Today, we take a behind-the-scenes look at two unsung heroes of the music world: piano page-turners and opera prompters. Find out why soloists and opera singers would be nowhere without these crucial helping hands. Also: singer-songwriter Vienna Teng plays live in our studio.
Guests:
Vienna TengIt's More than just Turning Pages
Page turners are an indispensable part of a piano recital – the professionals who read the music right along with the soloist, keeping the beat and turning pages several measures before the music on the page runs out. As we hear today, the job is simple but relentless and occasionally ...
Those who Cue the Divas
Prompters are an opera singer’s best friend. We hear about the individuals who sit in a little booth in front of the stage to help singers when they forget a line or note during a performance. Joining us is James Johnson, who is the associate conductor and a prompter at ...
Vienna Teng
A few years ago, singer-songwriter Vienna Teng exchanged a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley for a music career. She is now releasing her fourth album and will join us to play some “chamber-folk” live in our studio.
Turn the page - if you dare
You've probably never given a second thought to the page-turner sitting or standing unobtrusively behind the pianist at a concert - and that's the way it should be. Page-turners, and their opera counterparts, the prompters, are like offensive linemen in football: you only notice them when they do something wrong. Their job is to be invisible, and to enable the star to do his/her job, whether that's negotiating a long and difficult sonata, or surviving the murderous charge of a 300-pound linebacker clad in hard plastic armor.