THIS WAS an interesting approach to creating/designing a concert.

Pianist Andrew Rumsey programmed 17 short works, mostly three to four minutes long, assembled under a couple of broad thematic ideas.

The first eight were played by Rumsey solo, except the first, one of Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dances” where he was joined by fellow pianist Ragnel Jansdotter. The eight works were a mix of 19th and 20th century pieces which Rumsey introduced with brief comments and all were played well with an obvious understanding and interest in the music.

The selection did seem a little random with little to link all eight as an overall program. Certainly three impressionistic works by Ravel, Takemitsu and Rachmaninov sat together as an interesting comparison in compositional style, but there was little to relate them to the other five. Perhaps Rumsey simply enjoys playing them.

For the second half of the concert Andrew Rumsey was joined by three other musicians in various groupings for nine works with a dance theme.

First was guitarist Matt Withers with the Adagio from Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the orchestral parts condensed down for piano. Rumsey carefully controlled his volume for a good balance although the tonal similarities between the two instruments blurs the usual contrast between the guitar and the orchestral parts (I do like the cor anglais).

Withers continued with a short solo, a Cuban Dance by Guimaraes, before cellist James Larsen joined Rumsey for Gluck’s dance of the Blessed Spirits. They then added violinist Mia Stanton for the almost clichéd Czardas by Vittorio Monti. The two string players continued by themselves with a Passacaglia by Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen, based on a theme from Handel’s Harpsichord Suite in G minor. This pushed both performers a little more than they could confidently deal with and was a little too long for this bite-sized concert setting (or it seemed that way)

The final four works on the program were where this concert really worked. Three shorts pieces by Elena Kats-Chernin and another by Astor Piazzolla worked together delightfully for the three musicians. These four and the three in the first half mentioned before showed how thoughtful programming  can work. The danger otherwise is a concert becoming a little like a vaudeville show of lots of short, but unconnected pieces.

It has always been a challenge for a young musician to find his or her niche as a performer. Andrew Rumsey certainly has  an interesting idea in these concerts of short works, what you might almost call “classical singles”.  The playing was certainly of a high standard (although cellist Larsen was a little sharp at times) and the performers obviously enjoy playing together. It just needs a little more work in putting the program together.