Groupmuse is like Airbnb for house classical concerts, matching hosts with musicians. They are intimate, casual, classical concerts enjoyed in living rooms, featuring professional musicians. I've hosted and performed house concerts for decades, so when I first heard about Groupmuse a couple years back, I jumped at the chance to participate. So far, I've performed at five in the San Francisco Bay Area, one in Boston, and I've attended 17 as a guest.
Recently, I was enjoying a Groupmuse in Palo Alto performed by classical guitarist Sebastian Quintero. His program intrigued me, because he was playing the Bach Chaconne, originally written for violin and arranged for guitar by Segovia. I've played the Brahms arrangement of the Chaconne for left hand only, and his performance of this masterpiece was breathtaking.
When he finished, the man next to me on the sofa turned to me and said, are you Lisa Spector? Turns out that he's a blog subscriber and had been eagerly wanting to hear my left hand performance of the Bach Chaconne.
On Saturday night, Feb. 1st, he'll have that opportunity. As luck would have it, I started a conversation with a woman who is a Groupmuse host. She and her partner have a lovely Yamaha Grand in their home in Palo Alto. On Saturday night, Feb. 1, they're hosting their next Groupmuse with me as the performer.
This will be the most I've performed with two hands since my very first Groupmuse in San Francisco in June of 2017, exactly three days before my major hand accident. I still love the left hand repertoire, and combining it with music for two hands gives my right hand a rest when needed. The biggest piece on the program (17 minutes) is the Bach Chaconne arranged by Brahms for left hand. So glad the blog subscriber I met will finally get to hear me play it IRL (in real life).
Attending a Groupmuse is very different from being in a concert hall.
If you've ever been to one of my performances, you understand why I've fallen in love with Groupmuse. I've been performing this way for years. (Well, I do love to dress up, but the rest of it is so me.)
I hope you can join us on February 1. You can RSVP with a quick click for the limited seating Groupmuse. (It is a living room.)
UPDATE: As of 1/24/20, the Groupmuse is now full, but you can join the waitlist by clicking the link below.
And, if you're a blog subscriber (email list sign up below), let me know in a comment if you have any particular music you'd like me to play in a future performance. Who knows? That might just happen IRL too!
LOVE how you differentiate the difference between the groupmuse and concert hall experiences. Makes it so inviting for someone like me, to know what’s expected and how I can show up and have a good time! Thank you so much!
Thanks Teresa. I really can’t say enough good things about Groupmuse. I’ve also been very impressed with the high caliber of musicians, and I’m pretty selective. Hope you can make it on Feb. 1.