Last minute concerto

for piano and orchestra (2003), 1’

What can you possibly do after playing concert exclusively devoted to minute-long pieces all over the globe? This is a question I’ve posed to Guy Livingston who has performed my Last Minute Tango alongside 59 other compositions in more countries around the world than any other work of mine has ever been heard live. Clearly the next step is to coral an orchestra into performing a Last Minute Concerto, which is what this piece is. Based on the same material as the solo piano Last Minute Tango, the orchestra parts (which are each a single page) are designed to sound spot on in a sight reading while the piano part shows off the virtuosity of the soloist. I imagine Guy, or any other equally provocative pianist, spontaneously going up to an orchestra, handing the players their parts, and jumping up on stage to join them in a performance. It’s clearly a different world from the one we currently live in as far as planning orchestra performances go, but wouldn’t such a world be more fun?