I’m thrilled to play with my pals, @ PAL next Monday. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke! I really am PLAYING with Don’s wonderful band, wonderful colleagues from earlier times, Kerry Galloway, Miles Black, Buff Allen and Dave Say. They all played in Holly Burke and The Naturals at some point. What a cool reunion this will be! and it’s a free concert! I swear I’m not pulling your leg 😉 See you there. 6:30 pm.
Hello Flute Fans! I’ll be playing in the Main Hall of the West Vancouver Memorial library from 2-3 pm. this Monday December 18, that is. Come and browse and flip magazine pages while I pour my heart out flute-wise…
It’s not set up for a Concert – more for a pleasant flute hang. Very casual and a bit of a scholarly vibe you know…lovely!
You’re invited! and a Merry ’tis the Season to All!
Dear Fine Folk… you are warmly invited to come on a Dream Ride with us September 4, 4pm @ St. Andrews Wesley Church in Vancouver.
DREAM RIDE
Can’t believe eight years have passed since I bounced off the end of my mother’s bed and into a very different head space!
All was not lost though. Beautiful new music has come to the surface, twenty pieces for solo piano and new project called Dream Ride. Serendipitous events that have urged us forward in surprising ways, like finding baritone Pablo Romero in the forest.
Featuring Linda Lee Thomas, renowned VSO pianist, also known as the “Queen of Tango”. Dream Ride explores the Tango idiom while venturing into realms of pure lyric beauty.
Next Performance: September 4 @ 4 pm – 5 pm
St. Andrews Wesley Church (Burrard and Nelson) Vancouver.By Donation *no upward limit! free parking under the church.
Dream Ride ~ the music of Holly Burke and Bill Runge
On the subject of heads…here’s another cool thing I stumbled upon in the forest.
This amazing carving known as “Twin Spirits” is just off of Rawlings trail in Stanley Park, not far from Second Beach.
The Parks Board in their greater wisdom do not “acknowledge” this remarkable creation because the artist failed to go through their application process. Hey maybe the artist didn’t know where the office was – didn’t have a computer – was living in the park? I’m just so glad this carver went ahead with their vision, their inspiration for all the people to enjoy.
Thank you, Park Banksy. Love to know who you are and meet you one day ❤️
“Cos you know two heads are better than one” – Twisted
🌈 Just look at this fantastic purple poster above! Bill and I would love to see you at the gig. It’s in Burnaby which isn’t too far for many of our wonderful friends! It’s going to be simply sensational! Hope to see you there! ❤️ H+B
P.S. Two composers walked into a church…(best ending for this joke wins a Naturals CD)
Yes, it’ll be the first public performance of Two Eagles ~1000 hours later…or is it ten thousand hours later…Bill has meticulously finished the band arrangement of ‘Two Eagles.’ Can’t wait to hear it played by Bill’s stellar band The Bill Runge Quintet. Miles Black on piano, Bernie Arai on drums, André Lachance on bass and Nick Apivor on the magical vibes. It was a full circle type of experience with this tune. It began on a cold clear February day when I spied two magnificent eagles in the large evergreen just off my building. They were there for hours…just hanging out. I went to the piano and found a figure I liked, and a couple of potential places to go and Two Eagles was born (I kept running back and forth from the piano to the window to the window to see if they were still there.) Last week, Bill was completing the full band arrangement and looked out his window to see two glorious eagles soaring around his building. “We’re not changing the name!” said Bill.
Can’t help but get a little excited about stepping out onto the new terrain of a new year. The forever hope of things being better. Things will be better, it always feels that way, even this year. So here we are sending some good vibes your way )))))
The bartender says, “Hey you two deadbeats! You haven’t paid your tab from the last time!”
Bill looks the bartender straight in the face and pleads, “but you know we’re both baroque!”
