Over 2000 views!

Hello! ^_^

Have you been watching our videos?

I'm really please to have gain over 2000 views for Mother in the dream in just 3 months! And have close to 5000 overall views.






Anyways, I am really grateful for all of your support and the constructive comments which had helped me in improving my piano skills.

I'll be releasing my program for the upcoming December recital next week, so do remember to check it out!

Get the latest updates about Criserl at Criserl's blog : www.criserlpiano.blogspot.sg

A thank you to everyone

I really would like to thank you all for always visiting our blog and always being encouraging. It means so much to know that a lot of people care so much about music. I always enjoy reading all of your comments, and then replying back to them!

I also want to thank God right now. I never knew that anyone would actually read the blog, but He's given me people who really do care about my music. He's given me opportunities, and I'm just so thankful for them! THANK YOU GOD!!! :DD   My idea for this blog was to get my music out there, but also to inspire people. To tell them that you don't have to be a prodigy to be good at music. To every pianist out there: never give up music. Always continue. Have fun. Play pieces that you like! :)

Thank you all so much! I will be uploading more music soon!

~Viviana

Journey To My Heart by Emily Bear

Emily Bear's Journey To My Heart. The quality isn't the best...



Next week I may be getting a piano! It's a 1947 Everett in dark brown (don't worry, it's in good condition, just needs to be tuned). So once it's tuned, I will upload some more music!

Can't wait to start filming Christmas music! I started working on White Christmas. I just have to listen to the song to get more ideas for it.

Until next time,
Viviana

Criserl's favourite classical piece

Hello everyone!

My favorite classical piece is La Campanella by Franz Liszt. La Campanella also means little bells. When I was about 6 or 7, my parents brought me to Yamaha showroom and there was a middle age women dressed in baby pink gown playing La Campanella, I was really impress with the expression of the piece and since then I fell in love with it.

La Campanella technically demanding as it requires a lot of stretching and big jumps between intervals larger than an octave. I hope to be able to play this challenging piece one day.

Here is one of the best interpretations by Alice Sara :




Hope you will enjoy this piece as much as I do!

~Criserl~

Update -- 10/23/12 --Viviana

Hey guys! I'm thinking of uploading Journey To My Heart by Emily Bear! I want to practice a bit more though. I'm also practicing Tutti Cuore, but I'm only on the beginning of the 2nd page. (Hope that I don't procrastinate with it!!! :P) I've been looking for a piano to buy... It's really hard. Maybe soon you'll see a video with a new piano! :)

As you know, I will soon start with the Christmas music.

Also, I started composing again!! I need to finish composing the song though. It's going to be a little different from my normal. :D

I'm hoping to add another pianist on this blog to become an author on here. I think it'd be cool! If you'd like to do so, contact me at thepianistviviana@gmail.com

~Viviana~

Criserl's favourite concerto!

As the title suggest, today I will blog about my FAVORITE concerto.
A concerto is where on solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra or symphony.




The first concerto I have heard was Mozart concerto K488 played by Emily Bear. (you can refer to Viviana's blog post to read more about it) After spending more time on YouTube I was introduce to Beethoven piano concerto no.1 and a few others such as Schumann Piano Concerto, Op.54. But Beethoven piano concerto no.1 left me a deep impression as it starts off giving a very majestic feeling. I also enjoy all 3 Cadenzas written by Beethoven for this concerto.
 
I'll try to find time to blog about my favorite piano solo piece.

Hope you will enjoy this concerto as much as I do! :)
~Criserl

Get the latest updates about Criserl at Criserl's blog : www.criserlpiano.blogspot.sg

Another upload! ~Criserl~

Hi!
I'm playing Diabelli Sonatina op.151, rondo.This piece is in G major one of my favorite key.


As you can see , I didn't really get it memorize , therefore I was sight-reading and I made a mistake (maybe you didn't spot it)... But I think this piece has a really sweet melody, with the left hand playing something similar to waltz style.

A viewer of mine has requested that I come up with a to-play list of which pieces I would like to play and I'm currently working on that.


I've voted for my favourite musical era, have you?

Back to the revolutionary etude! ( Trying to get to tempo without playing the wrong notes. :) )
~Criserl~

23 Free by Emily Bear

Here is 23 Free by Emily Bear (I filmed this in my room!) It's not perfect, especially the ending, but I will upload another video of it at some point. I'm really glad to finally get this up! :)  I'm not sure if I'll be uploading anything new (maybe just a re-upload of Snowdance), but in November I'll start filming Christmas songs. Let me know what Christmas songs you'd like me to upload! :)  I already have When Christmas Comes to Town, Silent Night, The First Noel, and a bit of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, all of them just needing to be perfected.

~Viviana~

My favorite classical piece and concerto ~ Viviana

Criserl and I were asked by request to write about what our favorite classical piece and concerto are. My favorite classical piece is Moonlight Sonata (movement 1) by Beethoven, and my favorite concerto is Concerto no. 23 by Mozart. 

