Kawai Jazz Piano Festival

For many years now, Gary Norian, master pianist and educator, has been enlisting subsets of Houston’s thriving jazz piano community to perform in an afternoon showcase at the Kawai piano gallery on Richmond Avenue. This year, the selected pianists had the pleasure of performing on a Kawai Shigeru concert grand piano, a nine-foot behemoth with a price tag of nearly $200,000. That alone would be incentive for some, but for those of us performing, the real thrill was witnessing the dazzling range of talent among our peers. It’s a day of both awe and camaraderie, one I feel very privileged to have been part of. I’ll also add that playing near the end of the program was no easy feat after listening to five masters before me (and knowing two more would follow). Yet somehow, I made it through, and for the first time in a very long time, I left feeling energized about playing–and practicing–again.

I played the following: Sweet Lorraine, I Love You Porgy, Prelude from Gasp.

Here are a few photos I snapped. Unfortunately, I didn’t get everyone: photos just weren’t top of mind!