Video Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bb Minor, Op. 23, First Movement with cuts

I have been playing piano since I was in Kindergarden. My parents tell me that I had an unquenchable desire to play piano and so they started my lessons with a student of Marcia M. Knuttila, Karen Christianson. I studied with her for about six months before she felt that I would flourish more under Marcia (Miss K, as I call her). One of the pinnacles in her studio is to have the ability and desire to perform a piano concerto. One of my favorites has always been Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. Of course, there is only one way to learn a piece such as this one. Practice, practice, practice.

It took 13 years of dedication to daily practice to get to this point. This concerto is difficult to say the least. Not only is the fingering extremely challenging, but it also requires the technical ability to play it at the speed as written. Another problem playing a piece like this one is to find another pianast able to play the accompaniment. I am blessed to have a willing and able brother, Brayden, to play with me.  Brayden has been "slaving" away working on this piece with me all summer, fall, and winter to get it where its at. I owe such a debt of gratitude to him for helping me.

Brayden and I were in numerous competitions this winter. We even had the honor of placing in the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra Competition earlier this month!.  Take a minute, well, actually ten minutes, to listen to the video, too. Just another note-  the first movement is actually about 23 minutes long.  I actually can play the whole movement by memory but most contests only allow a ten minute cutting so that is what we recorded.

One last note- we recorded this video at Miss K's house on her two concert grand pianos- I am playing a new Yamaha and Brayden is playing Frank Sinatra's old Bosendorfer!

Enjoy!