A band of grand pianos will play together in an ambitious new concert event
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05.05.2019

A band of grand pianos will play together in an ambitious new concert event

Words by Anna Rose

Six grand pianos in the same room at the same time isn’t a common sight.

A spectacular and unusual programme is expected from students of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) this May, as its piano department come together to form a “band of grands”.

That’s six grand pianos playing specially arranged sextet repertoire in a circle together as part of their Piano Pictures event.

With six grand pianos set up on the floor and the audience in the round, this performance will be quite a staggering feat with an impressive soundscape.

“It’s fun working with other pianists because you don’t usually get the opportunity to do so,” says visiting performer and concert pianist, Lisa Moore. “You work alone or with other instrumentalists – you get six pianos in a room with six piano opinions, it’s fun, but it’s a challenge.

“The piano attack is very precise so you’ve got to sound together and that takes some rehearsing – but I’m totally confident the pianists at ANAM will be able to cope.”

The student pianists Moore has been working with have been selected by department head, Timothy Young. “I think that’s his whole class, but everybody is everything, all the pieces are written for six pianos.

The four works in the concert’s repertoire have been arranged particularly for six pianos. A combination of well-known works and specially curated pieces, the programme includes the likes of John Adams, Steve Reich, Mussorgsky, and the Australian premiere of an original work by Benjamin Wallace.

Moore breaks down the intricacies of reworking these arrangements. “Pictures at an Exhibition was arranged especially for Grand Band by one of our members, Paul Kerekes.

“Steve Reich’s Six Pianos was written some years ago for his ensemble which was originally two pianists and four percussionists – a cult work at this point, very well-known in our little field.

“The other piece written especially for Grand Band was written by Ben Wallace, a composer of game music and a bit of a gamer. He’s an amazing composer who mimics a lot of styles. It’s a throwdown of [Frédéric] Chopin and made into a jazz piece, funny and brilliant, virtuosic.”

Much more than six people merely playing what they see on a piece of paper, this is a very special take on ensemble work. Such a far cry from traditional chamber music means there’s a hefty challenge in the work, particularly because the piano is largely a solo instrument.

“I think the biggest problem is that many pianists are leaders in ensembles,” says Moore. “So in Grand Band, I would say we have four leaders and that’s tricky sometimes, negotiating.

“Pianists tend to be rather confident, sort of control freaks – so that’s been interesting to trying to get people to, as always in chamber music, agree and to be flexible and compromising.

“I think pianists have a very good sense of rhythm and fortunately in Grand Band, we all have a great sense of rhythm – that’s why we’re together.”

Apart from a little conflict of ego, the problems are, Moore says, similar to chamber music. Who will cue? What tempo will they take? There’s also the dexterity and size of the instrument to consider.

“The piano is a hammer hitting a string, a very precise attack,” says Moore. “In violin and piano quartet, it’s not nearly as apparent when people aren’t together within a margin of error – there’s no margin of error for us.”

For the ANAM student performers, there is a new level of control to be learnt and applied to their craft in performing repertoire of this ilk. “I think, as with any project, you have to learn,” says Moore. “That’s a wonderful thing about music and life – if you stop learning, you may as well stop doing it.

“Every ensemble, every orchestra, you learn things from the music and you learn things from each other. That’s one thing that has happened; we have a really open exchange of ideas in this group.”

Piano Pictures will be performed at South Melbourne Town Hall on Thursday May 9. Head to the Australian National Academy of Music’s website for tickets.