Music

Deanna Witkowski: This is NOT "jazzy Chopin."

• Beautiful
• Authentic
• Fascinating

Update (March 7 at 12:30 pm EST): WE'RE FULLY FUNDED WITH 20 HOURS TO GO! You can STILL contribute until 9:19 am EST tomorrow morning-- as you can see from my budget breakdown below, my expected full budget is $14,500-- so any funds over my (already reached) goal of $7000 will still go to the production and marketing costs for the album.

Audio clips from all 14 tracks on the recording are available at http://deannajazz.com/recordings.shtml

Check out my YouTube playlist featuring original Chopin arrangements at http://bit.ly/xzInl5
I've also added video links to my Chopin videos that correspond specific tracks at the close of this description.

NEW: Great plug from jazz critic Neil Tesser in the Chicago Examiner!

NEW: New reward level! For $75, nine fans will be able to virtually attend a solo piano house concert which will be streamed from my apartment in New York City!

Also, please note that the Cookie Monster meets Chopin video is available as part of the rewards at the $20 level and up (not only at the $20 level!).

Above you'll see a half-improvisation/half what's-on-the-page performance of Chopin's well-loved Nocturne in E-flat major, which will be the first track on the new album. Check out my YouTube playlist for eight more Chopin arrangements- along with my original RocketHub video, where I explain the impetus behind this album (and play some musical snippets).

One of my favorite arrangements on the album brings together Jobim's "Olha Maria" with Chopin's Prelude in C minor. Here it is from a performance at Trinity Wall Street Church in Manhattan.

The audio clip found below features an improvisation on the opening theme of Chopin's Db-major prelude (the "Raindrop").

My musical growing-up:

A classical piano major, I began taking jazz piano lessons my junior year in college. My teacher would often stop me in the middle of an improvised solo and ask if I was listening to the sound I was getting from the instrument. His reminder helped to free me from the concern of what note I might play next and to be more present to my sound.

Now, as a pianist who primarily plays jazz, I often have listeners comment on the vulnerability that I bring to ballads. I believe that this quality comes from the constant desire to be fully present to the sound of whatever piano I am playing. In other words: to be fully present to the present moment.

Why this Chopin project?

This new solo project (that brings together works of Chopin, jazz, and Brazilian repertoire) is a way for me to focus on the beauty of the sound of the piano. I recorded this material on an instrument that allowed me to move in harmonic directions that I had not practiced in advance. In fact, the free improvisations that interweave with the Chopin arrangements were not something I’d planned to record. I often play free to get inside of the sound of whatever piano I am playing, and because my arrangements of the Chopin works are fairly intricate, playing free also reminded me of the sheer beauty in creating sound.

Some of the Chopin I’ve selected comes from my years as a classical piano student. The first track, Chopin’s well-loved Nocturne in E-flat major, is something I studied in sixth grade. Returning to this piece both as an interpreter and an improviser is the closing of a circle. I look back and see the little girl in sixth grade who was so nervous when she competed in a room full of people, that she walked up to the stage with her shoulders jammed up to her ears. As I perform, I am grateful that this little girl continued to pursue the beautiful sound of the piano, the sound that continues to sustain her as an adult, and gives pleasure to others around her.

In September 2011, I flew to Chicago to record this Chopin material on a piano that I feel in love with two years ago while on a midwestern tour. The actual recording and mixing is finished, and the music sounds incredible. Now I’m contacting you to help to get this recording released so that you can hear the results!

Where do you come in?

Listed below is my budget. For whatever level you join as a donor, you will receive various thank you rewards, all of which are listed on the right. I will continue to post new updates here at RocketHub to let you know how the project is progressing.

My goal is to have the physical CDs (and virtual mp3s) in hand by April 15, 2012. This will be just in time for my “Live at Hochstein” solo Chopin concert on May 9, 2012 at the Hochstein Music School in Rochester, New York, which will be broadcast worldwide on the web at wxxi.org.

What's your budget?

•Mastering: $1000
•Mechanical licensing: $1000
•Manufacturing/pressing CDs: $2500
•Graphic design/photography: $2000
•Radio publicity: $3000
•Print publicity: $3000
•Online/social media publicity: $2000

Total budget: $14,500

Goal to raise on Rockethub: $7000

**If I raise more than 100% of my Rockethub goal, I will put those funds towards publicity costs.

I want to join your project! What do I need to do?

Contributing is simple. Just click on the red "Fuel This Project" button at the right and follow the instructions!

If you prefer to pay via check and regular mail, here's what to do:

1. Make your check payable to "RocketHub Inc."

2. Along with your check, please include a note with the following information:

•Your name
•Your email address
•The name of this project (This is NOT "jazzy Chopin.")
•The reward of your choice

3. Send your check to: RocketHub

ATTN: Jed Cohen
40 West 116th Street, Suite B408
New York, NY 10026

What Chopin pieces are on the album?

Here's the list of pieces- all of which I arranged in different ways. Click on individual pieces for a corresponding audio clip or video.


Nocturne in E-flat major (Op 9, No 2)

Prelude in E minor (Op 28, No 4)/How Insensitive (Jobim)

Etude in E-flat minor (Op 28, No 14) in the style of a baião!

Nocturne in E minor (Op 72, No 1)/Manhã de Carnaval (Bonfá)

Nocturne in B major (Op 9, No 3)

Etude in E-flat minor (Op 10, No 6)/You and the Night and the Music (Dietz/Schwartz)

Prelude in C minor (Op 28, No 20)/Olha Maria (Jobim/Buarque/de Moraes)

Prelude in Db major “Raindrop” (Op 28, No 15)

…and six free improvisations, some that are heavily influenced by the Chopin pieces. Here's one of them.

Thanks for taking the time to consider joining my project! I'm super excited about this music and can't wait to share the finished product with you.