Cowichan Classical Concerts

Tag: piano duet

  • Synchronicity

    The Meeks Duo: Scott Meek, piano; Clare Yuan, piano
     

    Sunday, April 12 at 2:30 pm

    VENUE: St Michael’s Church, Chemainus

    Please note that this concert starts at 2:30pm

    Recognized for their ground-breaking inventiveness and diverse repertoire, Scott Meek and Clare Yuan return with a program of music arranged for piano duo. Scott has published more than one hundred piano duet arrangements, many of which they have performed across Canada and Asia. With warmth and humour, Scott and Clare inform and entertain with stories and anecdotes, truly making each performance a uniquely enjoyable experience for their audience.
     

     

    Programme


    La donna è mobile, from Rigoletto, Act III — Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Nessun dorma, from Turandot, Act III — Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Serenade (Ständchen), D889 — Franz Schubert (1797-1828)/Franz Liszt (1811-1886) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Over the Rainbow — Harold Arlen (1905-1986) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Another Day of Sun — Justin Hurwitz (1985- ) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Legend of Ashitaka — Joe Hisaishi  (1950- ) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Summer                          — Joe Hisaishi (1950- ) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Invierno Porteño (Winter), from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires — Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) (arr. Kyoko Yamamoto)

    Libertango — Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) (arr. Kyoko Yamamoto)

    Firebird Suite, K010 — Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) (arr. Scott Meek)
    Danse infernale
    Berceuse
    Finale

    Happy Birthday, Rachmaninoff! — Scott Meek

    Pas de deux, from The Nutcracker — Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Polovtsian Dances, from Prince Igor, Act II — Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) (arr. Scott Meek)

    Background information

    The Meeks Duo (married Canadian pianists Scott Meek and Clare Yuan) is recognized for its groundbreaking inventiveness and uniquely diverse repertoire for piano duet. Scott and Clare’s concert programs feature their own creative transformations of classical pieces into anything from Happy Birthday to Japanese pop, as well as standard duet repertoire and works by living composers. Scott has over 100 piano duet arrangements and the number keeps growing!

    The Meeks Duo’s music has been played on CBC and Fairchild Radio, and their albums are available worldwide all streaming platforms. Keen on promoting living composers and arrangers, Clare and Scott have had several new works and arrangements written for them, and they often perform works by lesser-known and female composers.

    As members of their community, Clare and Scott raised funds for local flood relief from the sale of their Christmas album, and performed several months of weekly live-streamed recitals at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to entertain audiences worldwide during the lockdown period.

    Clare and Scott have performed at such prestigious venues as the Taiwan National Concert Hall (Taipei, Taiwan), the Kay Meek Centre (North Vancouver, Canada) and the Vancouver Playhouse (Vancouver, Canada), as well as at museums, art galleries, private residences, universities, churches, and outdoor performances.

    Playing the piano together was how Scott and Clare first met, and they formed The Meeks Duo shortly after they got married in 2013. They love the unique closeness of two musicians sharing a single instrument, and aspire to share this love of four-hand piano music with you!

  • The Meeks Duo: February 19th

    Be our Valentine – Sunday, February 19th at 2pm

    Married Vancouver-based pianists Scott Meek and Clare Yuan are The Meeks Duo, an acclaimed four-hands piano duo whose aim is to make every performance a uniquely enjoyable experience. Already well-established performers in Canada, Scott and Clare recently made their Asian debut with concerts in Japan and Taiwan, including at the prestigious Taiwan National Concert Hall. During the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, they performed 22 weekly online concerts from their home from March to August 2020. Currently, they are very active as YouTubers, uploading new recordings every week since April 2021. 

    Programme

    Variations On Autumn Leaves (2020) — Joseph Kosma

    As Time Goes By — Herman Hupfeld/Ray Conniff

    The Way You Look Tonight — Jerome Kern/Ray Conniff

    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes — Jerome Kern/Igor Frolov

    Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree — L. R Brown/I. Levine

    Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso — Ennio Morricone

    The Man I Love — George Gershwin

    Fly Me To The Moon-light Sonata — Bart Howard/ Ludwig van Beethoven/Scott Meek

    Piano Concerto no. 1, 2nd mvt (Romance) — Frédéric Chopin

    Drinking Song from La Traviata — Giuseppe Verdi

    Romance from 2-piano Suite no. 2, op. 17 — Sergei Rachmaninov

    Coda from The Fairy’s Kiss — Igor Stravinsky

    The Lark — M. Glinka /M. Balakirev

    Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker — Pyotr Tchaikovsky

    Biographies

    The Meeks Duo

    Scott Meek maintains a busy schedule as an in-demand collaborative pianist and chamber musician. As a soloist, he has performed concertos with major orchestras in Canada, and is a top prizewinner in several national and international competitions in North America. Scott received a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University and also studied at the Oberlin Conservatory. His principal teachers were Menahem Pressler, Alvin Chow, and Carole Pollard.

    Clare Yuan runs a full studio of eager and talented students, who are inspired by her innovative teaching style and frequent performing opportunities. She has won scholarships and made her debut as a soloist in New York City, and as a conductor in Vancouver in 2013. Clare received a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She also studied at UBC and University of Victoria. Her principal teachers were Jane Coop, Arkady Aronov, Eva Solar-Kinderman, and Christine Eschman.

    Scott and Clare combined musical forces shortly after they got married in 2013. They love the unique closeness of two musicians sharing a single instrument, and are happy to share this love with you!

    The Meeks Duo is recognized for their groundbreaking inventiveness and uniquely diverse repertoire for piano duet. Their concert programs feature their own creative transformations of classical pieces into anything from Happy Birthday to Japanese pop, as well as standard duet repertoire and works by living composers. Scott and Clare entertain and inform with stories and anecdotes, and surprise with mid-performance antics, making each concert a memorable and unique experience for their audiences.

    The Meeks Duo has been publishing new videos every week on YouTube since March 2021. Using their home as a recording studio, Scott’s original new arrangements combined with Clare’s distinctive video editing make each video visually and aurally engaging. Their interview series The Meeks Talk features engaging conversations with musicians from across the world, and they have been featured as guests on several other YouTube channels. Their music has been played on CBC and Fairchild Radio, and their albums are available worldwide all streaming platforms. Keen on promoting living composers and arrangers, Clare and Scott have had several new works and arrangements written for them, and they often perform works by lesser-known and female composers.

    “A delightful, modest young couple with extraordinary talent!”
    — Frances Herzer, member of Halpern Committee for the Performing Arts at Brock House