Brian Crain - At the Ivy Gate

Brian Crain Moonlit Shore

Wind - Brian Crain

I feel very thankful and fortunate to have had a truly amazing summer in 2014.  I visited no fewer than seven counties between July and August.  I witnessed so many amazing things in Romania, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and Iceland. I spent quality time, working, playing, and planning for the future with close friends and colleagues. I met and befriended many new and truly wonderful people whom I now consider close friends.

I was asked many times both by friends and family in the US, as well as the local people in the various cities I was in, what I thought about all the various political instability in the world today.  The questions invariably centered around something to the effect of "Aren't you worried/concerned/afraid to be traveling at the moment?"

My standard answer, which I became quite practiced in reciting, was:  I think that if some alien species which did not speak any human language came to Earth and visited New York, Washington DC, Bucharest, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn, Copenhagen, and Reykjavik it would have a very hard time telling us all apart.  Despite our small cultural differences, people everywhere generally want the same things.  We all look quite similar when we smile and laugh as well as when we cry.

It is said,  everybody loves something, is afraid of something, has lost something, and is looking to find something.  Which will you focus on?  Will you give love unconditionally, or will you help create fear in effort to mask your own?  Will you help yourself and others get lost, or will you try your best to find something of true value and meaning?  Will you focus on artificial divisions and all the reasons why you think you can not do something, or will you open the borders of your heart to new experiences and opportunities for growth? The choice is yours.  It is all of ours.



A deep and humble thanks to everyone in Romania, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, and Iceland for sharing part of your lives and wonderful culture with me.  The memories will last a lifetime and have already become a formative experience to my creative process.  Thank you!

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"Autumn Rains" is the second installment in a trio of neoclassical solo piano albums composed, performed, and produced by Andrew Souter. These projects have been two decades in the making and represent a return to traditional music composition, engaging song-writing, and the pure passion of emotional story-telling. This trio represents Andrew's most personal and intimate music. It is quite literally a love project. We hope it may help you on your journey, as it has us...

"Autumn Rains" is music inspired by the spirit of Agape. It is an album dedicated to the concept of spiritual love and universal compassion clothed in the metaphor of transcendental natural beauty. It is an album that simultaneously expresses deep love for both the creator as well as the creation. It is said God gave us music so that we could pray without words. It could be added that nature was provided as an example of exactly how to do this effectively. In this spirit, Autumn Rains is a prayer of gratitude for the opportunity to learn from the natural beauty of this world, and an expression of a sense of respect for the inescapable universal equality that nature imposes. It humbly attempts to capture deep feelings of awe, granduer, idealism, and a belief in the innate goodness of the world even when we all face exceptionally hard lessons.


Andrew Souter -- Without Borders

My favorite Piano Concerto..youtube.com/watch?v=Y1tkY_FmWDA

Concerto for Piano #9

* Snowfall in Paris* is a romantic piano solo piece. 



Schneefall  In Paris

Me on my YamahaDGX-670 keyboard with the reverb turned up

Use this in film

Elusive

Some of the songs are featuring Cello & Piano others just fir the new age piano category. I'll keep updating as I go along. This entire set is by Brian Crain except the last two. Those are by Phillip Wesley

Go here to listen to even more of his songs and albums and I can get the song for you. Most of them I already got though.

http://www.briancrain.com/newpages/PCDuet1.html


Brian Crain - Song For Sienna

From the award winning release, The Piano, Nocturne in A Minor is an original composition by Steinway artist, Chad Lawson.

Nocturne in A Minor

I hope you enjoy this re-made and extended version of a track I produced last year.  

This track is part of the album "Beyond the Horizon" by Ed Haydon & Alexander Hallberg and is available to buy from iTunes... https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/beyond-the-horizon/id669200648

You can also check out the video here...http://vimeo.com/69757892

Many thanks to Alf Pilz for creating such wonderful effects; the magic world of freezing water, growing and disappearing raw frost, amazing crystal diversity and enchanting twilight situations.


Faded Memories

I've created this page just to show my support and spread the word about this very talented and creative pianist. 

Brian was born in Hollywood, California. He has been composing music as long as he can remember. Family members tell him that when he was very young he began whistling nearly all the time. When someone would ask what he was whistling, Brian would usually answer something like, "I don't know. I just made it up."

He was only six years old when his parents bought a baby grand piano, thinking that Brian's musical talents could use a more polished medium. But Brian continued to whistle his songs. He was not drawn to the keyboard.

When he was ten years old, Brian began taking piano lessons, but he soon became bored with the lessons. Besides, the piano took time away from his new passion, baseball. So he gave up the piano. His need to compose, however, would not be stopped. His friends would often hear him whistling his newest compositions during practice or games on the baseball diamond. At this young age, Brian was dreaming of becoming a professional baseball player while whistling his own songs.

When Brian was fifteen years old he began editing award-winning educational films. While he was still a teenager, he began doing sound on Hollywood films. At nineteen years of age, he built his own sound studio to complete the first feature-length film in Hollywood to be finished in R-DAT digital audio. Some of his technical innovations in post-production sound became standard Hollywood practice.

During this time Brian would occasionally sit down at that nearly forgotten piano. He would improvise at the keyboard, just as he had always improvised with his whistling, playing with the notes until something started sounding just right. He was, without realizing it, teaching himself to play the piano.

Also without intending to do it, Brian was training himself to compose at the piano. By his early twenties, he was composing songs for award-winning children's films. He was also still nurturing his dream of playing professional baseball, but after unsuccessful tryouts with professional teams, he sadly let that dream slip away.
It was during this time that his family suggested he record his personal piano works and release them on CD. He had never seriously considered recording for CD release, but when he recorded the first album, it was so well received that he now spends all his time composing and recording his own works. He continues to be encouraged by loyal fans who frequently tell him that his music has changed their lives. Now he jokes that the best thing that ever happened to him was not becoming a professional baseball player.

Brian's compositions Butterfly Waltz, Northern Lights, A Walk in the Forest and Lavender Hills are used as theme music and background music for television dramas and commercials in Asia. The use of Brian's music in this fashion has made him very popular in all of Asia.

In 2005 Brian composed his first two symphonies, entitled Spring Symphonies, which were recorded with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Brian debuted these symphonies with the Dakota Symphony Orchestra on Oct 8th 2005. He also performs regular piano concerts in Asia and the U.S. and is currently working on his eleventh album.

Brian Crain - At the Ivy Gate

Brian Crain Fan