Review Round-Up

Since our last Review Round-Up we've performed all over the globe, from a world heritage temple in Kyoto, Japan to breathtaking cities (10!) across New Zealand. Highlights include a sold-out Kennedy Center debut, an appearance on Performance Today with Fred Child, working with the talented young students of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, and—perhaps most notably—winning Club Cumming's illustrious Yaaaaaaas Award. 😉

The reviews are in!:

Washington Post:

Dazzling… transcendental… While each is a virtuoso powerhouse pianist in his and her own right, what sets the pair apart is an ability to make emotional and spiritual connections with their audiences.

The Press (Christchurch):

I am struggling for superlatives to describe what was an outstanding evening's entertainment, a smorgasbord of dazzling pianistic virtuosity, musicianship and stagecraft, all bundled up in an irresistible package by two dynamic young performers.

Performance Today:

[Anderson & Roe] have redefined what is possible for a piano duo. They have not just totally assured technical chops, but also a flair for dramatic storytelling both musically and visually.

The Wave:

Listening to their recordings you would assume that the music has been edited with layer upon layer of different tracks, but it’s hasn’t. Only by seeing them live in performance can you fully appreciate the extent of the attention to detail these two performers have put into their arrangements. In fact, it feels like you are witnessing an entire orchestra.

DMSReviewBlog:

Elizabeth Joy Roe and Greg Anderson took the stage and proceeded to stomp, clap, slap and play their piano beasts like lion tamers. Their videos are visually interesting and exciting, but it didn’t prepare me with the phenomenon of their live performance.

Hartford Courant:

Passionate intensity! Anderson & Roe were given wave after wave of enthusiastic applause, and the evening felt young and inspired.

DCMetroArts:

[Anderson & Roe] follow no template other than their own inspiration.

Mamanawatu Standard:

If you were looking for an ensemble that could bring the world of chamber music to a new and younger audience, you couldn't ask for much more than that which Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe offered at the Globe.

Classical Sonoma:

Dynamic and mesmerizing... stunning! The full hall went crazy with stomping and yelling and clapping for more.

Otago Daily News:

A full house at the Glenroy Auditorium was blown away by the sheer virtuosity and rapturous engagement with the music exhibited by pianists Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe.

New Zealand Herald:

[Anderson & Roe are] keenly aware of maximizing the impact of the concert experience.

Middle C:

…a compelling and invigorating mix of gravitas and glitter! [Anderson & Roe] throw themselves entirely into each piece, [making] sure the concert was primarily about the music, rather than about them. Spell-binding… sensuous! There were several encores afterwards, which had the audience clapping and bravo-ing for more, the pair generous in response, and leaving us replete with a sense of occasion.

Noted:

Anderson and Roe are a supercharged and virtuosic duo. Their performance style is highly theatrical, with an intense, almost erotic involvement between them.

GoldStar:

Fun, sexy, exciting… fiery rock ‘n’ roll showmanship...

Vail Daily:

[With Anderson & Roe], nothing is off limits.

Up next: concerto appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Vancouver Symphony!

🎥 Loving the process 🎬

The New Music • New Video composition competition is underway and our imaginations are in full gear. Playing through your submissions so far has been nothing short of inspiring. We're so eager to see what you come up with next! As a reminder, the deadline for submissions is September 1, 2018, so get your composing engines running and let us see what you can do. 

In addition to learning and performing the winning submission, we're excited to create the music video with the input of the winning composer. Our music videos, which started as a fun side project over a decade ago, have become an integral part of our creative expression as artists. From the very beginning, our videos have been completely self-produced, something a lot of viewers don't seem to notice. We initially didn’t have the funds to hire a professional film crew, so we thought we might as well go ahead and make music videos on our own. To this day, we jointly contribute to the vision/concept, narrative, production, and filming. Greg assembles the footage using Adobe Premiere and After Effects, and we refine and finalize the video together. At this point, we're practically a full-blown production company, and we're looking forward to sharing our skills and resources with an up-and-coming composer.

Watch our 5-minute excerpt from "Chronicles of the Rite" below to get a taste of our approach to filmmaking:

The wait is OVER!

Keeping this under wraps has been a challenge, but we've finally been given the green light to tell you all about our new album, MOTHER: a musical tribute. Listen now to an exclusive pre-release track on Apple Music ("What a Wonderful World") and pre-order the full album on Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon!

Queens and saints, homemakers and lawmakers, scientists and artists, goddesses and mortals—mothers are powerful muses. Inspired by their rich complexity, we sought to utilize our full creative potential as arrangers and interpreters in musical compositions that celebrate the full spectrum of motherhood, from the sacred (“Ave Maria”) to the saucy (“Mrs. Robinson”), and everything in between. We've also been hard at work preparing several music videos featuring tracks from the album, including music by Puccini, Rachmaninoff, the Beatles, and more!

We are in constant awe of the mothers in our lives. You are forces of nature and nurturing, guidance and inspiration, patience and strength, and above all, love: profound, fierce, and unconditional. Your dedication, generosity, resilience, spirit, and wisdom is endlessly inspiring and you have been truly magnificent muses. Thank you! This one's for you. ❤️

MOTHER: a musical tribute is now available to pre-order on Amazon, Apple Music, and iTunes. Our version of "What a Wonderful World" (an ode to the beauty mothers bring to our lives and the glories of Mother Nature) is available to stream now on Apple Music.

Kennedy Center: Before and After

Before our recent Kennedy Center debut, we sat down for an in-depth interview with David Rohde for DC Metro Theater Arts. His excellent article is worth a read.

For the performance itself, we juxtaposed the scandalous with the sublime. We began with three over-the-top fantasies based on operas by Mozart, Bizet, and Adés; each provided a snapshot of the corruption, power dynamics, and sexual abuse we still find in our world today. The second half featured transcendent music by John Adams and the Beatles, as well our new Hallelujah Variations... in a way, it was our personal (and frustrated) response to the political landscape of our times.

After the recital, we were thrilled to receive a fantastic review in the Washington Post!

“While each is a virtuosic powerhouse pianist in his and her own right, what sets the pair apart is an ability to make emotional and spiritual connections with their audiences.”

— Washington Post

Up next: we're giving the world premiere of our Carmen Fantasy for Two Pianos and Orchestra with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, in addition to performances of Poulenc's Double Concerto. After that, a fun salon-style cocktail concert and performances of Mozart's Double Concerto with the Missoula Symphony. And finally we're off to New Zealand for a 10-city tour.

We're blown away!

Entries for our New Music • New Video composition competition have started off strong!

We love that so many of you have responded our call for new, innovative music for piano duo and that you're pushing yourselves to your creative limits. From fun pop-inspired showpieces to dramatic classical works, the breadth of styles represented is impressive and inspiring!

Over the coming months we'll be sharing competition news, behind-the-scenes looks at our most recent video shoots, and more. We hope the glimpse into our creative process will motivate and inspire those of you who have yet to enter. 

We've pushed back the submission deadline to September 1, 2018 so you all have more time to dig deep and show us what you've got!