Here she is, Linda Lee Thomas, reigning Queen of our piano project, The Advanced Pianist. Linda and her esteemed husband Jon Washburn live in an ivy covered fairy tale house in Vancouver. There are crystals and tango shoes in the garden out front, and orange wooden steps that lift you up to the orange front door of the ‘Casa de Tango.’ Come inside, and discover Linda’s expansive living room welcoming you with warm reds and oranges, and wherever your eye falls you’ll find out something fascinating about her!
Next week we’ll be completing our twenty-tune audio/video recording at the ‘Casa de Tango.‘ Then we’re onto edits, and publishing and promotion…in a way, this has been a perfect dream to develop during good old Covid diciannove.
Linda Lee Thomas, Principal Pianist of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 1972, was Artistic Director of Masterpiece Music, a hugely successful chamber music series for 17 years. In 2000, she was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame for her outstanding contributions to the industry. Her passion is the music and dance of Argentina - the Tango. She is one of Canada’s foremost tango musicians, performing and recording with Argentine bandoneonists Daniel Binelli and Nestor Marconi and with harmonica sensation Franco Luciani. In her latest recording project, Tango Con Fazioli, Linda Lee is putting together two of her favourite things - Tango and Fazioli pianos. For more information, see www.lindaleethomas.com.
What’s in a name? Cole Porter was married to a different Linda Lee Thomas. There’s even a musical about her!
We used to do that tune, “What a Difference a Day Made” as a nice bright samba cookin’ along at about 120 bpm. I also sang it in the present tense, using “makes” rather than “made” it seemed more vivid that way somehow. Shirley Granger was the first performer I worked with who did the tune that way and it just stuck. Shirley’s band performed all over Vancouver in the 70’s along with Clive Guard and Gary O’Bray. We played places like the International Plaza, the Cave, and all over Gastown. Shirley had a larger than life pirate-like steel-hulled sailboat with her husband Alex called the Black Eyes, famous for its wild parties. Many a fond memory of Shirley, our gigs together and all the fun in between.
Hurtling from the disco era into the present, Bill and I have been busy creating our latest labour of love. It’s a collection of Twenty Interesting Pieces for the Contemporary Pianist with lots of beauty and character and treasures for the ear. For example, we had just finished one of our new pieces and suddenly found ourselves singing and dancing ‘What a difference a note makes – twenty four little half tones…’all over the living room. Stay tuned for more on these tunes!
Spring starts making her entrance long before the calendar says it’s official and proper to be Spring, eh? It’s undeniable, unstoppable, and the most welcome thing in the world. A signal that maybe the cosmos does care about us, after all. Climate change notwithstanding, is it wrong to enjoy some early warmth in February and March?
Linda Lee Thomas, Principal Pianist of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 1972, was Artistic Director of Masterpiece Music, a hugely successful chamber music series for 17 years. In 2000, she was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame for her outstanding contributions to the industry. Her passion is the music and dance of Argentina - the Tango. She is one of Canada’s foremost tango musicians, performing and recording with Argentine bandoneonists Daniel Binelli and Nestor Marconi and with harmonica sensation Franco Luciani. In her latest recording project, Tango Con Fazioli, Linda Lee is putting together two of her favourite things - Tango and Fazioli pianos. For more information, see www.lindaleethomas.com.
Hurtling from the disco era into the present, Bill and I have been busy creating our latest labour of love. It’s a collection of Twenty Interesting Pieces for the Contemporary Pianist with lots of beauty and character and treasures for the ear. For example, we had just finished one of our new pieces and suddenly found ourselves singing and dancing ‘What a difference a note makes – twenty four little half tones…’all over the living room. Stay tuned for more on these tunes!
Spring starts making her entrance long before the calendar says it’s official and proper to be Spring, eh? It’s undeniable, unstoppable, and the most welcome thing in the world. A signal that maybe the cosmos does care about us, after all. Climate change notwithstanding, is it wrong to enjoy some early warmth in February and March?
Holly Burke Music 