PIANO NOTES Spring 2022
WOW!



This is our first newsletter in over three years!

So much has happened for all of us during these fast-changing times.

With all the noise out there, one thing remains constant:


MUSIC!!

Music makes life so much better. In these last 3 years, I’ve worked on 3 new CDs worth of material. It's been fun and I look forward to sharing these recordings soon!

Exciting times for new sheet music releases! For the first time ever, many of my arrangements of popular and original music are now published and available world-wide for all pianists. (See more info below)
 
Here's an example of how music makes life better. Every morning I play piano for the dogs. Hank is a baritone and Ava is a soprano. Bo likes blues and boogie. It is a riot every morning. When they get going, they crescendo into a loud chorus. They told me to tell you if you want to feel better, turn off the TV, play with your dog, and listen to music! They recommend Mike Strickland!


"Secret Place"

Kristi (my beautiful wife of 39 years) and I have been busy with projects around the house and yard. FYI... We have restored a charming 1941 cottage in the back of our property. We call it "Secret Place". Let us know if you want to visit wine country and stay in our little house. (*Private Piano Concerts are available by yours truly as well!)

Take care everyone! More soon!
 
Much love, Mike (and Kristi)

Secret Place
UPCOMING CONCERT!

Classical Meets "POP"
Back by popular demand!

Mike Strickland and guest (daughter) Elizabeth Strickland.

Redmond Community Concerts Presents: Classical meets "POP".

Join us for 2 performances on in Redmond, OR January 29th, 2023!!

SHEET MUSIC NEWS
In the fall of 2021 we partnered with MUSICNOTES.com and their Signature Artists program to start digitally publishing Mike's world-class arrangements of popular and original music and make them available worldwide.

Some of Mike's most popular arrangements have never been released due to licensing obstacles.

We are proud to announce so far that the following arrangements are now published and available on Musicnotes.com. (With more to come!)
*For Collector quality HARD COPY versions of some of these arrangements, please visit our website HERE
Arrangements of Popular Music
Somewhere In Time
The Prayer
My Favorite Things
Time To Say Goodbye
Think of Me
Canon in D
Edelweiss
Walking In The Air
Fur Elise Medley
Send In the Clowns
The Wedding Song
Music of the Night Medley
My Heart Will Go On
Ode to Joy
Theme from Schindler's List
Canon in D - 19 Variations
Over The Rainbow

ORIGINALS
Sunset Serenade
Morning
Big Train Boogie
Till We Meet Again
Time
Prayer
The Dream Waltz
A Little Moment
ELIZABETH'S CORNER

The last few years have been an exciting, wonderful and difficult time all at once. I began my doctorate in piano performance at the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall of 2018, and around the same time was diagnosed with a chronic disease called ulcerative colitis. At the beginning of 2020, I met a wonderful man named Sarvesh, and that year we spent all our free time together, weathering the pandemic and experiencing online school and working from home. In March 2021, we got married in our living room with our parents watching over Zoom from Oregon and in his case, India. (Our cat, Merlin, sat on the marriage license in a beautiful sunbeam that morning and presided over the ceremony).

I am currently working on finishing my degree and am almost done (in fact, my mother is interrupting my study for the final part of my doctoral comprehensive exam tomorrow to ask for this newsletter update!) It has been a challenging time to be in graduate school and deal with serious health issues, but I am happy to say that I'm doing much better and am hoping to be in remission later this year. I am looking forward to presenting what I think will be my favorite recital ever so far in September, when I'm playing the Brahms Handel Variations and some beautiful Chopin and Scriabin pieces. I'm also looking forward to planning a post-pandemic wedding for us to celebrate when Sarvesh's family can travel from India. For now, we are planning to stay in the Boulder area and look forward to starting a family. Sarvesh is an engineer but is musically inclined and taking piano lessons with me. No, he doesn't play basketball, but he is the average height of an NBA player :)
Love, Elizabeth
3 DOG MIKE
DOG NEWS

Mister Bo (far left) will be 9 years old in April. He is Mike's shadow. He takes his job very seriously. To see a song he inspired called "Little Dog". click HERE

Ava, (middle) our black tri Aussie, continues to be the straw that stirs the drink in the Strickland house. She is fiercely protective and loyal and is full of great God energy.
In the fall of 2019 Ava had 6 puppies. We kept one and named him Hank. (far right) Why did we keep him? Well, when he was only 4 weeks old, asleep in the guest bedroom with the rest of the litter, he heard Mike playing piano in the living-room. The second the piano sounded, he lift his head to the sky and start howling along with Mike. Needless to say, that was a big sign and as a singer, he is truly one-of-a-kind. Mike is busy writing Hank's song "Hanky Boy". Here's a video of Hank accompanying Mike on "Over The Rainbow".
Our beloved Sadie (famous singing dog) on the beach and on tour! We miss you Sadie!!
SPREAD JOY
Our song/video Spread Joy has now surpassed 106,000 views on youtube!.


Please help us spread the message of unity and love! The world needs it now more than ever!

For FREE sheet music and mp3 of Spread Joy visit our site here.
Mike Strickland Productions www.mikestrickland.com