Anderson & Roe at LaSells Center in Corvallis, Oregon

Anderson & Roe talking about
the music they would play.
Anderson & Roe energized LaSells Stewart Center in Corvallis, Oregon Sunday, April 6, 2014, with their piano duo. Their performance vibrated the very souls of those in attendance. When I attend concerts like the one Anderson & Roe performed last night, my soul longs to be musically inclined. I listen and enjoy but don't understand music the way I sometimes wish I did. I rarely recognize tunes from the notes being played. I can never explain to someone else why certain music resonates with me in anything coming close sounding musically talented. I have friends who can compare performances and give you nuanced reasons why something works and something else doesn't. Music like Anderson & Roe's makes my heart ache for such a connection to music. They play with such an effortless ease and energy the listener, the listener
can't help but feel inspired. 

They introduced the pieces they played and described a bit about their interpretations of each. 

Anderson reading a poem.
Roe preparing to play
They even read poetry before each set in their opening performance of Rachmaninoff, which they played on separate pianos facing one another. They moved into a portion of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, which they played on the same piano sharing space and reaching over and around one another. They finished out the first half of the performance playing Libertango by Astor Piazolla/Anderson & Roe on the same piano. I loved that they described this piece as being like a dancing a tango, and even invited the audience to dance the tango in the aisles. I smiled wondering if anyone ever has taken them up on that offer. The music certainly had my foot tapping, but I wasn't tempted to jump up and start dancing...

When they came back from intermission, they had changed clothes. The audience reacted to this unexpected occurrence with applause, which I found amusing. Still, it's not often you see a clothes change during a piano concert.

They started the second half of the performance with an interpretation of Mozart's work.They played these three pieces starting on one piano and moving to separate pianos for the second two pieces. They moved on to a an interpretation of a the Christoph Willibald Gluck ballet, Orphee et Eurydice, that grabbed the imagination and held on tight. They played this piece on the same piano again. For the final piece, they played an interpretation of the opera, Carmen, that condensed all the emotion of Carmen into thirteen roller coaster ride minutes.

Anderson & Roe meeting with fans.
Two encores held the audience enthralled as the second one ended the performance with Michael Jackson's Billie Jean.

After the two hour performance, they met with fans in the lobby for a while.

The energy of this performance made me want to seek out more of their work. Luckily, they have a website and a YouTube channel!

I hope Anderson & Roe continue to bring their vibrance and talent to the musical scene for many more years to come. Their interpretations of classical music invigorate and inspire as did their performance at LaSells Stewart Center.

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