Repertoire List

Hi Greg,
I saw your amazing repertoire list and I just want to ask you this: 1. Are you able to play all these peaces any time when someone picks up a piece? 2. Do you need to prepare them all over again? 3. What is the repertoire list for if you anyway practice one program at the time?
 - Laurana

Dear Laurana,

The pieces on my repertoire list have been "field-tested;" this means that for any given work on the list, I've probably spent a great deal of time thinking about what the piece means to me, I've memorized it, performed it publicly, and worked out the technical kinks. I certainly can't play most of the works at the drop of a hat, but they usually come back to my fingers pretty quickly when I invest the proper energy into relearning them. In fact, I find that when I relearn a work, it somehow happens to feel markedly better than it did before; it's as if my mind had been practicing it all along.

I like to cater my programs to particular audiences, venues, and concert series, so it's rare that I trot the exact same recital program around with me from city to city. My repertoire list is mostly used by concert presenters when they make requests. I can always learn new music, but it's not reasonable to learn entirely new programs for every performance. The chamber and concerto repertoire lists are particularly helpful when events are planned last minute, such as when an immediate replacement is needed.

- Greg (May 10, 2009)