For a performer, there is no greater feeling of anticipation and excitement than in those moments before "show time." I am fortunate to be part of the debut show by Nathan Lucrezio, "Unheard." A short 2 weeks ago, I received a phone call out of the blue from someone I worked with a year and a half ago on my very f irst New York City gig . They needed a last minute replacement pianist for a new musical and there was no written sheet music - and only 2 weeks until opening night.  I spent the next several days transcribing music and chords from recordings and watching the hands of the musical's composer, Lucrezio, play the songs for me. In typical show business fashion, everything came together at the last minute, with our first and only complete run through finishing 2 hours before curtain. Opening night was a success. The audience was pleased. Eddie my dedicated fan and honest critic, had nothing negative to say and found himself tapping his foot along with the ...

I know, I know! I should be practicing ballet music for Saturday's classes. Lately I've been forcing myself to practice classical music for uncharacteristically long hours in preparation for my new job at a ballet school and company. Mainly I need to learn more music for  dégagés , and some good jumping music (so if there's any suggestions out there...). Precision and repetition are the keys for me when I'm learning a piece of music like Pizzicati from the Ballet "Sylvia." It's killin me, actually. I haven't practiced this hard since college. So I took a break and fooled around with a waltz. On my first day playing for the class, the instructor asked me to play some "stretching" music, which is usually a relaxing, languid, 3/4 piece that makes your muscles want to melt into supple flexibility. I looked at him, puzzled for a moment, because I had already used most of my prepared waltzes. So instead, I thought of a nice chord progression fr...