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Edited to show final date and time of the gathering - Robert H

Edited title to show that recap and pictures have been added - Robert H

Hi all,...

This is a follow up to this thread:
Iowa thread in the Party forum

I would like to host a piano gathering at our house in Ames, IA. Thanks to so many help from PW members I just purchased a Mason & Hamlin model A for the family late last year. So my wife and I thought that it would be great to have a 'piano-warming' gathering and share our piano with other PW members in the area. We would be honored to have other pianists who are undoubtedly much more accomplished than us play our piano, enjoy some refreshments and casual conversations at our house:)

So I would like to invite all members in Iowa and surrounding states.

Ames, IA is a nice little college-town in the middle of Iowa,... It is within 3 hours drive from Kansas City, MO, Minneapolis, MN, Omaha, NE,and the Quad Cities, IA/IL.

When: Saturday May 3, 2008 - 12:00-4:30p.m.

Our piano will be freshly tuned on May 1, 2008 and we will prepare some food and beverages so you don't have to bring anything other than yourself and some sheet music if you want to. Family and friends are welcome too,...

If you can make it,... please RSVP via PM so my wife know how much food to prepare. I will also send out directions to our house via PM.

For people who are coming from out of state,... here are some other activities around this weekend:

Christopher O'Riley Master Class
Friday May 2, 2008 - 4:00-6:00p.m.

Des Moines Symphony: Celebration Finale
- Sibelius Symphony No. 7
- Ravel Piano Concerto in G - Christopher O'Riley
- Saint-Saens organ Symphony No. 3
Saturday May 3, 2008 - 8:00p.m.
Sunday May 4, 2008 - 2:30p.m.

Christopher O'Riley is the host of "From the Top" show on NPR. Bio & Web Site.

Pella Tulip Time Festival
Wednesday April 30 - Sunday May 4, 2008

While it's not piano related,... Pella Tulip Time is a fun annual spring celebration in the area. Here's a little blurb from the web site:

Join us each spring for a unique festival of beauty with the display of millions of tulips and celebration of Dutch heritage and culture through dance, art, theatre, and so much more! Our goal is to continue to host one of the best small town festivals in the country with events like; 3 exciting parades, Klompen Dancing, big name entertainment, free concerts, music and variety shows, Dutch market, trolley tours, children’s events, fireworks and so much more!

Please let us know in your RSVP if you would like to go to any of these other events,... if there are enough interest I can organize a group trip and getting the tickets in advance

I hope to see some of you this at the gathering!

Regards,

Robert

bump

I think it's terrific you're willing to host a party, hidajat. Wish I were closer so I could go.

Monica -- I'll chip in for a tank of gas (even if you drive a Chevy Suburban) if you attend and show us all how a M&H A can sound!

I thought I'd bump this during the week to see if I could spur some additional posts from week day readers. C'mon Iowa folks we need to hear from you if you want this event to happen. The symphony concert will be awesome as they're doing the Ravel G major Concerto, and the Saint Saens C minor and the Sibelius 7th Symphonies. But you don't have to have a symphony ticket to go to the party! Are there no Iowa lurkers here????

Another bump,...
Steve,... we may have to send out a few PMs this week,...

Hi all,...

I just received a PM from RonaldSteinway who might be able to make it from as far away as Chicago!! That's about a 6 hours drive!

Anybody else from Iowa?

I really would like to host this party for PW members,... but if we don't get enough people I might take Kenny's suggestion and talk to some piano teachers in the area to see if they have adult students who may be interested in coming.

Regards,

Robert

Remember to take pictures! That is a requirement of all piano parties!!

Hi all,...

This is the official invitation to all PW members from Iowa and surrounding states to our piano gathering coming up in a couple of weeks.

When : Saturday May 3, 2008 - 12:00 - 4:30p.m.
Where: our house in Ames, IA
Piano : our Mason & Hamlin A

Our piano will be freshly tuned on May 1, 2008 and we will prepare some food and beverages so you don't have to bring anything other than yourself and some sheet music if you want to. Family and friends are welcome too,...

If you can make it,... please RSVP via PM so my wife know how much food to prepare. I will also send out directions to our house via PM.

For people who are coming from out of state,... here are some other activities around this weekend:

Christopher O'Riley Master Class
Friday May 2, 2008 - 4:00-6:00p.m.

Des Moines Symphony Celebration Finale
- Sibelius Symphony No. 7
- Ravel Piano Concerto in G - Christopher O'Riley
- Saint-Saens organ Symphony No. 3
Saturday May 3, 2008 - 8:00p.m.
Sunday May 4, 2008 - 2:30p.m.

Pella Tulip TimeFestival
Wednesday April 30 - Sunday May 4, 2008

Please let us know in your RSVP if you would like to go to any of these other events,... if there are enough interest I can organize a group trip and getting the tickets in advance.

