COLUMNS
Be Found Ready
… and Prepared to Pivot
By Martin Mayer
Asinger dreams of the day she gets to meet her idol , Celine Dion , after a concert . Months of anxiously waiting , the night arrives and the dream comes true . The singer tells Celine how much she has inspired her to be a vocalist , and Celine says , “ Oh , thank you so much ! Would you sing something for me ?”
Herbie Hancock is signing autographs after a show and a musician walks up to him . He says that he ’ s been a jazz pianist for 30 years because Herbie ’ s music inspired him . Showing his classic smile , Herbie says ,“ Cool , man – let ’ s jam on ‘ Watermelon Man ’ together ,” and motions the young man to join him at the piano .
Both the singer and pianist have something in common : they were both ready to be found . Question is – were they ready to pivot at a moment ’ s notice ? These are scenarios any one of us could face when meeting our heroes and idols . More often than not , though , opportunity comes knocking at the door in our industry , and likely , when it ’ s least expected .
I find this topic interesting because in the 20 years that I ’ ve been a concert pianist , I ’ ve almost always had to prepare a pivot on a project I was found ready for .
My first international performance was a 16-city concert tour of China – the result of a mammoth undertaking of self-producing and self-financing my debut concert to the tune of $ 35,000 . When the agency approached me about it , I was found ready . What I didn ’ t know at the time is that we started rehearsing the night before 9 / 11 . A pivot needed to be devised very quickly if it wasn ’ t going to be safe to fly when it was time to go to China .
In 2003 , I was invited by the trade office in Taipei to perform at the Canadian Food , Wine & Music Festival , co-produced with Canada Beef . I was found ready after the success of the China tour . In May of that year , though , the Mad Cow crisis gripped Canada ’ s beef industry . So , a pivot to going ahead with a different version of the event was laid out if the world continued to keep its borders closed to our beef and cattle .
The need for these pivots has come up since , and was even part of discussions with my agents ahead of my recent 20-city tour of China in the fall of 2019 . Each time I was found ready and a pivot was conceived and planned , it thankfully wasn ’ t needed . COVID changed that this time around .
2020 was to be a milestone year for me . I ’ d planned to attend MIDEM , perform concerts in France and Italy , and later that year , go back to China for another tour . Well , as we know , everything changed very quickly and a full 2020 calendar looked eerily empty . It was time to pivot – for real this time .
When I was in my studio in March of 2020 , I was practicing with continued hope that I ’ d be able to get out and play for audiences later that year . I remember thinking to myself ,“ Well , if I ’ m going to play tunes , why not just turn on the camera and invite people on Facebook to join ?” I did 12 concerts in six weeks – all free because I wanted to bring some comfort into people ’ s lives .
The response I received from people tuning in from all over the world was amazing . My favourite impact story is a lady recognizing me at the grocery store the day following one of these online concerts , and coming up to me to share what it meant to her . She said that on a dark day when her brother passed away that morning , she found my concert online , and it gave her comfort during a truly difficult day .
Two decades of professional ventures into international markets has taught me this very important lesson : Be found ready and prepared to pivot . No matter how much you practice , prepare , organize , rehearse , or double-check everything , because life – and the world – is full of surprises .
My grandmother once said to me , “ Something bad happens so that something good can come of it .” I ’ ve been found ready , and yet , some of the best experiences in my career have come from a need to pivot . Your pivot may just become your best story , too !
“ Canada ’ s prince of piano ” is how the Beijing Times , China ’ s leading Englishlanguage newspaper , has described Canadian pianist and composer Martin Mayer . Born in the Czech Republic , and now based in Vancouver , his music has been defined as instrumental fusion – a combination of smooth jazz , classical , pop , and rock . He won the Rachel McKeown Memorial Award for composition and his 16-city tour of China in 2001 was the biggest tour of any artist in China ’ s modern history , and all of his Chinese tour dates since then have sold out . www . martinmayermusic . com .
30 CANADIAN MUSICIAN