Next up in this monthly column is our very own accompanist extraordinaire, John Tveit. We see him up there at the piano, working hard for us at every rehearsal, reading those tricky harmonies by Bernstein and Faure, serving as our temporary baroque orchestra, and then coming through for us at our concerts. I asked John to tell us how it all got started, and he sent in this delightful piece describing his early obsession with the piano:
“I come from a fairly unmusical family, although my father loved to sing and had a very good lyric tenor voice. My earliest exposure to music came through recordings of classics that we had at home, and through the music I heard in church on Sundays. I've never been much of a singer myself, but I have always been around choral music, and I've loved it since I was very young. At one point, one of my teachers noticed that I often drew pictures of pianos, and mentioned this to my parents, with the not-so-subtle suggestion that they provide me with one. They wouldn't. Nevertheless, it became obvious that I had become obsessed; I fantasized about pianos, I dreamt about pianos - the very sight of a piano was a thrill. I had to play; it was a compulsion stronger than any other I'd ever had. I took to going around the neighborhood, knocking on the doors of those that I knew who did have piano, asking to come in and play theirs. Often, these people weren't even known to me, but the urge to play overrode any shyness I might have had about inviting myself in. The fact that I didn't know HOW to play didn't matter; just having my hands on a keyboard was everything that I wanted. There was something magical about pressing a key and hearing the particular sound of a hammer striking a wire, and then ringing, bell-like on a particular pitch. Also, the fact that they could be combined; several notes could be played at once - that just opened up another whole dimension. Maybe it was magical because it seemed that there was a world of infinite possibility. Eventually, my parents heard about the visits to the piano-households. They were horrified: amused probably, but very embarrassed nonetheless. And so they relented and bought a piano for me and for my sister. Lessons soon followed, and continued on through my college years and beyond. To this day, they like to recount how I "shamed" them into making that purchase, and we all have a good laugh.
Eventually I wound up in Southern California and made my way to the Burbank Chorale; how that came to be is another story. I love playing for the group: I love the rehearsals, I love the music we do, the people in the group, working with Misha - all of it. I wouldn't have stayed so long otherwise.”
John’s a bit cryptic about just how he made his way to the Chorale. I guess we’ll have to read about that on TMZ!
By Jeremy Williams and John Tveit
