Laura McMillan
Storybook Love
Laura McMillan believes in love, happiness and
fairytale-like happy endings, so she named her third album of solo piano music Storybook
Love. “It’s a dream we all have,
male and female. For those who have
love, count your blessings and savor each moment. For everyone else, keep hoping, keep looking, keep the dream
alive. Whether you are in love right
now or in the middle of the search, I hope this music can serve as a backdrop
of joy and excitement.”
In addition, when McMillan’s previous album, Linger
Longer, was released, it felt to her like a fairytale come true. The album went Top 5 on the international
Zone Music Reporter Top 100 airplay chart.
She received album reviews, airplay and notoriety around the world. She was named “Artist of the Year” and the
CD was named “Album of the Year” in the annual awards competition voted on by
radio listeners and held by One World Music, the top radio channel of new age
music based in the United Kingdom. Her
music became so popular on the channel that they offered the pianist her own
radio show, “Simply Piano,” where she plays piano music by herself and others.
“It’s just another example that dreams can come true,”
McMillan says. “It led me to thinking
about the dream we all have of finding true love and living happily ever
after. So I had the concept of Storybook
Love from the beginning and wrote all the compositions based on that
theme.”
The title tune from the album, “Storybook Love,” is
accompanied by a theatrical video that can be viewed at her website
(LauraMcMillanPiano.com) or youtube/lauramcmillanpiano. The video, directed by Chris Clephane and
produced by Mark W. Costa, was shot on location in Seattle, Washington. It features McMillan playing a Steinway
Hamburg nine-foot concert grand piano at Hotel 1000 and appearing at a variety
of prominent landmarks in the city including Pike Place Market, King Street
Station, Kerry Park, Pioneer Square and the Fountain Steps.
The music on McMillan’s albums (Storybook Love, Linger
Longer and Without Words) can be purchased in the CD format or as
digital downloads at various online sales outlets such as CDbaby, Amazon,
iTunes and other sites.
McMillan, who has been playing classical music all her
life, blends both traditional classical piano elements and a strong
appreciation of Broadway music with modern new age and neo-classical motifs to
create her own sound. She often employs
tempo changes within a composition which builds excitement and makes the
listener wonder what direction she will head next. At times McMillan balances heavy chording with delicate runs,
keeping both hands active, developing a variety of moods and passionate
feelings with the music.
“The idea of ‘Storybook Love’ is timeless,” she
explains. “Everyone has their own idea
about it, their own definition or scenario.
A young girl might dream about a knight in shining armor riding up on a
white stallion and sweeping her off her feet.
A woman usually retains the essence of that dream, but maybe now she is
wishing more for a man who knows how to dress well and drives a white
Ferrari. The ending is the same. Finding a true love to share your life
with.”
The album begins with “The Way It Goes” (“The basic story
structure is always the same because they always end up in each other’s
arms”). The next two tunes -- “For Our
Children” and “Playground Memories” -- are a tribute to childhood where dreams
of true love begin. “Hard To Say
Goodbye” is a life-lesson we all learn, according to McMillan, who says, “The sub-text
of this music might be ‘I will miss you until we meet again’.”
McMillan explains that “Enchanted” is meant to capture “a
magical special place or moment when everything comes together and there is the
potential for dreams to come true. The
lovers have butterflies in their stomach from the excitement and a sparkling in
their eyes. The piece ‘Porch Swing’ is
about contentedly sitting together outside the house on a summer evening and
maybe stealing a kiss or two.”
But love has “Transitions,” and this composition “maps out
the roller-coaster ride that can be exciting and fast at the beginning, but may
slow down in the middle because all relationships change.” The tune “Promise of Spring” alludes to “how
we look forward to Spring as a time of freshness, rebirth, rejuvenation, a
chance to start over, but also the perfect time for a wedding.” “What Might Have Been” captures the feelings
of disappointment and regret when a love affair does not work out, “but sometimes
it is simply a temporary setback.” “The
Chase” is “the entire process of searching for, finding and winning over the
person you were meant to love.”
McMillan says every color of roses has a different
meaning. “I chose ‘Lavender Roses’
because I love that color and it is the symbol for enchantment. Traditionally it also is used to express the
feelings of love at first sight. That
leads to the music of ‘Happy Ending,’ what we all strive for. ‘Getting There’ is when the two lovers race
toward each other to finally be together forever. I end the album with ‘Storybook Love’ which represents the
deepest and most powerful kind of love that is no longer childlike but is true
and forever.”
McMillan’s greatest musical influence has always been
Frederic Chopin, and she practiced his piano pieces for endless hours when she
was growing up. Her studies also led
her to deeply appreciate Mozart and Beethoven.
Her mother often took her to both symphony orchestra concerts and
Broadway musicals. At age ten, Laura
was captivated by new age pioneer George Winston’s Autumn album and
particularly the tune “Colors/Dance” which “I listened to over and over until I
learned to play it.” When Laura was a
teenager she saw piano virtuoso Van Cliburn in concert “which motivated me and
made me realize the piano was an instrument you could work at your entire
lifetime.”
When Laura was three-years-old she surprised her mother by
climbing up on the piano bench and finding the rights notes to tunes from a
Mitch Miller Christmas album the child had been listening to. Laura, who grew up near Portland, Oregon,
began formal lessons at age seven. When
McMillan was 15, she opened her own piano studio, Perhaps Piano, and began
teaching students herself. She was
invited to attend the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana where she
studied for four years with a leading authority on Beethoven, Dr. Kenneth
Drake. At Portland State University she
continued her studies and graduated with professional degrees in piano
performance, musical composition and pedagogy.
After graduation she developed a reputation as one of the
Portland-area’s top piano teachers.
Eventually she began composing her own music, performing concerts and
became a successful recording artist.
Regarding her latest album, McMillan says, “Each track on
the album Storybook Love is meant to spotlight one of the many moments
of love -- dreaming about it, looking for it, finding it and living happily
ever after. There is nothing more
euphoric than the sensation of ‘storybook love’.”
No comments:
Post a Comment