驚人的消息：The Piano Guys 要來香港了！The Piano Guys Live in Hong Kong!

台譯為「酷音樂團」的 The Piano Guys，早於 2013 年已到埗亞洲，當時演出地包括土耳其、菲律賓與新加坡。本年亞洲巡演（The Piano Guys Asia Tour 2015）重回新加坡，並首次踏足華人地區，包括台灣與香港，也把音樂足印擴展至南韓、日本兩地。

據官方網頁介紹，結緣於美國猶他州同名琴行的 The Piano Guys，源起某天店主 Paul Anderson 營業時，店內走進了一位鋼琴造詣高超的 Jon Schmidt 前來詢問租借鋼琴為自己的音樂會練習。Paul 實在太賞識 Jon 的琴藝，於是邀請共同合作拍攝音樂影片。後來他們又拉來與 Jon 合作多年的大提琴手 Steven Sharp Nelson，另外還有作曲 Al van der Beek，以及影像製作 Tel Stewart，五人取店名結合成古典跨界的樂團，定時製作影片上載 Youtube，造成巨大網絡哄動，至今影片瀏覽量超過 5.7 億。

The Piano Guys 最為粉絲們津津樂道的，除了編曲糅合古典與現代曲風，還有的是影片取景：無論是冰天雪地、懸崖峭壁、廣闊鹽湖、奇觀瀑布，又或是萬里長城，都難不到他們運送樂器（包括鋼琴！）與其他器材，成就出一部又一部膾炙人口的音樂影片。

以下為本場音樂會概況。

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Retreived from: The Piano Guys – Live in Hong Kong!

What do you get when you mix up a marketing genius that does video, a studio engineer that writes music, a pianist that had a successful solo career, and a cellist that does pretty much everything? The Piano Guys: a miraculous meeting of “guys” with the same intrinsic purpose – to make a positive impact in the lives of people all over the world through their music and music videos.

It all started in a piano store in a little Southern Utah town called Saint George. Paul Anderson, the store’s owner, was looking for a new, unconventional way to market pianos. The name of the piano store? The Piano Guys.

Paul embarked upon a self-guided study of social marketing and started a YouTube channel and a Facebook page. He had seen videos “go viral” and was fascinated by this exponential phenomenon. He set out to engage potential customers with music videos that were entertaining and that showcased the pianos he had in his store – envisioning “viral videos” doing his marketing for him. Paul was an ambitious, talented risk taker and felt inspired that if he could find the right people to work with he could create the number one music video channel in the world.

In walked Jon Schmidt. Literally. Jon had built a career in solo piano performance and had a concert in the St. George area. He asked Paul if he could practice on one of the store’s pianos in preparation for his gig that night. Paul explained his idea to Jon and asked if he would be willing to be in a video promoting both the store and Jon’s music. It was a win-win. Jon brought so much to the table. He had experienced the “music business” first hand. He had a gift for combining multiple genres of music in such an entertaining way that he had captivated and captured a broad, substantial fan base.

Enter Steven Sharp Nelson. When Steve was 15 years old he met Jon when they had shared the stage at a concert in which they were both performing. Steve started joining Jon at more and more of his concerts. This rapidly grew into a great friendship and a complementary stage chemistry that had audiences in stiches and in tears in two songs or less. Steve was a multi-instrumentalist that had pioneered a new approach to the cello and to song writing. And his ADHD-fueled creative mind contained a queue of song and video ideas waiting to be produced.

Then came Al van der Beek. Al showed up on Steve’s doorstep to help when Steve was moving in just down the street. Al had heard Steve was a musician and he invited his new neighbor to his home where he housed a decked-out studio. Steve and Al began writing tunes together and discovered a supernatural songwriting partnership. Al’s studio and his engineering skills were to become the most important music-writing tool for The Piano Guys, except of course for Al himself, whose innate ability for songwriting had an essential sleek edge to it.

Meanwhile, back at the piano store, employee Tel Stewart, who started as a piano mover, was just completing a degree in videography. His videography and editing skills rounded out TPG’s beginnings and made it possible to include special effects like the “Steve clones” and lightsaber cello bows! Jeremy Crawford, who also worked at the store, was arguably the best and most fearless piano mover in the world (at least as far as we know!) Without Jeremy, our Piano Stunt Coordinator, no one would have ever asked the question that we get so often, “How the heck did they get the piano up there?” Jeremy also stepped up to fill an important operations role as TPG grew so fast we couldn’t keep up. Shaye Scott, a friend of Paul’s, jumped onboard during the genesis of TPG and lent tremendous videography talent – a natural ability to capture the grandeur of nature, where most of TPG videos are filmed. Shaye’s entrepreneurial talent also ably aided the business side of TPG behind the scenes.

Our story is a miracle. We’re just a bunch of ordinary “guys” playing classically influenced instrumental music in videos that showcase incredible locations. And we’re doing well on YouTube?? There are so many coincidences that the summation of each circumstance transcends “happenstance.” We do not take credit for our successes. We cannot. To do so would defy reason. We thank God, our families, and the people who have supported us by sharing our videos, purchasing our music, and encouraging us through comments and messages. Our mission will always be to produce music videos that inspire, uplift, and make the world a better place. If we can make a positive impact in even one person’s life it has all been worth it to us.

Here comes The Piano Guys Live in Hong Kong 2015 review.

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