news & tidbits
A new remix!
Wow, talk about high emotions! A composition that I wrote for my mother after she died in 2016 has been made into a remix.
A Waltz in the Parallel Universe, a track from my first album Journeys Inside My Piano, has been remixed by the Paris-based producer Corentin Lebon.
This remix was used in an Amazon Prime documentary that I presented, The Art of Travel. I played my composition on a piano on the Orient Express and Corentin later remixed it for the end of the documentary.
The cover photo shows my late mum, Noelle, dancing with one of her boyfriends when she was a teenager. I hope she enjoys dancing to this new remix way up there in the sky.
Previous Posts
New remixes!
Some compositions from my first album, Journeys Inside My Piano, have been made into remixes! It's a big thank you to London-based producer Andres Mesa, who has done an amazing job remixing seven tracks, which have been brought together for a new album, Sonic Stopovers (Beats in London Remixes).
The tracks - A Moment of Clarity, I Refuse, A Man in His Forties, Resisting, Sunnyview Road, Insolvent City and Return to Acadia - were mastered by sound engineer Alex Gordon at none other than Abbey Road Studios in London! How awesome is that?
The other incredible thing about the remixes is that they are also available in Dolby Atmos. Apple Music is one of the streaming sites that now provide this option, so don't hesitate to try this out if you have a good theatre-sound set-up or AirPods. I hope you enjoy the album!
A new album!
I’m very proud to announce the birth of my new child! Well, actually, five new babies! That’s right, five new musical creations came into the world on a luscious Steinway B211 in Sonnay, south of Lyon. A big thank you to studio engineer Frédéric Finand and post-production engineer Andres Mesa.
Reverie Becomes Us (An Existence in Five Movements) was created to coincide with the publication of the latest book by Lyon-based dream and hypnosis therapist Olivier Cochet. Readers are able to listen to the music by scanning a QR code in the book, as they explore different exercises.
The 45-minute album is now available on streaming platforms and it can be downloaded here on this site. The extended tracks in this five-part work include: A Life Awoken by a Dream; Telegrams from My Future Self; Reverie Becomes Us (the title track); Conversations with the Nine-Year-Old Me; and The Memories of What I’m yet to Become.
A new single!
My new piano piece, A Weekend of 40 Years, is now live on streaming platforms including Spotify, Deezer, YouTube, Napster, Tidal, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc. You can find all the links here.
The track can also be purchased and downloaded here.
The composition was written for the 40th wedding anniversary of dear friends, Evelyne and Luc Vendittelli, in 2021. Funny how a weekend can turn into a lifetime!
The piece was recorded on a beautiful Steinway B211 in the Oreilles Délicates studios in Sonnay. Thanks to sound engineer Frédéric Finand for the recording, mixing and mastering.
Tell me what you think! Leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
We have a remix!
It is such a pleasure to share with you a remix of the first track on my album Journeys Inside My Piano.
A Moment of Clarity (Beats in London Remix) was produced by the wonderful Andres Mesa in London and mastered by engineer Paul Hird in California.
You can listen on streaming platforms and the track is also available to be downloaded as an audio file.
Tell me what you think! Leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
Concert for album launch
I was due to hold a concert to mark the launch of my album in December 2020, in the beautiful Salle Molière in Lyon. But unfortunately this has had to be postponed due to new COVID restrictions announced by the French government. Thanks to all of those who reserved or showed interest in coming; I will let you know when we have a new date. I can't wait to perform my compositions for you in person!
Postponed due to
COVID
I was also due to give another follow-up concert on the 10th of January, 2021, in the historic village of Vaugneray, about 20 kilometres west of Lyon.
But unfortunately this has also been postponed due to the COVID situation in France. I will keep you posted about a new date.
The concert was seen as the second part of the Molière concert, as part of the Musical Sundays series at the Théâtre Le Griffon, Rue de la Déserte, Vaugneray.
I hope to see you for one of my concerts when the sanitary situation is better!
The sheet music
This was almost as exciting as when I first received the CD & vinyls of my first album! I’m in the process of producing sheet music for all of my pieces, thanks to a wonderful team of transcribers I found in Barcelona, My Sheet Music Transcriptions.
The first ten pieces of my first album Journeys Inside My Piano - A Moment of Clarity; I Refuse; A Waltz in the Parallel Universe; The Siren of Absence; A Man in His Forties; Sunnyview Road; Song for Sunglim; An Irish Boy; The Marionettes; and Resisting - now have new life on paper. Ten down, 14 to go! Check out the 'Buy My Album' page to purchase the sheet music, which is being sold individually. But eventually there will be collections of the complete albums in books of sheet music.
I am also producing the sheet music of more recent pieces, including the five tracks on the album Reverie Becomes Us. The first piece, A Life Awoken by a Dream, is already available.
