An hour of music with Dominic Ferris
The livestream began in the elegant interior of Steinway Hall. Seated behind a Steinway model D grand piano was a man in a bright red suit jacket with messy black hair and an enthusiastic smile. His name was Dominic Ferris, and he was there to play.
“Well, good afternoon folks,” Ferris said. “Dominic Ferris here, live from Steinway Hall in London. Absolute pleasure to be doing live piano requests from such an amazing venue this afternoon.”
This event was organized as a fundraising incentive for Restore The Music UK, a charity organization focused on providing funding for music education in schools across the UK. To help raise money for the charity, acclaimed pianist Dominic Ferris performed song requests from the audience live on stream. Attendance was free, but audience members were encouraged to donate. Even before the concert began, Ferris was flooded with suggestions.
The concert started off with a rousing performance of “Seventy-Six Trombones” from the popular musical The Music Man. However, due to the frequency of the requests and the limited length of the livestream, Ferris was only able to play snippets from each song.
After finishing the most recognizable motif from “Seventy-Six Trombones,” Ferris hurriedly moved on to the next request. The requests Ferris received were an eclectic mix of classical music, showtunes, movie soundtracks and upbeat pop ballads.
A few of the most notable performances included Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” “Putting on The Ritz by Irving Berlin,” the Phantom of The Opera Overture, and a performance of “The Circle Of Life” from the Disney animated film The Lion King in which Ferris was assisted by a plush doll of the film’s main character, Simba.
After over an hour of music, Ferris closed out the stream with an exuberant performance of “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life” from Monty Python’s Life Of Brian.
“Thank you very very much for joining us. We have been live here from Steinway Hall. It’s been a great hour,” said Ferris. And with his farewell, the livestream ended.
This event took place on Monday, Dec 7 on Facebook. A recording of the livestream is available to watch on the Steinway And Sons UK Facebook page.
