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Greg,
Your husband to be? You guys are engaged? when's the wedding date :P
- Claire
Dear Claire,
That's right, my "husband-to-be." :-) Carl and I are happily engaged, and our wedding is set for the end of July. It's going to be a "guys" wedding if there ever was one. We're settling down into a life of adventure, after all. ;-) We're super excited for the wedding, but more importantly, we're ridiculously, awesomely excited that we were lucky enough to meet each other.
- Greg (March 7, 2010)
Hi Greg,
I just became a fan of yours a couple of minutes ago after watching your utube videos. I myself studied piano for 9 years, and particularly enjoyed your Mozart and Ligeti interpretations as you really seemed focussed into it. I only have a comment to make, why don't you play alone more often? I liked the girl Roe, but to be honest I think you are the star.
- Yellow Butterfly
Hi Yellow Butterfly,
Thank you for the kind words. Regarding la lovely, literary, limber, lyrical Liz... she's awesome. We have so much fun together, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Liz and I both bring something completely unique to the table -- and by "completely unique," I mean "completely unique." I wouldn't be where I am today without her in my life. We're totally different people with a similar mission, a love for music, and a fondness for each other. Because of the mutual respect we hold for each other's differences, our time together is zany, spontaneous, and joyous. And because of our differences, our projects explode in directions neither of us could have ever imagined as individuals. There is no "star;" we're a team.
I have not abandoned my solo career. Nor has Liz. We're multi-faceted people with many passions, and we consider the breadth of our careers to be a blessing. Who knows what to expect next? We simply love knowing that we're free to do what we want.
- Greg (March 7, 2010)
Greg!
Hey, how's it going? I'm doing a school career report on concert pianists (and yes, I did find this site through googling 'how much money does a concert pianist make') and WAS wondering how much a concert pianist makes /year and/or /concert, but only for the report information. My teacher is making us find this, and I cand find it anywhere else. I really am interested in pursuing this as a career, but not for the money, as you said, but for the joy and experience it brings you Thanks so much...and sorry about the inconvenience!
- Jill
Dear Jill,
Uh-huh. Here we go again. :-) For the sake of stray visitors, I'm going to do a little re-posting so that all readers are on the same page. After a reader asked me "how much money does a concert pianist make" (it wasn't the first time someone asked this), I provided a long response. My original posting is indented below:
I'm not in it for the money, and it bothers me when people become preoccupied with this facet of the profession. Every time I check this website's Google stats, I see dozens of people finding the site through some variant of the following search: "How much money do concert pianists make?" I mean, really?! For real?! If you care about money, please don't become a pianist. You may or may not make a significant amount (my income fluctuates wildly from year to year -- there's no way I could tell you my "salary"), but that's definitely not what it's about.
When a pianist seeks the fame and glory of the concert stage, he or she is probably on a path to disappointment; when a pianist is motivated by the genuine love of music, he or she will certainly find a satisfying musical career. There are countless fulfilling ways to make money as a pianist, not all of which are limited to performing on the concert stage. (Please view the "Ask Greg Archives: Career" for examples.) Yes, teaching music is one, but there are many more possibilities.
"What is it you do to support yourself financially?" The answer: I play the piano and compose.
Seriously.
I keep a busy concert schedule, both as a soloist and a duo pianist. My recordings are self-produced and selling well, so I actually make money when you buy one. Please buy one. I'm a YouTube partner, so YouTube pays me when you watch my videos on YouTube. Do it. Click on those ads next to the videos! :-) I receive commissions and royalties from the works I compose for The 5 Browns. Liz and I sell my piano duo scores to the public; you can buy them on the scores page. That's most of it -- performing and composing! -- although I do give lectures here and there, I'll publish my book someday (someday!), and I have other surprising plans for the future in the works. At the moment, I don't pursue any financial gain through teaching, web design, video editing, or accompanying -- with everything that excites and consumes me, I simply don't have time.
Some people think I'm savvy, but I'm doing what feels obvious to me. I'm following my mission ("to make classical piano music a relevant and powerful force in society") in every avenue of my professional life, from my performances, compositions, concert programs, and recordings to my websites, videos, and book. My mission is ever present in what I do because I believe in it so passionately. It's not like the things I do are creative, random ideas; they are born from an innate necessity -- from a desire to make what I love relevant and powerful to others.
I really believe that if you are doing what you truly love, you'll find a way to survive. I'm not prancing about in piles of cash, but I manage to find enough doing what I do to pay my bills. I wish I had more (it would go right into recordings, videos, and websites!), but really, when it comes to money, my only concern is that I have enough to keep doing what I love. If it really matters to you how much money a concert pianist makes, I recommend another profession!
