Jeremy Siskind & Angelin Chang

I blame Mrs. Nelms. She was my first piano teacher—who introduced me to etudes. She was probably a wonderful lady. But she was elderly and humorless. And her house smelled funny. I wanted to sing and swing. I associated these practice pieces with smelly drudgery. I didn’t realize that etudes could be cool.

Move over Czerny, Clementi, Scriabin, et alia. There’s a new etude composer in town. And his works are divine.

Jeremy Siskind premiers Perpetual Motion Etudes—a suite of 9 joyous studies that combine "jazz harmony with complex pianistic textures, evoking works by Kapustin, Gershwin, Gismonti, Hersch, and Mehldau.” Siskind says, “I’m a bit obsessed with finding the most orchestral, diverse, and innovative ways to use the piano. Each piece represents a journey into the outer limits of the possibilities of the piano.”...

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I blame Mrs. Nelms. She was my first piano teacher—who introduced me to etudes. She was probably a wonderful lady. But she was elderly and humorless. And her house smelled funny. I wanted to sing and swing. I associated these practice pieces with smelly drudgery. I didn’t realize that etudes could be cool.

Move over Czerny, Clementi, Scriabin, et alia. There’s a new etude composer in town. And his works are divine.

Jeremy Siskind premiers Perpetual Motion Etudes—a suite of 9 joyous studies that combine "jazz harmony with complex pianistic textures, evoking works by Kapustin, Gershwin, Gismonti, Hersch, and Mehldau.” Siskind says, “I’m a bit obsessed with finding the most orchestral, diverse, and innovative ways to use the piano. Each piece represents a journey into the outer limits of the possibilities of the piano.”

He goes on to define ‘perpetual motion’ as having “the pianist’s left hand and right hand work in tandem to fill in any space left by the other – the ceaseless music fits together like gears in an infernal clock. There are no rests or breaks between the two hands, which fit together precisely, like the blocks in a well-played game of Tetris or like two dancers dancing intricate steps in a tight space.”

Jeremy joins us here @exuberance following his Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall presentation and days before PM's CD release in tandem with its sheet music book Perpetual Motion Etudes for Solo Piano. As Jeremy describes them, “the etudes can be presented in two ways so that any pianist can jump off this musical high-dive. Classical pianists can perform them as through-composed pieces (the set of etudes will last about 20 minutes in this version) or jazz pianists can add their own improvisation (the set can last about 60 minutes with improvisation)."

To demonstrate those two ways, Mr. Siskind will be joined by concert pianist Angelin Chang. Dr. Chang is Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Cleveland State University, where she is also Professor of Law at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. A Grammy-winner, Dr. Chang’s recordings include a solo-piano album Angelin, Soaring Spirit with Joseph de Pasquale, and with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in Olivier Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Join this dynamic duo @exuberance for a breath-taking excursion of beauty and virtuosity.

Jeremy Siskind & Angelin Chang
8-11pm Friday, March 27
1220 N. Mascher St. (steps away from the Girard Ave. El stop)

We contemplate a $30 donation to support the musicians and provide appropriate refreshments.

Click RSVP to this invitation to get on the guest list. Invitation expires when we reach 85 attendees. Looking forward to seeing you.

Matt Yaple

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@exuberance parties at Matt’s are by invitation only to provide a dignified, comfortable and acoustically ideal setting for worthwhile art and ideas. Cellphones and other devices are to be holstered during the performances. Between sets, conviviality rules.

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