On December 14th, 2006 I had the rare privilege to fulfill a dream by performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris. It was recorded by France 2 TV and Radio Classique (http://programmes.france2.fr/musiques-au-coeur/20231319-fr.php) so needless to say I prepared my heart out for it. I was even swimming in the weeks leading up to the performance, in order to build endurance for the gruelling concerto (which had to be performed twice in one day, for filming purposes)! It’s kind of funny looking back, because I had my RCDC fellowship exams in periodontics a month prior to the performance date. Most people go crazy studying for that on its own, let alone practicing the Rach 3 at the same time. I must be crazy to love this kind of torture. I hope some day I’ll get the chance to tell my kids that their dad really “GAVE-ER” (people of the prairies and fans of Fubar will know what I’m talking about =).

At any rate, I did pass those exams (thank God!) and before I knew it, I was off to the Sorbonne!

The orchestra was that of the Paris Conservatoire, conducted by Pierre Michel Durand. He’s an incredible guy, and spoke of music in the same terms as Marc Durand (my teacher). Perhaps they’re related!!! I won’t go into the details of the philosophy, but basically music is really quite simple if you just follow the musical “waves”. They’re as consistent as gravity and anti-gravity...people instantly are taken on the ride, and everyone (including your orchestra) understands the musical intent. One of my favorite responses from people are when they tell me that, though they can’t explain why, they feel glued to every note and are exhausted by the end...which is exactly how I feel!

The hall was the Grande Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne. It was a gorgeous hall with an incredibly HUGE painting lining the stage. When you looked into the seats from the stage, ominous ten-foot statues lined the theatre, looking down at you with great intent. It was almost as intimidating as the big head of Chopin looking at you on the stage of the Warsaw Conservatory.

Gerard Bekerman, founder of the Paris Competition, played a wonderful and energetic Gershwin concerto, which got the crowd really warmed up. By the time I hit the stage, the audience’s electrictiy was primed. The orchestra was so much fun to play with, because they were all my age and most of them were from all over the world. I chose to take the tempo not as fast as all the others out there, but it worked well. It seemed like a blur, but I remember feeling centered. As someone described it afterwards, I took both myself and the audience into another dimension. The Rach 3 forces you to connect there.

After the performance, the crowd was so responsive. The Parisian audience cheered and stomped their feet in unison for what I think was about 5-6 curtain calls! After what seemed to be an eternity, I decided to play Consolation No. 3 by Liszt as an encore. It was probably the best piece to cap off an incredible night.

My thanks goes out to Neda Khodashenas, who made a drawing of me following my Chopin Concerto performance a few months back. She gave me the copy, which I gave to my parents as a gift.

Stay tuned for a future video of this very performance! I have seen it and it looks great.