Hello and welcome to the Concert Company Blog! Here we will post about cool things related to the website and things that generally inspire us. Since this is the first post, we thought we would talk about how the company got started.
It goes back to when I, Keiko Shimizu, the founder of the Concert Company, was living in Sonoma, California. I had just moved to the area from Tokyo and was still learning English. On top of that my kids were still young so it was hard to get around and go do stuff. It got pretty lonely.
One day, when I took my daughter, who was 6 at the time, to her music class everything changed. I was listening to her play Vivaldi on her violin and the music completely transported me. I felt so at peace and happy listening to her play. And when I got home after her music class I began looking up local concerts in my area.
I listened to recorded classical music from some of the greatest artists in the world but, really, the local concerts were what gave me that same feeling I had listening to my daughter play. When it comes to live music there is this instant connection between the audience and the musicians. It's wonderful.
And I wanted to share that feeling with others. I talked about my idea to my friend, Regina, and we began inviting local musicians to play in my house for my friends and family. I asked my friends to pay a small ticket price, which I gave to the musicians after their performance. It was so much fun and everyone had such a great time that I began to do it over and over again. Everyone started calling it the 'Home Concert Series.’
It was not until my friends started asking for recommendations for things like their father's birthday party or their child's graduation that I actually began to consider the potential of my project – everyone loves live music and live music has the power to connect people. If I could figure out a way to give everyone access to all the musicians in their area, they could enjoy music the way I do!
And that is how the Concert Company began. Right now it is full of my favorite musicians from the San Francisco Bay area but I hope eventually it will include musicians from the world over! I am really excited to see where it goes and for all the beautiful music it will make.
Those photos are from our recent home concert performed by a jazz pianist, Steve Rubardt. It was an honor to have Steve perform for us. We had a great time! If you would like Steve to perform at your private event, please fill out the booking form or send an inquiry to info@theconcert.co.