Press Dispensary - March 13, 2008 - For the next six weeks, Harry the Piano ( http://www.harrythepiano.com ), a London-based pianist and veteran of Radio 2 and Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast, is inviting the general public to suggest songs for his next online mash-up, which will last several minutes and combine as many songs as possible, with a £1,000 reward to the first person who can stump him with a combination of two melodies or styles.
Harry the Piano, aka Paul ‘Harry’ Harris, comments: “I’ve spent most of my life collecting throw away songs. If you want Kylie in the style of Rachmaninov - in a pack The Wombles would be proud of - then I’m your man. I don’t just play any old rubbish.”
Harry offers a British alternative to the Wombles mash-up performed last week on BBC’s Newsnight by Venezeulan pianist Gabriela Montero. Harry’s version is frequently improvised in the styles of Mozart and Tchaikovsky, with a bit of The Simpsons for good measure.
Harry says: “The Wombles were probably Britain’s first national symbol of an environmental conscience, so it seemed strange that Newsnight invited a Venezuelan to perform their song, though Newsnight's editor rectified this by adding me to the site. It would have been better for the environment if they’d invited me in: I only live round the corner and could have walked to the studio and back without so much as a carbon toe-print. I think a modern Womble would have preferred that.”
Song suggestions can be submitted online at www.harrythepiano.com until April 25, 2008, when the mash-up will be performed as a live podcast.
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Notes for editors
For further information, please contact:
Paul Harris
Tel: 020 7978 4448 / 07710 456985
Email: thepianist@tiscali.co.uk
Site: www.harrythepiano.com
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