Bob Milne Performs Saturday, August 19th
Bob Milne returns to Long Lake, NY on Saturday, August 19th, Long Lake Town Hall, 1204 Main Street at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15 per person. This is a do not miss concert. If you have not yet seen Mr. Milne perform, do not miss your chance. This is a one-of-a-kind performer, and we are lucky to have him make Long Lake one of his prime stops along his summer tour. This intimate show features the talents of a man who learned to play piano by ear. His incredible skill and his storytelling make this a one of a kind concert experience.
Bob Milne is considered to be the best ragtime/boogie-woogie pianist in the world. Mr. Milne is an active Musical Ambassador for the United States Dept. of State, and has performed numerous times in Japan, including the Okinawan Islands and Hokkaido. He has also performed in this capacity for members of the Swiss Parliament at the U.S. Embassy in Berne.
Mr. Milne’s natural ability to hear and play music goes back to his early childhood. He makes the statement, I knew how to play a piano long before I ever started. Just push down the notes you hear and the instrument will play itself. Can’t everyone do this? He considers either looking at music or practicing to be cheating.
A French horn player in High School, he went to the prestigious Eastman School of Music at the age of 17, and then became assistant First Horn in the Rochester Philharmonic at age 19. After symphony concerts the students all went and hung out in local places. When the piano player didn’t show up at a sing-a-long saloon one night, Mr. Milne filled in. They hired him on the spot. He continued playing the horn until age 21, then became a full time piano player in the Detroit area, playing seven nights a week for twenty five years.
Playing in concert halls now since 1991, Mr. Milne plays worldwide every year. He teaches music history at various universities around the country, and is also the founder and director of the Frankenmuth Ragtime Festival in Michigan.
Mr. Milne has been averaging somewhere in the area of 250 performances per year. He is highly sought after for both his incredible piano playing and easy going, modest presentations. He claims, If I have been given any ability at all, it is my duty to honor it by trying to improve that ability every time I perform. The list of music festivals he’s appeared at is extensive. They include the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival (Sedalia, Missouri), the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Eau Claire Ragtime Festival, Sacramento Ragtime Festive, plus many others.
As Bob says, “You can’t educate a piano,” he says, “but you can educate yourself to know everything about it.”
Tickets are cash only and will be available at the door the day of the event. $15. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Long Lake Town Office, 1130 Deerland Road. Call 518-624-3077 for more info.
