In a momentous week, Andrea Lam‘s new solo album, SAD PIANO will be released by ABC Classic in Australia & New Zealand on 22 November 2024 – listen/stream/purchase the album on the various platforms here.
From internationally acclaimed piano virtuosa Andrea Lam and award-winning Australian composer Matthew Hindson comes an album of intimate, tender music that comes from the heart and goes straight to the heart. Sweetness and sadness, memories and hopes, love and longing embrace one another in the gentle, uplifting resonances of the piano.
‘I started this collection during the Covid-19 lockdown,’ says Hindson, ‘when music making was smashed and the connection between composer, performer and audience wasn’t possible any more. Suddenly, the large symphonic works I was writing seemed irrelevant. I wanted to write intimate music, music directly connecting to our emotions and to other people.’
Pianist Andrea Lam sensed an immediate connection with the pieces. ‘This is very introspective, very intimate music that is, I think, very particular to the piano; almost a confessional journal. Those deepest thoughts you have, when you’re by yourself and you can’t even articulate what you’re thinking. Matthew’s music has a really direct appeal, it’s a very visceral kind of music that has an immediate effect, an immediate impact, which I love.’ The transcendent simplicity of the Hindson’s writing allows Lam to caress each note, letting the piano’s delicate voice speak to our innermost emotions.
Premiered for Sydney Opera House’ International Piano Day Celebrations in 2022, with the film clip for that track (Love) winning the 2023 Australian Cinematographers Society ‘Gold Tripod’ award, each live performance of Hindson’s Sad Piano pieces has been met with warmth, and a sense of familiarity.
Watch the clip for track ‘Love’ here: facebook.com/abc.classic/videos/matthew-hindson-sad-piano-love-performed-by-andrea-lam/
Sad Piano will be released in the rest of the world on Idiom Records (UK) in January 2025. Keep an eye out for more filmclips to come…
Read the full media release with tracklist and artist biographies, here: MR Andrea Lam – Matthew Hindson Sad Piano 22.11.24
Grab a signed copy of the album at the Sad Piano album launch on Wednesday 11 December, 2024, at 6pm, at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music – reserve your complimentary ticket here.