(Jan. 14, 2009)
Now your teacher wants hard, cold facts. Numbers. I get it. Exactly how much money does a concert pianist make? Try asking your teacher how much he or she makes.
Actually, just tell your teacher that the question simply does not apply to pianists. It's like jamming a square block through a round hole.
Pianists don't have fixed incomes like doctors, plumbers, teachers, or astronauts do. The variety of incomes among pianists is enormous -- and for that matter, a single pianist's income fluctuates wildly from year to year. Ask yourself, "how much money does an actor make?" The answer is not so different from how much money concert pianists make. The answer is case-specific, year-specific, event-specific! If you insist upon numbers, try an annual income range of $-1,000,000 to $1,000,000. I'm not trying to be difficult; it's just that there is no straightforward answer.
From my perspective, it's a bizarre question because I hardly know any pianists who make their entire income purely through performance. I listed my multiple avenues of income in the post I pasted above. Many, many performers teach, some compose, others write, organize, accompany, conduct, direct, analyze, collaborate, etc.. It seems that a well-rounded artist can't bring him or herself to reside purely on the concert stage. It's a bizarre question because many pianists make huge financial investments into their own career -- publicity materials are expensive; so are videos, recordings, pianos, and practice spaces. Many pianists I know are severely in the red, even if they make a healthy income through performances. It's a bizarre question because many pianists are sponsored by generous individuals. Does this count as income? Sponsors allow musicians to share their talents with low-income audiences; sponsors make classical recordings possible (most classical CDs are expensive to produce, but do not sell well!); sponsors keep classical music alive. See that "Donate" button on the right? That button helps make my projects possible -- videos, writings, recordings, and more.
Okay, so how much does a pianist make per concert? Again, the answer is hugely variable. Many concerts are pro bono (performed free of charge), and some performances earn their performer as much as $100,000. This fee may or may not be in addition to the cost of travel and accommodations. Most large concert organizations can't afford to pay more than $5,000 - $15,000 in artist fees per event, and many have much, much smaller budgets.
All in all, I'm inclined to repeat my initial post. The successful pianists I know are not in it for the money, but they all find a way to survive.
One final note: before you go hammering out an hourly wage, please consider the incredible number of hours pianists spend practicing for their concerts... the time they spend on planes and waiting in security lines... the time they spend away from their families. It's a 24/7 job we love.
- Greg (March 6, 2010)
Dear Greg,
ok i just came home from your concert at cedarhust in mount vernon illinois. and i had a question that i forgot to ask in person. i once met a vilinist that said he envyed vocalists because they got to use words to convey the message. i am preparing to be music major concentrating on voice and i have trouble with expression. this is something that you obviously have no problem with. how do you do it?
- marlo smith
Dear Marlo,
How is one expressive? To answer that question, I'll direct you to Liz and my music listening manifesto. There are 27 tips for you, all of which apply not only to the act of listening, but also to the act of performing music. (We're so sneaky with our multi-purpose manifesto!)
Two thoughts on making our music listening manifesto apply to performance:
Good luck with your upcoming performances!
- Greg (March 6, 2010)
Dear Greg,
I just recently saw the 5 Browns in concert and they played a few of your transcriptions. How do you do it? Also, I was wondering - do you tour? If so, how could we mid-westerners catch a glimpse of you, or better yet, you and Ms. Roe??
- Eliza
Dear Eliza,
How do I compose for 5 pianos? Hmmm. I generally begin by conceptualizing how to best take advantage of my instrumentation (5 pianos). Even with the most challenging situations (slow and quiet music for five pianos, for example), I try to find ways to musically justify the existence of all the instruments on stage. I want my original compositions and arrangements for five pianos to sound like they couldn't have been written for any other instrumentation. In the case of arrangements, that often means completely rethinking my original musical source.
Unlike many composers, I don't really work at the piano. Instead, I usually hear everything in my head at once, and then I spend most of my time translating what I'm hearing to staff paper. The process usually takes a couples months to produce just a couple minutes of five piano music.
Do I tour? Yes, I do! Here's where to find the latest updates in my schedule, including the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo schedule.
Hope to see you soon!
- Greg
Dear Greg,
Hi there, im Kiwon Korean. i've been going musical college in Kyungsung University. im senior in school. i heard your play in "Youtube" as chance would have. that is "Starwars Fantasy". i was so impressed..... so... i verry verry wanna play that piece.. could i get score, if you don't mine...... ? l'll wait your answer :)
- Ki won
Dear Ki won,
Thanks for your enthusiasm! Sadly, my "Star Wars Fantasy: Four Impressions for Two Pianos" is not available for sale. Someday I'll tend to the huge host of copyright complications associated with the piece and make the piece available to the public.
