My Early Years as a Collaborative Pianist

Ever since I was a little pianist, I have always dreamed of playing in chamber ensembles. Especially those with strings. I loved seeing and hearing the dynamic between the players.

It was as if watching a conversation unfold in a way that symphonies or solo piano performances couldn’t catch. More intimate than a symphony and less lonely than only a piano. And I had only played a few occasional piano duets before college, with many people that I either didn’t like or were lazy and never came prepared.  

When I initially started my Bachelor’s program at Utah Valley University, I hardly had opportunities to collaborate or accompany, because, unfortunately, when you start college, you still have the same skills and bad habits you had before. There is, sadly, no major level-up when you are accepted.

So when I started, I still had many of the same technical struggles in my hands, and my reliability and consistency were shaky. So, the lack of gigs was for good reason; it’s generally not a good idea to rely on a freshman or even a sophomore for many people’s jury or recital. A few instrumentalists hired me in my freshman and sophomore years, but I wasn’t sought after at that point. And frankly, I don’t believe that I was worth seeking then. 

Another thing to consider, less soloistically experienced instrumentalists or vocalists need a reliable pianist. You can’t have two clueless people in a small practice room trying to get basic rhythms correct.

At least one partner needs to be competent to pull the ensemble together, which is typically the pianist. That is, until the instrumentalist becomes more experienced and learns to listen to the piece as a whole and not just their part.

Hence why these instrumentalists typically hire highly experienced pianists who can adjust and learn music solidly, quickly, and musically. Those pianists know exactly the tendencies of woodwinds and strings, and brass, and how they all differ.

They can hear and anticipate how the sound will blend. Many make a point to nearly memorize the soloist's part so they can adjust and adapt to any mistake, like skipping measures, repeating measures, or drastic changes in tempo.

At some point, the younger pianists who are not yet experienced with decades of experience and hundreds of pieces in their repertoire need to develop their skills.

Thankfully, some instrumentalists are more confident in their ability and are willing to work with these other less experienced pianists. This helps develop pianists who desire to collaborate at a high level, who do not yet have the resume, so to speak, to justify always hiring.

Hence why when I was starting my collaborative journey, some of my initial gigs were pro bono or severely inexpensive, despite getting scolded by my teacher for undervaluing myself. 

And I couldn’t tell you exactly how it happened, but suddenly more people would ask me to help them with their juries and recitals. That is how important word of mouth is when it comes to advertising.

But most importantly, in my 5th semester, my teacher, Dr. Demske, asked if I wanted to work with a piano quartet. Which caused me a bit of panic, because I was overwhelmed that semester and quartets are difficult, but I was also consumed with excitement for the possibility!

I finally had the opportunity to work in a true chamber ensemble. This opportunity also introduced me to more instrumentalists, beyond theory and aural skills classes, where people tend to stick to their own people. 

And some pianists, who had been in the program longer than I had, would give me the gigs they didn’t want or couldn’t commit to. One of these opportunities introduced me to a few young string players for string festivals, where I learned much about the environment of festivals and could learned to hear the impact of different teachers among many students of different levels.  

In the middle period of this growth, I was good enough for people to recognize, but not terribly well enough known. I was constantly asking people whom I wanted to work with, whether or not they needed a pianist.

I coerced a good and patient cellist to learn the Shostakovich Cello Sonata, and I learned more about what skills were essential: absolutely solid notes, comfortable tempo that can ebb and flow as desired for the soloist, what role do I play, and how and when does that change throughout the piece? This was the true beginning of learning how to adjust to advanced soloists.

The biggest contributor that led to me getting hired more was getting involved in small ensemble classes, where I would have to excel so that the professor would recommend me to students who needed a pianist who was less expensive than career collaborators.

And the people with whom I worked in small ensembles frequently would ask me to be their pianist if they didn’t have one already. However, I am very familiar and even friends with some of these career collaborators. And there are pros and cons between a pianist who has been collaborating for over 30 years and has a doctorate from Eastman, as opposed to a pianist like me, still amid my bachelor's. Absolutely NO difference.

Although sometimes, these instrumentalists experiment to see what type of pianists they want to work with.

Later on, I truly realized how sightreading is absolutely essential to becoming a better pianist, especially in collaborative settings where you have to learn a substantial amount of music quickly.

I attacked my sightreading skills after feeling humiliated by how depressing my sightreading skills were when I took a Collaborative Literature class with Dr. Gerta Wiemer. This led to me sightreading for at least an hour a day during an entire semester, and every aspect of my playing improved.

I also strove to develop my technique, especially in the last two years. And at some point, I felt enough to apply to the Utah Piano Collaborative Guild, where, as a result of being accepted, I have received gigs from many students for juries and recitals, even from Weber University. 

Collaborative piano is a highly demanding field. Sometimes, some students who have been learning a piece for an entire semester will contact you 3 days before their jury and expect it to be perfect.

And this is a situation that separates the elite collaborative pianists from the younger ones. Most of the former have largely no issue or limitation in doing a last-minute task with great skill, adaptation, and musicality. I cannot say that I am at that level, yet. But I have many mentors who inspire me to strive to achieve that level of command over this beautiful instrument.