Foggy Day
This is a video clip taken from a zoom member of the audience at my February 26th, 2021 performance at Longboat Key Education Center. This performance, "FINE and DANDY: The Story of George Gershwin and Kay Swift" was an in-person/zoom show, my first performance in over a year due to the pandemic and my accident recovery. Back on stage and loving it! Enjoy. (More vocals, instrumentals and photos on my website: sandramoulin.bandzoogle.com)
Up next: STARDUST: The Story of Hoagey Carmichael
"Peace by Piece: My Road Back to Whole" (first piece of piece)
In my new one-woman show, "Peace by Piece: My Road Back to Whole," I wil be performing parts of my musical selections as I tell my story. At the end, I will play one "whole" piece. This may or may not be one of them. I am playing with four fingers, one that doesn't work, and minus a thumb which would have avoided the flaws in this recording. This is not a "Performance;" it is a step in the process of healing and buoying my spirits. Today, I got my thumb down in the keybed for the very first time. It's a thumb comeback. Yay:) Thank you for being a forgiving listener as I work my way back to the stage.
First composition 2020
As I continue to heal, I decided to try my hand at composing. This is my first effort. Only the melody has been written on the score paper I just got from Amazon for $10:) The rest is improvised. Love doing this. It's relaxing and fun. It will be much better when I can add a thumb in my left hand.
Tiny Victories! SO GRATEFUL!
Day 47 - Merry Christmas to me. I can finally move my fingers freely. Please ignore peanut butter on thumb. Getting rid of cast next Monday. MINUS #5, Ladies:) Little victories mean so much:) Recording next week --a little GERSHWIN --maybe only gersh--but it's a start. STAY TUNED!
Christmas Song 1.5 hands 1 foot
This is my holiday contribution while I m healing from my injuries. It comes with my best wishes for a SAFE, HEALTHY, fun time with your families and friends. Posts wil be mainly short practice sessions as I prepare for my spring show and begin a whole new concept. Stay tuned, and thank you for your loyal support and caring. My daily blog is
laughter effects the-write-note.blogspot.com. I post regularly there.
The grand finale - I'll never be an Askenazy or a Lang Lang, but I'm having a lot of fun pretending!
Gershwin practice : Take 20!
Ok. So I'm putting myself out there with this PRACTICE session for my upcoming Gershwin show. This is still a month out from public performance, so don't judge too harshly. And it was a bad hair day, but you will get the gist, at least. Performers have to spend hours recording and scrutinizing to get just the write nuance, the write "feel," the right everything. One of my recent coaches told me to expect no more than 75% accuracy when I perform. This allows for nerves, coughs from the audience, cell phones going off, etc. I aim for 95% accuracy, but I don't want to sacrifice moving the audience for the sake of a note slip. Love Gershwin. This is sans costume, sans audience, sans perfection. Enjoy:)
Humbly playing one of Gershwin's all-time favorites
In preparing for my Gershwin course and my Gershwin one-woman show, I am posting this rehearsal video. It is so humbling looking at oneself on the screen. Fortunately, the light is not real good, so you can just imagine the positive. Just got our piano tuned, but it needs "regulating" to the tune of thousands of dollars. How badly do I want it to sound good? Badly. Ok. More quarters need to go in the piggy bank. Having fun with George in the meantime. Enjoy:)
"Rach'in 'It' With Re" Rehearsal, yes, REHEARSAL:)
Having such fun with my new I-phone tripod. I can now watch and hear myself and learn what needs to be modified, deleted or emphasized. So cool! Do not judge as performance. I am not a concert pianist; I am a dilettante who uses her music as part of a script to tell a magical story. This is only a minor part of the performance, although still very important to the success of the show. Loving this new technology!
Signed, the "Dilettante."
From Keyboard to Classroom
Little did I know three years ago that I would be turning my Debussy one-woman show into a course for adults in Sarasota, Florida. Yes, the show is coming off the road for a short spell to enter a classroom. Lovers of the Romantic period will savor even more of the composer's story than what the show revealed. I am very excited to don my teacher hat once again.
Funny, we don't see ourselves when we perform. I am not sure what all the dramatic movement was about. It sure looks phony, but it wasn't meant to be. I must have really been into the "Lune" that day.
The "Lune" has been shining down on me and caressing my soul, for one week from tonight I will be sharing yet another Romantic composer with my audience chez moi.
The third performance of "Rach'in 'It' with Re: The Story of Sergei Rachmaninov" is only days away. My fondest wish is that at least one person in the audience goes home and googles this marvelous genius to find out even more than what I share as I tell his story through the eyes of Marietta Shaginyan, Sergei's Armenian poet and soul mate.
Chopin, by George!
This was the beginning. I played the role of George Sand and dramatized the story of Frédéric Chopin, playing some of his most beloved pieces. Who knew I would begin my stage career at 72?! Now finishing up three shows three years later, I am even more passionate about finding juicy stories about these incredible artists and the women behind them. I have been George, Emma, Kay and Marietta. Next: the French comtesse? the adoring student? the star-crossed Princess? Ah, so many choices. Back to the stacks to discover scandals and surprises. Stay tuned.
Video Testimonial of Rachmaninov Performance
Testimonial from my April 27th performance of "Rach'in 'It' with Re: The Story of Sergei Rachmaninov."
This is the process. SANDRA MOULIN, M.A. is a freelance writer, blogger and self-published author whose specialty is humor and inspirational essays.