- Greg
Dear Greg,
I am 12 and love playing the piano and practicing (which I understand you love to do as well). I am also a huge Star Wars aficionado and am captivated by your Star Wars Fantasy impression 1. Is it possible to obtain the sheet music so I can try to play it?
- Alex Wagner
Dear Alex,
I'm so happy you like the first impression! (My personal favorite is #2 ... or is it #4...?) Anyway, there are copyright issues that must be cleared before we can sell the scores to the fantasy. I'll do my best to get on top of those issues, but with all the exciting things going on at the moment, I can't promise it will be in the near future. I'll email the mailing list when that day comes, but in the meantime, there are a number of other scores available for purchase that I encourage you to consider! Visit the scores page for more information.
Best wishes,
Greg
hi Greg,
Do you have absolute pitch? What is your hand span?
- Anonymous
Dear Anonymous,
Do I have absolute pitch? No. There are many times I wish I had perfect pitch; it would certainly make the process of composing much easier. Instead I have the much more common form of relative pitch.
What is my hand span? I can comfortably reach a tenth. If I approach the keys really slowly (stress: really slowly), I can reach an eleventh. Sometimes I wish my hands were smaller; it would make it easier to perform Mozart's music, but the large reach is useful for late-Romantic music and contemporary music.
Cheers!
- Greg
Dear Greg,
Hi Greg, Noticing that you play the Saint-Saens Ctos. 2 & 4, I'll ask you something I've wondered over as a listener for years. The Ctos. 2 & 4 consistently get all the attention while the 3 & 5 get relatively ignored. Why I wonder this is, taking the Cto 5 with those exotic sounds in the middle movement (harmonics?) are so unique in the repertoire that they still sound somewhat revolutionary to me against other Romantic Ctos. All the best.
- Bill Shurtleff
Dear Bill,
I love your question! Those who know me well know of my passionate advocacy for Saint-Saëns' fifth and third piano concertos. They're wonderful pieces, but they do have their share of weaknesses. Most people consider the second and fourth concertos to be more consistent from beginning to end. Nevertheless, the fifth and third concertos have some unimaginably beautiful and inspired moments. I particularly love the entire second movement of the third concerto and the ending of the fifth concerto's first movement. The second movement of the latter concerto does, indeed, feature some exotic and awesome sounds, but it was hardly revolutionary when compared to other music written at the time. Believe it or not, the work was composed after Prokofiev's first piano concerto, after the first version of Prokofiev's second piano concerto, after Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, after Debussy's Preludes, Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, and many other revolutionary works of the early twentieth century!
Pieces enter my repertoire for a variety of reasons - some complex reasons and some simple. The pieces listed on my repertoire page are, by no means, a complete listing of the pieces I love. There are countless works on my "repertoire wish list" that I have yet to learn, and with some luck, I will have many years ahead of me to make my wishes a reality. Learning repertoire is a time consuming process; the notes can be learned in a matter of weeks, but it usually takes years of "living with a piece" before it becomes something I'm proud to share with the public. Incidentally, my "wish list" is still growing, and I seriously consider all of the suggested offered by visitors of this website. Recommend music here!
- Greg
Dear Greg,
When you sight read a piece or look at a piece, do you first break it down as to which key it is in and which modulation etc. etc...? How do you learn to do that fast? Do you know of any simple not-too-hard tango duo pieces? I would love to obtain a copy of your take on Piazzolla, but currently, it is not available, right?
- Olga
Dear Olga,
The more you sight read, the easier it will be. As a child, I would loan piles of music from the library - whatever interested me really - and play through it all at home. At Juilliard, I often checked out the maximum number of items from the library (45 items) because I was curious to read through music unfamiliar to me. The piano repertoire is like a giant treasure trove - there is so much good stuff out there, and the only way to become familiar with it is by listening or sight reading.
I'd recommend you start with what feels comfortable and go from there! Buy an "easy" classics book, or read through the Mozart sonatas, move on to the Chopin waltzes, etc. Gradually the process will become easier. For me, it is not a matter of analysis (keys, modulation, etc.) but recognizing visual patterns in the music (arpeggio figurations, chords, stylistic tendencies, etc.).
As for your other questions: I'm not familiar with any tango pieces for piano/four-hands, although I'm sure there must be something out there. Keep searching! And you are correct, my arrangement of Piazzolla's is not available yet.
- Greg