A New Musical Adventure: Accompanying a Soloist

Recently, I had the privilege of accompanying a nice young lady ("C.B."; I don't have permission to publish the full name) for her judged "Solo and Ensemble" performance. She was playing the flute, I was playing the piano. She had been working with a private local flute teacher, and I took about a month to learn the piano part of the piece as perfectly as I could play it. C.B. and I practiced a couple times so that we could get used to playing together, and, come Saturday Dec 12, she nailed it at her judged event! It was the best I'd heard her play the song, and she got a "1," which is the top score possible. Even though I'd only known her for a couple weeks, I was still really proud of her hard work and achievement.

I didn't ask for payment for this one, but it was still really cool to get a thank you note and a gift card.

During this process, however, I was reminded of earlier mis-adventures in accompanying soloists. The last time I tried my hand at this, I was in high school and the soloist was also a flutist. It didn't go nearly as well, although, if memory serves me correctly, I did play a killer rendition of Joplin's "The Strenuous Life" for my solo performance later that day. And I accompanied a couple of solo vocalists in high school as well for talent shows and such. I learned the most about work as an accompanist, however, during my 2-year stint as pianist for the Octave One Vocal Jazz Ensemble at the College of Idaho in the mid-90s. I reached the point where I could transpose jazz chord changes on the fly, though that's a skill you lose if you don't use it. And I don't use it. So I've lost it. A new challenge, perhaps?

Thanks for reading!