Piano with Randy K.

Biography Randy is an accomplished pianist, composer, record producer, music educator. Randy has been awarded the Simons Public Humanities Fellowship at the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas for the 2011-2012 academic year. He is the recipient of the 2009 BMI Foundation Jerry Harrington Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Musical Theatre. His song cycle, Lineage won the 2009 CAP Grant sponsored by the American Music Center. He is the winner of four Southern Regional Emmy Awards: 1996 - for the original score to the 90 minute film-documentary titled Richard Wright (Black Boy) PPS/BBC. He won the 1998, 1999 and 2002 Southern Regional Emmy Awards in the category of "Outstanding Collaborative Achievement for Composer" for his work on Ticktock Minutes (PBS). Ticktock Minutes is the winner of the 1999 National Emmy Award for Best Public Service Announcement. He has been nominated for a 1998 and 2010 Jerry Boch Award for his theater composition. He is the winner of the USA Songwriting Competition 2005 in the Jazz category and top two in the overall category for his composition “Data”. He is the winner of gold records for songs recorded by Polydor recording artist Millie Jackson, and composed and produced the dance hit "Watch The Closing Doors" for the RCA group IRT. He has had songs recorded by Candy Staton, Sarah Dash (formerly of LaBelle), the rap group Black Sheep, Memphis Bleak, and Sesame Street. As a pianist, he performs in various ensembles including: Two Duos, Solo Improvised Piano, and a quintet. He has performed at venues such as Birdland, Klavierhaus, Trumpets, and the historic Union of Composers Club (Moscow). Randy’s music has also been featured at many Jazz and music conventions in Chicago, New York and at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston. Randy ’s improvisation project, Two Duos received rave reviews for the releases of the CD Sunday Morning, May 2010, featuring trombonist Chris Washburne and Russian saxophonist Oleg Kireyev performing with Randy on piano. The duos are sensitive duets designed to feature each of these esteemed soloists. Composed specifically for each performer, the project continues to expand to include other great improvising soloists. The new Two Duos release titled, What’s Next?, October 2012, features Grammy winning bassist, Boris Kozlov and rock/jazz guitarist, Alex Skolnick and has already started to receive excellent reviews. His solo improvised piano recordings include: Randy's Jazzheads (Jazzheads), Underground Romantic (Jazzheads), Just My Imagination (Slider Music) and Love Notes From The Bass (Jazzheads), Broadway Remembers (Main Street Productions), How Sweet It Is, Rock-A-Bye Baby (Rock Candy Music), Invitation In (Jazzheads), Piano Christmas (Jazzheads) and The Flowing (Jazzheads). He is the composer of For My People, a song cycle featuring the poetry of American author, Margaret Walker. For My People was featured at the Furious Flower Poetry Festival at James Madison University and the University of Kansas. The music premiere of the renowned poem by Margaret Walker ‘For My People’ was April 2, 2011 at James Madison University, Va, with a 52 voice chorale. His documentary film scores include: National Emmy winner Free To Dance (PBS Great Performances) and National Emmy winner Beyond Tara – The Extraordinary Life Of Hattie McDaniel (American Movie Classics) and Richard Wright – Black Boy (PBS/BBC production). His music can be heard at the Burial Ground Museum in lower Manhattan and at the Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, NC. His musical theater works include Move!, a dance musical commissioned by the Royal Theatre Carre', Amsterdam (premiered April, 1992); I Don't Do Club Dates, staged reading at the Victory Theater September, 1991 by the National Musical Theater Network and at the John Harms Center for the Arts, Englewood, NJ, January 1994; and Capture The Moon, based on the Eastern European folklore stories of the Wise Men of Chelm. In 1989, I Don't Do Club Dates earned Randy a BMI Foundation grant for artistic promise in theater composition; Falling Apart, a chamber musical utilizing elements of both musical theater and the jazz concert; Bucky And His Friends, a full-length contemporary vaudeville show for stage, video and CD; Flambe’ Dreams (formerly) The Thing About Joe, an original musical about a man who dreams of becoming a great maitre'd. Flambe Dreams has been performed in readings and workshops from 2006-present at: 2012 New York Theatre Festival (NYMF), The BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, BMI Showcase , Musical Mondays at the Jerry Orbach Theatre, TRU readings , Groundup Productions, and The York Theatre. He is a long time member of the advanced BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, The Dramatists Guild, NARAS and an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music in Boston and a music educator conducting clinics on various elements of music and the business of music to universities.  Randy is an exclusive Steinway artist. *** Lesson Details *** Music, regardless of instrument you are playing, is a cumulative art form, 'what you learn from the piece you are playing is what you bring to the next piece you play. I give honest, clear and concise evaluations. I am by nature a cheerleader and encouraging. I really want you to learn and to become a great musician/player. My years of experience give me an objective point of view toward the craft and helping you with your music. I very much enjoy working with students of all levels. And most important, my love for the process is what I share with you. Lessons are very much geared to the student I am teaching. I work on short term goals with the idea that they will evolve into long term playing. I develop a reasonable and achievable plan that works with the idea that I want each of my students to enjoy the music they are able to produce. I work on developing a student player's ear. I work on connecting the ear to the hand. The method works and you immediately connect to your playing. When this happens you will be playing your music with your voice. My in studio lessons are taught on a 1904 Steinway. *** Studio Equipment *** Finale, Logic Audio, Electric Piano, Steinway Grand *** Travel Equipment *** n/a *** Specialties *** Even though I am adept at teaching professional musicians, I have a wonderful approach and great ability to teach beginners. Everyone is capable of learning music. 10 Teaching Techniques 1. I have extreme patience 2. I compliment skills and playing as they are learned. 3. Even if the student hasn't played a note during the span of two lessons, I get them to play and connect to the instrument during the lesson. 4. I encourage the student to sing what they play. And, play what they hear. 5. I work with a student on sight-reading. 6. I demonstrate playing without showing off. 7. I try to get an explicit understanding the level of every student 8. I always explain what the result of an exercise will be. I explain that music is learned in a cumulative manner. 9. I encourage a student to think about their hands and how they move. 10. I encourage a student to think about the music away from the piano.