|| COLLAB || "Peace Piece" (featuring Justin Schrum)
“Peace Piece” - Bill Evans
Personnel:
Justin Schrum, piano
Branden Nguyen, guitar
Justin Schrum and I met 4 years ago. We are both private music instructors at Myriad Music School. Starting off as colleagues, we eventually became very close friends. From recitals, to dinner parties, to art galleries, to churches, Justin has performed in a variety of venues all across the Bay. In addition to his performances, he also has a loyal student base to whom he passes forward a strong foundation in piano performance. His friendship has been a big part of my life over the past few years, and he continues to inspire me to pursue more performance opportunities.
BILL EVANS
About the video: Justin chose “Peace Piece”, a modern jazz composition that emphasizes the minimalism and serenity of two repeating major chords. While Justin takes the written melody with some personal embellishments, I focus on improvising some melodic and harmonic responses to his motifs. I love the feeling of the piece. I do think I could have balanced the audio better. That is an aspect of the production I will focus on in future videos. The stark pink spotlights are a bit distracting. Overall, the Myriad Music School stage is a quaint recording space that was entertaining to manipulate. I will play with different lighting setups in the future if I revisit this performance venue in order to evoke different moods.
About the artist:
“Justin lives in San Jose and holds a BM in Piano Performance from Ithaca College in New York, and a Masters of Arts in Music Therapy and Mental Health Counseling .Originally from the East Coast, Justin escaped the snow and humid summers for California’s beautiful ambiance. Sparked by the parts of music that gives us ‘the chills’, he has let that fuel his performance and teaching. His current interests are the juxtaposition of Music and poetry and the life and career of the English Impressionist John Ireland.”
For lesson and performance information from Justin, contact: treviuniverse@gmail.com
—- B