Photo by Judy Mangeng -- Lore Constantine.
Piano Expressions, the second CD release by Cherry Hill composer/musician Lore Constantine continues the theme she established with her 2007 debut release, Piano Impressions.
“This is the music that personally speaks to me,” said Constantine, who performs at various venues in New Jersey and the Philadelphia-metro area. Constantine, originally from Dillsburg, Pa., in northern York County, is the daughter of a retired Lutheran pastor. Both Constantine and her brother, Dr. Jeffrey Greiman, a classical pianist living and working in Vienna, Austria, were exposed to a variety of musical influences while growing up in the small rural community, south of Harrisburg.
“I always wanted to study music,” said Constantine. “I thought I’d go to college, get a bachelors degree in music, then go on to get a masters. When I finished my master’s, I discovered that I didn’t want to on to do the doctorate thing.”
Constantine is equally adept with both the piano and flute. She has performed throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, including appearances at music and arts festivals and universities. Constantine, on keyboard, has performed in bands with Joe Frazier and Michael Averone in Atlantic City, New York City and the Mohegan Sun Casino, Conn.
Constantine is a member of Musicians on Call, a nonprofit organization formed in 1999, which brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. She also teaches piano and flute at her Cherry Hill studio.
Her latest release, Piano Expressions features 14 solo piano tracks and features a broad range of music, mostly performed in a New Orleans jazz style, with smatterings of blues and classical influences.
Two of the works are original pieces by Constantine. The remaining selections showcase Constantine’s unique arrangement of rock classics by Lyle Lovett, James Brooker, The Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and others.
Constantine said her music reflects her classical training and is influenced by 20th Century avant-garde composer, John Milton Cage. Jazz and blues are hallmarks of her style and act as an anchor for her renditions of music by some of rock and roll's icons.
The CD begins with Constantine’s interpretation of Lovett’s classic ballad, “She’s No Lady.” Soulful moments, sometimes times mixed with funky blues, infuse her rendition of “Black Peter” by The Grateful Dead. With skill and sensitivity, Constantine transforms the large, orchestral music of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” into an intimate, personal experience. Her handling of “New York City Serenade” by Bruce Springsteen and her handling of “Norwegian Woods” by The Beatles showcase her deep, almost philosophic, personal connection to the music.
Constantine’s musical quest was interrupted by doubts about her destiny and the direction her life had taken. For several years, she worked jobs far removed from music, such as the position she held with Ernst & Young, an international accounting firm.
During that time, she met her husband, John, a surveyor, who lived his summer weekends, during his youth, at the Music Pier, in Atlantic City, listening to rock and roll legends. Their shared love of rock and roll, jazz and the blues was one factor that made Constantine's spirit restless to return to music.
“I really didn’t find what was right for me,” Constantine said. “Then, one summer, I thought I’d give this music thing a try. I started making the right choices about what I was supposed to do.”
Constantine has received radio airplay by David Gans on his live California radio show “Dead to the World” and has been featured by Peter North on his show “Dead Ends and Detours” at CKUA, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She has also been featured by Chuck Elliott on “Sleepy Hollow”, WXPN, Philadelphia. Her latest release was immediately awarded with airplay on WXPN.
For more info:
www.loreconstantine.com
www.loreconstantine.com/music.html
www.loreconstantine.com/calendar.html
www.loreconstantine.com/products.html
www.loreconstantine.com/links.html
mainlypiano.com
www.musiciansoncall.org
www.loreconstantine.com
www.loreconstantine.com/music.html
www.loreconstantine.com/calendar.html
www.loreconstantine.com/products.html
www.loreconstantine.com/links.html
mainlypiano.com
www.musiciansoncall.org
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