, a new piece by esteemed Australian composer Matthew Hindson; this is one of a suite of his first ever works for solo piano. The work leans into the incredible versatility and range of the piano as an instrument; it swells from minimal and contemplative to deeply romantic and expressive – performed with passion and artful consideration by Lam.
· Ian Munro & Vatche Jambazian perform two ‘four handers’ in the Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House.
Munro and Jambazian record two short works for four hands on two pianos, composed by Ian Munro. They are: Nina Bobok for Two Pianos and Lullaby in Edo for Two Pianos. Both works are gentle, ebbing and joyful – perfectly set against the dancing waves of Sydney Harbour and the stunning Utzon Room.
· Zubin Kanga plays the prepared piano in an exclusive performance for Sydney Opera House recorded at Café Otto, London.
Performing his own work, Steel on Bone, Kanga uses steel knitting needles inside the piano (with choreography that’s similar to swordplay) and manipulates these sounds using cutting edge sensor gloves from MiMU. Extending what we expect from the piano, he expertly shapes the sounds with his movements and gestures in this Australian premiere presentation.
The full presentation will be broadcast on Stream, YouTube, Facebook and WeChat, Tuesday 29 March 2022, 7:30pm AEDT, and will be available to watch on-demand on Stream.
Featured image : Sydney Opera House, Piano Day 2022, Ian Munro and Vatcha Jambazian