A few months ago, I was hired to do my first performance of Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire.    I was thrilled; not only because it’s for the 100th anniversary of the premiere of the piece, but also because a few months earlier I had been making goals for myself and decided that before my death, a performance of Pierrot was mandatory.  (For anyone who cares or who hires, my other pre-death musical achievements will be: Strauss’ Four Last Songs, Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder – both with orchestra – Ellen Orford, and maybe just one Juliette before I’m too old and wizened to be remotely believable.)

Well, be careful what you wish for.  When Dave Pay at the Music on Main series in Vancouver hired me, I did a happy dance, then immediately ordered the music.  When it arrived, I dutifully set it on top of the piano and didn’t open it for weeks.  I was intimidated, terrified and absolutely positive that I’d never be able to pull it off.  It’s a huge undertaking and it has been performed so wonderfully by so many people that it feels a little silly to offer my humble, uneducated performance of this piece that has stretched the limits of music, performers and audiences around the world.

So, here I sit with books on the topic, a score that is already looking worn and is sure to look far more so by October, my trusty metronome, a few recordings and a film version that I’m hoping will help.  As I learn things, I will do my best to write them here (while the toddler naps?) in the hopes that they will clarify my own thoughts and maybe inspire a few readers to take the plunge and listen to this incredible piece.