So the big question is: who will be the first person to play one of my pieces? That will be an amazing moment, to hear my music coming through someone else’s fingers!
The recording of my first album
The album was recorded over a couple of days at Studio Alys in Manteyer - near Gap in southeastern France - in July 2019.
The sound engineer was Pascal Perrot (editing, mixing and mastering) and the grand piano I played on was a Bechstein A228 (2m28).
The stories behind the compositions
"A Moment of Clarity"
Written for the play '4.48 Psychose' by Sarah Kane, performed in Lyon in January 2015. The play is about the days leading up to the suicide of a young woman. My composition is about the clarity we all need to cope with life, when we reach turning points, when vital decisions are made, for better or worse.
"I Refuse"
Composed for another
version of the play,
performed in Lyon a year later.
The piece imagines the rejection of those things that cause us pain.
"A Waltz in the Parallel Universe"
Written for my mother who passed away in December 2016.
Also dedicated to all the other loved ones we said goodbye to in a short space of time: Gilbert, Geoff, Trish, Bev, Kerry, Doreen, Liam. It's easier to imagine them dancing somewhere.
"Resisting"
The theme I wrote for a play about World War II resistance fighters in France, performed in Lyon in 2017. Based on the true story of a 'résistante' who was forced to seek refuge in a brothel.
"Song for Sunglim"
A composition I dedicated to Sunglim, a wonderful woman I worked with in Seoul, South Korea, in 2010. The piece was also used in the play 'Soleil', written by Sébastien Joly, and performed in Lyon in 2011.
"Yesteryear Sonata"
Composed in 2013 and used a year later in a play about Dorian Gray. Also titled 'Dorian's Lullaby'. It's about the big realisation that often only comes later in life: that we didn't take the time to really savour life's best moments.
"A Man in His Forties"
One of the themes completed for a 2019 performance of poetry and piano music I took part in. It's about the refining of our ideas, our outlook, our priorities and our dreams when we reach a certain age.
"The Marionettes"
Another composition completed for this performance. The piece explores the universal question: are we living our own lives or are we letting someone else 'pull our strings'? This was originally written for a school play directed by Evelyn Vendittelli and performed in Vaugneray.
"Erin's Prelude"
Based on a simple composition I wrote sometime between the age of nine and 12 in New Zealand. Erin was my original name. This full, expanded version was written for the play 'Une Histoire Cent Fins', performed in 2019.
"An Irish Boy"
A composition inspired by the story of my father, leaving Ireland as a teenager to fight in WWII. It was later dedicated to Daniel, the son of my cousin Maeve and her husband Dermot.
"Roma Sunrise"
Dedicated to the Roma community, who fight discrimination on a daily basis.
This was written after making a small documentary about the challenges
they face in Europe.
"Return to Acadia"
Composed after a visit to
Quebec and New Brunswick in 2009.
Acadia was the name of the colony of
'New France' in North America.
The piece includes a theme earlier used in
a short film directed by Matteo Minetto:
'The Sunday Crossword'.
"The Siren of Absence"
Written in New Zealand
when I was aged about 18 or 19.
Dedicated to all of those who are
separated from loved ones, or who yearn
for places and imagine special moments
that are out of reach.
"Insolvent City"
Written in 2008 and later used in a short documentary, 'Under', directed by Nuno Prudencio Pereira. This is the sound if you halt the bustle, the noise, the chaos,
the panic, the pain or the fear.
"The Path Not Chosen"
Written in Bristol in 1995, for all those who like to imagine where they might be if they hadn't taken a certain path.
The thank yous
"The Colour of Time"
Written in 1994 after my first ever visit to Ireland; the feeling of getting in touch with our roots/ancestry, the sense that everything is familiar.
"Sunnyview Road"
Written in 2019, especially for the new album. Sunnyview Road was where my family lived when I was a toddler, before
everything was turned upside down.
Here's the full 'thank yous' text that appears on the inside cover of the CD and vinyl record ...
My logo
The logo for Seamus Kearney Piano is based on a tattoo I designed and had done on my right arm in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2018.
My musical side is combined with the traditional Maori art of New Zealand.
The logo is used for the CD tray and is also the feature on the third page of the vinyl record cover.
The spiral with a red background signifies constant renewal, with the three treble clefs representing the past, the present and the future. Constant renewal through music!
There are a total of eight turns in the clef, signifying my position as the eighth of nine children in my family.
The album design
The design of the album cover is my own work, including the painting, images and photos. The idea for the cover was to have a mix between the imaginary (the painted piano) and reality (the flowers). This is reversed for the back cover (a real piano and painted flowers). The cover was created and photographed at the country house of friends, Evelyne & Luc, using watercolours and things I found in their garden.
Thanks to Jérôme at Studios7emeCiel in Paris for the checking & finalisation of the layout and the overall production of the CD and vinyls.