I hope to see you at the gathering

Regards,

Robert

p.s. Rich,... we'll definitely take some pictures

Bump,...

How about a peaceful and argument-less gathering anyone?

Regards,

Robert

Hi all,...

The gathering is coming up pretty soon,...

Thanks to all who have sent in their RSVPs,... I've sent out directions to our house via e-mail/PM,... please let me know if you have any questions,...

Those who have not sent in their RSVP yet,... please send it in by this Thursday,...

My wife and I are looking forward to see you all this weekend!

Regards,

Robert

So... how was the first PW gathering in Iowa???

I think they are all still recovering from the hangover. :p

Hi all,...

It went very well,... we definitely had a great time thanks to everybody who took the time to attend and grace our house with great music! We really appreciate it.

My wife, Lia, was pretty confident earlier in the day and played a few songs,... but as soon as the other PW members started playing,... wow,... we're blown away and she doesn't want to play anymore

Another thing we learned is that pianists don't eat very much,... we probably had over 3 pounds of bbq pork and beef left over!

We had a busy Sunday too,... our daughter were baptized and we have some family visiting,... so I haven't had a chance to get the pictures from the gathering downloaded to my PC and put together a post,...

I'll put it together tonight,... stay tuned,...

Regards,

Robert

Robert,

We had a good time. I tried to eat, but there was just so much. I could barely make a dent and with the M&H A beckoning I didn't have as much time. Tell Lia the two of you were gracious hosts and we enjoyed ourselves, but the only way to get better is to practice. Hopefully she'll hear the siren song of your instrument calling to her from the music room saying, "Play me."

Hi all,...

Here comes some pictures and recap from the gathering:)

The gathering went well,... I was a bit worried about the weather at first because since I started checking almost 2 weeks ago the forecast have mostly been rain and thunderstorm,... But I was glad that it ended up being a wonderful sunny day,... with a bit of a cool breeze,...

Due to some last minute conflicts not everybody was able to make it,... I really appreciate those who were able to come,... Including my family we had about 20 people at the gathering,...

I had some name tags out so it's easier for people to get to know each other and I put together a little PW flyer to recruit the non-members



We had some local BBQ beef and pork from Battle\'s Bar-B-Q and local wine from Prairie Moon Winery as well as various munchies and some home made green tea cake for dessert,... Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the food,...

Here are some pictures of people enjoying some food and conversation before they started playing the piano,...

L to R: Tomasino who came all the way from Minneapolis, Potter (John) from Le Grand, IA, Mark my neighbor accross the street , and Mrs. Potter (Carole)



L to R: Mark's wife Carolyn, our family friend Valentina who has 2 kids taking piano lessons, and my wife Lia

Some people starting to take our M&H for a spin. Sorry the window and the bright sunny day outside doesn't let me take the best pictures,...

Potter started off with Clair De Lune and Brahm's Intermezzo


Tomasino played some very nice Goldberg Arias and Schubert


Steve Chandler played a lot of his own original songs,... you guys should check it out on his web sites,... I especially like his Steve Light songs!


Ruth played many beautiful songs including some Sonatinas and some Gershwin hits


Tom, my piano technician, played a few very nice jazz pieces


Edit to add:

My wife, Lia, also played some Yanni and Richard Clayderman songs,... but I didn't take her picture

Some pictures of the audience,...

L to R: Tomasino, Carole, Steve C (playing), Ruth, Lia, and me in the corner


L to R: Me and Ruth mesmerized by beautiful piano songs



Nina,... 4 months old now and my mother-in-law who are in town


And,... toward the end of the day Tomasino, Steve, Lia and Ruth singing along to some Gershwin hits,... If I remembered correctly,... "They Can't Take That Away From Me",... and a couple others,... Steve please remind me,...

Ok,... Overall a great day I thought,... our family enjoyed it immensely.

We want to express our thanks again to everyone who decided not to throw away my invitation to the junk mail folder (thanks Potter ) and took the time out of their weekend to enjoy and share some food, great piano music and conversation with strangers who share a love for piano. Thank you for giving our piano a great workout!!

Now that everybody know that we don't bite and nobody disappeared mysteriously after the gathering, hopefully more people will be open to come to the next one

I'm thinking that the next one should be a bit later into the spring season when it's sweet corn season here in Iowa,... so we can enjoy some really great Iowa steamed and grilled sweet corns!!

Regards,

Robert

More people? Looks to me like you had quite a group there!!! One recent get together local at Jeanne W's we had 3 and we had a great time!

Thanks for sharing the pics and event with us. BTW, do you play too? (didn't read back through all the posts - was just looking for the pics!)

I loved seeing that people stood around the piano and sang. It reminds me of the 'good ole days'.



BTW, RUTH....what is that on your shirt?