The Perils of Page Turning
This funny meme from Chris Foley at The Collaborative Piano Blog started me thinking about my own page turning experiences. Uncomfortable and hilarious situations have happened. Here are a few of them. Enjoy! (and please share your own either on the PA social media posts or as a comment on this blog post)
My 5thand 6thgrade school students were singing at an event in the school courtyard. The Principal, maintenance man, and I had rolled my classroom piano outside and into position. The event began and soon it was our turn. As soon as I began the introduction, an extremely gusty wind came out of nowhere. Actually, maybe it came from that “other” place. My pages tore out of the binder and went flying over the heads of the audience. I had to just make up something. The students sensed we were in this together and gave the performance of their lives. Note to self: Always plan for gale force winds in outdoor settings.
When I was in college, I was asked to turn pages for a famous pianist in a Trio. As their Beethoven progressed, I got totally caught up in the music and forgot to turn a page. I got such a dirty look it’s a wonder I’m still alive. Afterward, I apologized and told him the music was just so beautiful that I forgot where I was. He softened only a little. Note to self: You have a job to do. Don’t get transported into the performance for even a second.
During a conference I turned pages for a friend playing, among other things, the Shostakovich Trio. The concert was in a church and the piano was placed so that I hardly had room to position myself between a pillar and the keyboard. A few pages into the performance the air from a nearby vent proceeded to blow right on us. She kept waving me off even though I was struggling to hold the pages that were being blown by the air conditioner. I realized I was wearing a shawl with fringe and it was sweeping the keyboard making it even harder for her to read and play. Note to self: No shawls or loose scarves/layers when page turning and, (corollary to gale force wind note above) always plan for air conditioners to blow pages around.
One time I was asked to turn pages at the last minute as I stood in line for a cello recital. My daughter’s cello teacher had required her to attend. She found some friends to sit with and I went backstage. Afterward, I found my daughter and her teacher standing in the lobby. He narrowed his eyes and said accusingly, “And where were you during the concert?”
LOL! I wonder how many musicians have squished bugs? There are horror stories about them being inhaled by singers and others.
I was page turning for the Franck violin sonata and we were at the point near the end where the piano accompaniment was so thick with notes that all I could do was keep track of the pianist’s hands flying up and down the keys, following the mountains and valleys that the semiquavers made on the score.
I was doing well until a big fat hairy drowsy fly landed on the piano keys and started wandering about. I was mesmerised by the skill with which the pianist managed to avoid squishing the fly with his fingers, dodging a different note each time he passed the fly. We finished at the same time as the soloist, but it was a nearvthing.