By Nate Feldman
This year for the first time, I performed
self-composed piano pieces as a part of Make
Music Upper Perk, an annual event in northern Montgomery county
Pennsylvania that is associated with the International Day of Music on Tuesday,
June 21. I held two 30-minute performances
in Pennsburg PA, one at the Schwenkfelder library, and the other at the Upper
Perkiomen YMCA.
Although I had played three times previously in
public, twice in recitals for music schools I was taking class at, and once at
an open mic night, this was the first time I was the entire focus of the
performance and was able to play multiple pieces.
The night before I played, Eric, a friend from my days in
college, arrived from Florida to see the event.
He joined my two daughters Sara and Sofia as a part of the first
performance, and my mother was with them for the second one.
The songs I have made are a part of a collection of
short melodies that I am turning into an album called Fall Journeys. I am a big
fan of the autumn season, and most of these jingles reflect the mood of the
season from the beauty of the fall foliage to the haunting atmosphere of
Halloween.
The event at the library took place in a large room
with a Steinway and Sons grand piano at the front of the room. I was the first event of the day as the
person who was supposed to perform before me never arrived. I played fourteen original, self-composed
pieces.
When I was done performing, I sat and watched the next
group, who covered classic pop songs from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, for a little
while and then headed for the YMCA.
Before my performance there, I was asked to do an interview with channel
69 news, a local TV station in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. It was extremely exciting to know that parts
of my performance were going to appear on the nightly news.
My next performance took place on an electric
keyboard. I played the same songs, and
this time I felt more comfortable.
I know that this is the beginning of a lifetime of
playing music, and I look forward to upcoming events.
