Virtuoso pianist, Harry the Piano is a musical one-off. A virtuoso improvisational performer, Harry's concerts mix tunes and themes from the popular and classical to the downright silly with styles and genres from jazz to latin and pop to classical and still manages to making the spontaneous music that results sound both beautiful and coherent.
Harrodian Director of Music Hannah Ashe saw Harry perform as the after dinner at a Music Teachers Association dinner and was captivated. 'I discovered that Harry did masterclasses for schools,' she recalls. 'We've never been the sort of department that draws boundaries between classical music and jazz or blues or pop. And that's exactly where Harry's coming from too.'
Harry spent the afternoon at Harrodian on 30th September. Beginning with a masterclass that introduced seven young pianists with a range of experience to the joys of 12 bar blues improvisation, he then turned his attention to the Jazz band who he joined in rehearsal. The evening ended with a brilliant solo concert.
'Our musicians do love all sorts of music but they're sometimes inhibited about the idea of making up music as you go along,' says Hannah Ashe. 'That's why a session with Harry was so instructive for them and so liberating too.'
