Dear Friends,
It has been a while since I have posted and I hope you are all well and safe! I have been busy preparing for this concert which is supported by The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. The concert will be an early Fourth of July celebration, and will also honor the friendship between our two countries, as well as other friends around the world.
The concert will air live on Facebook this Thursday, July 2 at 1:00 Eastern U.S. time/7:00 p.m. Polish time. As always, if you are unable to tune in on Facebook, there will be a Youtube link available shortly after the concert.
I will be playing from just some of our great American musical traditions -- folk, patriotic, ragtime, jazz, and movie music. Many of these pieces are my own arrangements (as the songs were not originally written for piano); my latest arrangement is of “America, The Beautiful,” rendered in a Chopin style (to honor the country that gave us Chopin!).
Here is the program:
“The Star Spangled Banner” (arr. by Rachmaninov for a 1918 U.S. concert he performed while recovering from the Spanish flu!)
“Amazing Grace Celtic Medley” (arr. by Howland)
“Maple Leaf Rag” (Scott Joplin)
"Prelude No. 3" (George Gershwin)
"Lady Madonna" (Lennon/McCartney, arr. by Howland, as a tribute to our British ancestors)
"America, The Beautiful" (arr. by Howland in a Chopin nocturne-like style)
"Great American Movie Medley" (arr. by Howland with themes from The Wizard of Oz, Porgy & Bess, Jaws, Psycho, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and The Lion King).
Here is a short promo for the concert, requested by the Embassy :)
