Utah is green again!

Hey Everyone!

This is Melody. And in case some of you were confused who wrote the Mexico blog, I did. I realized I never signed it. Sorry about that. Anyway, It's summer! Well at least in my head since we're officially on break to learn more music. I don't know if I can say what we're learning yet, or if it's under wraps still. Hmm...maybe I'll get back to you all on that (since we still don't know half of what we're playing yet).

Mexico was amazing. We met so many nice people. We really hope we get to go back there soon. It was fun meeting so many of you who have written. Also Desiree, it was nice meeting you and good luck in your schooling. We all know what's it's like to be starting up at college ... you can't seem to get rid of the nerves of being in a new place with a new teacher. But hey, at least you're going to be in good hands with him.

OK, so I promised you guys that I would FINALLY respond to the many questions and problems you have posted on the website. I can't respond to all of them and really don't feel a huge need to since so many of you great pianists out there have already done our job by responding to those who needed immediate advice and answers. Thank you for helping out. So to all of you who wrote so long ago, here are some answers and advice from our point of view.

First, to Pianist4life, I am sitting here typing with my back feeling uncomfortable. Don't feel as though you're the only one out there who suffers from back problems. I used to REALLY suffer when I was about 13 to 18. A big problem was my posture (as someone has already noted). I have always been known to have bad posture. Actually I was really upset once when I competed in a competition around the age of 12. I got my judges comments back and one of the judges actually had the nerve to say something to this extent... "visually you are hard to watch. I think if you weren't hunched over the keyboard you'd look better." I was pretty mad since his words had nothing to do with my playing ... just visually how I looked. Of course, that's what I thought at the time. Later at Juilliard my teacher straightened me out. I don't even know how, she did it without me really noticing. I guess one of the biggest reasons for change though wa s when she started to realize that my posture was affecting my sound at the piano.

Other advice on the subject; I notice my back hurts more when I'm learning new music (like now). I tend to be more tense as I'm tryng to get things into my hands. I really feel it in the shoulder blade area of my upper back. And yes, sometimes it does feel like it's burning. Allow yourself breaks and try to be aware of loosening up in your upper back and shoulders. Also, make sure you're sitting at a good level on your bench. For instance I think some of my problems right now are from my bench. It's too high, but there's not a whole lot I can do about it since it's a wood bench. Eventually I'll have to probably shave off up to an inch. Bench height really is a big thing to pay attention to.

Moving on, some people have asked and continue to ask about where to find the music to the Super Star Etude No.1 by Aaron Jay Kernis. It is incredibly hard to find. Unless they have changed this since Gregory was looking, the music was only available through some college in Ohio, I think. I can't remember though, I'll have Gregory check on that for you guys.

A person named Superstargroupie asked about what's going on with the dual disk thing. So as many of you know our first 2 albums had dual disks, a disk with music on one side and videos on the other. We did this because we thought it was important for so many of you to see what it LOOKED like to have 5 pianos playing. Also, the technology was brand new and they thought it would take off much more than it did. It had many problems playing in most people's machines. So the technology is really obsolete now. This is why we didn't use it on our 3rd album. We did make music videos which many of you have seen with Chris Botti and with the Rachmaninoff 18th Variation on a theme by Paganini, on youtube. Also there is a music video of Gregory playing the Super Star somewhere on youtube as well. We try to be as cutting edge as we can be (hence the non-plastic CD box this time around, it's going with the new "green" or more economically conscientious packaging) and we'll c ontinue to make videos and take part in whatever technology is 'in' at the time of a CD release. Of course we'd love to hear from you guys what you would like to see more of, or less (even in regards to the website which we're going to try and be more hands on with). Your ideas are always incredibly valuable.

Next, Lillibet asked about having trouble with sight reading. Again, lillibet, don't feel like you're alone in this. All of us, not just one, ALL of us have had problems with this. I think it might've had something to do with not sight reading enough while we were kids, when your mind is forming really fast. But that doesn't mean you can't change it. One thing you can do is practice sight reading different pieces everyday (remember not to get them too easy, or it's worthless). Assign an amount of time everyday. Remember to be looking at the music, not your hands. If you're too preoccupied with where your hands are this will slow your sightreading incredibly. Also try and look ahead of each note to the next. Really good sight readers I've heard can look as far as a few measures ahead and not be thrown. Of course I wouldn't fully know what that's like because I'm a very mediocre sight reader. I've always had to tell myself that it's just not one of my strengths. My p oor chamber music partners in the past know this very well! But to all of us who aren't so gifted in this area, just work at it (this goes for me too).

Proshooter asked about Desi's husband ..."the violinist" and where he is or if he has an album out. Many of you may remember him playing on select concerts with us. He also wrote the arrangement of The Aquarium on "Browns in Blue" (played by Gil Shaham), but now he's too busy to help us anymore! His name is Bryan Hernandez Luch and yes he is about to release an album under Universal Records as part of a group whose name and everything about them is still under wraps. We're all really excited about it though. So look for updates from us on this as well.

To Austin, thanks so much for the suggestion of the Prokofiev Toccata. I actually laughed when I read it a while back because it really is such a coincidence! All this past season Gregory chose that to be his solo piece in all of our concerts. Hopefully you got to hear it at some point. I know it wasn't me playing, but I think he does a much better job than I could ever do. Again, we love your suggestions and you guys are all usually spot on with us when it comes to different music you like and want to hear.

Nbrand76 asked about a christmas album. We have definitely talked about it and if we did, it wouldn't be your typical album. My mom has looked extensively into repertoire and has found some incredible stuff, so you'll have to wait and see if any of these ideas actually come to fruition. We have always shied away from the idea since it's more commercial, but if the music was good (still having its classical roots) and we were challenged doing it, than we'd defintely consider it.

Finally to so many of you who wrote incredible messages of support and thanks, we all send a huge THANK YOU back! I was so moved when I read them. One in particular, by a man named Robert Foster, was incredibly moving. I know he and so many others spent so much time writing these, and we reallly can't thank you enough. I know alot of you think that we never see what you write. On the contrary, we see them, we just don't get a whole lot of time to respond. Again, THANK YOU!

So there's my novel! And remember we're programming right now so send your best suggestions! And we always love to hear CD suggestions for the future....

We all love you so much!

I'll let you know how we're doing in the next one....

Love ya!
Melody