Debussy Piano + Film Site

I recorded this tonight after I finished teaching at the Regent’s School.
This is one of the pieces I will play on an April 5th recital at Steinway Piano Gallery on Vladimir Horowitz’ piano.

I had a “yen” to work with my Tokyo footage all week. Tonight I set some footage from Shinjuku to my piano improvisation. The red-light district of Kabukicho, the business center of Shinjuku, shots from the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Tower, and a snippet of the Yamanote Line from Shinjuku Station appear.

If all goes as planned I will tape Peter Bay and some musicians in a discussion of Debussy’s La Mer. I am excited about this and believe it will be an important addition to the Debussy Documentary.  This weekend I have time to make more progress on other aspects of the film.
Another shot made Explore on Flickr:

Another photo made Explore on Flickr. This was taken in downtown Austin.
Work moves slowly forward on the recital and the films!

I had a really good interview with my former thesis advisor and organizer of the Debussy Congress held in Austin Texas, Elliott Antokoletz. I have more material than I know what to do with! I am eager to incorporate what I can.

I make progress with the film and will post a sample soon. The next additions should be Rose Taylor singing and Peter Bay discussing La Mer. At this point these will not happen until March.

In the meantime I made a new video with my piano improvisation and November 2008 scenes of Switzerland:

This weekend I played Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Brahms, Bach, and my own composition Soul Painting for two eurythmy performances at the Austin Waldorf School as part of a conference. Dennis Klocek and Guenter Hauk were keynote speakers.

I taped a few of the pieces after the performance for promotion of Chapparal Eurythmy, the group composed of Anthony Tobin – Piano, Stephen Usher – Speaker, and eurythmists Barbara Bressette-Mills and Beth Usher.

I composed Soul Painting for Beth Usher’s eurythmy in June 2007:

Barbara Bressette-Mills set the Brahms Intermezzo Opus 116#4 in E-Major to eurythmy at my suggestion:

Shot on Christmas Day, 2008, with my trusty Canon HV20 HD camera. I am playing part of the prelude "Broulliards" by Claude Debussy.
West TX is a vast area. This video was shot in Brewster County:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_County,_Texas
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 6,193 square miles (16,039 km²), none of which is covered in water.
The county’s area is larger than the area of Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island individually, and larger than the combined area of Delaware and Rhode Island.

This is some of the video footage I took at the top of Mt. Pilatus above Lucerne, Switzerland. The cable car ride down is the backdrop for memory and foreshadowing. The mountain feels timeless and creates an infinite sense of space. The overall effect blurs reality, memory, and the future. I improvised a short piano work which serves as the timeline.

Work progresses on the Debussy film and the recital I plan to give in Dornach and Sacramento. I also am working on a solo program I will play at Austin Steinway Piano Gallery in April on Vladimir Horowitz’s piano. I am excited and eager to made a DVD of this event.
In the meantime more photos made Explore on Flickr. The most recent was taken in downtown Austin in November:


The other was taken during a Christmas Day 2008 in Big Bend National Park, looking toward the Sierra Maderas Del Carmen:

Another Switzerland shot made Explore on Flickr:

I had a very productive session with Peter Bay. We will do the interview in mid-January. I am culling material from the interviews for two versions of the film, a more general one for a wide, educated audience, and another geared toward musicians and students that could be sold to institutions.
I need to realize some commercial potential!

I was really happy with my student recital at the Regents School. Everyone rose to the occasion very well and I was impressed with the performances.

I will teach a full schedule this week then have a reduced schedule for two weeks. I will work on editing and preparing a recital and likely take a short trip to West Texas.