 <--Moonlight Sonata played by Willhem Kempff

<--Concerto no. 23 mvt. 2 played by Horowitz

 As I had said before in previous posts, Moonlight Sonata is my favorite, not only because it was the first classical piece that I learned, but also because it was what I played on my very first performance. The first time I heard it was when I was at Sunday school. There was a piano in the room and a girl started playing music. That's when I heard the Sonata, not knowing the name, but knowing that I wanted to learn it no matter what. Some months later, me and some other students were going to be allowed to perform at a homeschooling graduation. I decided to choose Moonlight Sonata for my performance. My teacher didn't exactly want me to play that song, believing that I would not be able to finish it in time, but as it turns out, I did finish it. Ever since then, Beethoven has been my favorite composer. 

One day, I was listening to Emily Bear's 23 Free, and saw that it was actually an improvisation off of Mozart's 23rd Concerto, second movement. I looked up the concerto on Youtube, and really enjoyed the way it had such a mellow sound to it, considering how the first movement was so energetic-sounding. Before, I had never really liked Mozart, but after listening to the concerto, I had a change of mind. 

~Viviana~

Christmas music will be recorded in November!

Hi everyone! This month I've been starting to work on Christmas music (I know, it sounds crazy. I don't have any Christmas sheet music, so I'm arranging it all myself)! Yesterday I arranged my own versions of When Christmas Comes to Town from The Polar Express, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, and The First Noel. I'm really excited for Christmas. Do you all think I should arrange another song?

I decided to start recording all of these songs in November, as it will be much closer to Christmas than now. As for the poll I put on which Emily Bear pieces to learn, I decided to learn The Way Back to Love. I do hope to learn Ka'iulani and Wyndham Court soon too. Wyndham Court was the top answer, but I cannot yet do it because 1) I don't have the Always True CD and 2) because nobody else has any recordings on Youtube for me to listen to. I always have to listen very well to a song before I can start learning it.

I'm also excited to announce that we now have over 50 posts on this blog!!!! Thank you all so much for always visiting and for the kind comments. I do hope to start writing about what my favorite classical piece and concerto is soon! If anyone has any suggestions for something to add to the blog, please do tell me. :)

~Viviana~

A new upload : Criserl

Hey!

Finally the long awaited Sonatina has been uploaded, sorry to keep you all waiting. :P



This will most probably be the last Clementi sonatina I learn and I'll be moving on with other pieces, I'm still working on the revolutionary etude by Chopin. It is really hard to accent the notes with the pedal as everything becomes so muffled after that. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Read more about the recital and get the latest updates about Criserl at Criserl's blog : www.criserlpiano.blogspot.sg

Tomorrow's Wishes by Emily Bear with new filming angle!!

Here is Tomorrow's Wishes by Emily Bear. I tried out filming different, and I really like how it turned out! I didn't play this perfectly, but it's not that bad; the camera was a little shaky. I hope you like it! :)

~Viviana~

More Music Will Come Soon!

Hello, everyone! I'm so excited because today I finished Tomorrow's Wishes! I want to upload it REALLY soon, but I first want to make sure I get the ending part down pat. As for 23 Free, I'm not sure if I will be able to complete it at the moment. The reason for that is because some of the notes go really low, and since I have a keyboard, I may not be able to play those notes. Maybe I can come up with a substitute for those notes. Also, I was wondering what everyone thinks: should I have the camera faced how I used to have it, where you can see my fingers? Or should I keep filming like I have been doing? Please let me know what you think!!

So yesterday I got a chance to play a Yamaha baby grand!! I was sooo excited and happy! You see, I was at a banquet hall for a family event, and so I saw this piano right in the middle of the room. My grandma saw it right away, and said,"Viviana, you should play that piano!!" And I said,"No...I would if I were alone. There's waiters and servers all over...I'm sure they'd tell me I couldn't play that piano." And so I didn't play it then. Later, this older guy went up to the piano and started playing songs by the Beatles. Then my grandma asked him,"Do you think my granddaughter can play on the piano?" And so I got to play that beautiful grand piano! My fingers were not used to the feel of the keys, and my hands were kind of cold... But after a while, I got more used to it. I LOVED using the pedal so much! It makes such a difference. My dream is to one day have a Steinway grand piano! Hahaha

Another thing, should I start doing weekly polls? I think it'd be kind of fun...

If you have any questions or would like to be a writer on A Pianist's Life (but you must be a young pianist) email me at thepianistviviana@gmail.com

~Viviana~

Criserl's Back!

Hello!

Yep, I'm back with a new upload on YouTube - Emily Bear tomorrow's wishes. :)



Sadly the examinations are still on going and I cannot spend too much time online. But I'm happy to announce that I am invited to a private recital in this December. But I'm having problems deciding on my repertoire so I hope you can give me some suggestions. You can either leave me a message or email me.

Read more about the recital and get the latest updates about Criserl at Criserl's blog : www.criserlpiano.blogspot.com