Video:How Do Piano Recitals Work?

Transcript:How Do Piano Recitals Work?

Hello, my name is Carol A. Welles. I am a professional freelance pianist and I am going to talk for About.com about how piano recitals work.

Find Out About Recital Venue

I always ask lots of questions about the sort of venue that they want me to play at, the sort of piano that they are going to provide me and also the sort of audience, because that helps me to decide the sort of subject material, the music that I am going to play. The main thing is to get a really good program that suits the audience at the venue at which I am playing. Have lots of contrasting composers so that you basically stimulate the audience.

Get to Know the Piano You'll Perform On

And once you have got a program, it is, I am afraid there is no easy way around it, it is hours and hours of practice. It is often very good perhaps to go and see the piano that you are going to be playing if it is a venue that is close to you, because if you know the piano, then you can perhaps find out the sort of composers that that piano copes with very well, because certain pianos do tend to suit certain composers very well.

Engage With Recital Audience

It is always good in a concert to have a two way relationship with the audience, not just you playing to them but also with them joining in. Not singing along, necessarily, but asking questions and feeling involved in what we are doing. You need to know about the composer that, whose music you will be playing, so it also involves a fair amount of research so that you understand what you are doing and so that you can actually tell the audience what you are doing as well.

Enjoy giving recitals. They are immensely challenging and very stimulating. My name is Carol A. Welles and I have been talking about how recitals work for About.com.