Music News - Wellington solo - pianist ’s new single a tribute to his late Nan
13 May 2022 - 0 Comments
Samuel Philip Cooper, a 27-year-old solo contemporary pianist from Wellington, New Zealand, is excited to release his new single, Forever Loved, following his two most recent singles, A Perfect Vision, and A Call for Help, released December 2021 and April 2022.
Composed on the very day he received the news that his Nana passed away, Forever Loved is a tribute to his Nana and a song that reflects both the sadness and grief of not being able to visit her in the days and months leading up to her passing.
“In the lead-up to Nana passing away, the COVID lockdown in 2020 prevented opportunities to visit her in her retirement home, and when admitted to hospital, and visits to hospital were limited to one person only, and I was unable to visit her. Then when the news came that Nana passed away, my initial coping mechanism was to improvise on the piano (that was Nana’s that she gave to me when she moved out of home), and I improvised the melody to now what is this final composition.”
As well as the grief and sadness, the composition reflects the happy memories and wisdom his Nana and gave Samuel in all facets of his life. This included her support on the sports sideline, as passing down her own musical abilities which included singing and playing the piano. Samuel recalls his first memory of his Nana included her singing him to sleep with ‘somewhere over the rainbow’.
In May 2021, Samuel worked with Wellington producer Jonas Persson to record Forever Loved on a Grotian grand piano at Massey University Recording Studio in Wellington. He recorded this and several other compositions that will be released monthly over the next year and a half. Several of the compositions were first improvised on his Nana’s piano that she had gifted him when moving out of her home. Samuel considers this piano the ‘mauri’ (lifeforce) in his old family home bedroom, that when he plays it and touching the keys, he is connecting with his Nana.
Through the release of this and future singles, Samuel aims to continue his goal in raising awareness and money for mental health in order to help others speak up rather than silently suffer themselves. With the easing of COVID restrictions, Samuel is looking to organise a series of concerts later in the year in order to raise more money for mental health. In the meantime, Samuel is performing a set at the ‘Let’s Get Comfy with Talking About Mental Health’ event on Saturday 11th June at the Lower Hutt Events Centre (12pm-10pm) hosted by PATPAT.
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