Dedication Where would I be without the family that He has placed around me all of my life to love and nurture me and join me as we share this magical, musical and spiritual journey? I am truly blessed and am so grateful for the support and encouragement of so many of you. Thank you to Aunt Grace and Uncle “Red” for the first piano in my life, (an old upright with a mirror across the top). Thank you to my dad and mom, Phil and Mary Jo Kemper, for all the encouragement and guidance and support through the years. You sacrificed so much to buy me two more pianos when I wore that first piano out, but now my music is testament to you and you are with me with the sounding of every note I play. A heartfelt thank you to Jana, my beautiful new bride, for her continued love and support in all areas of my life. Thanks to John David Webster for his input and encouragement all along the way. And finally, the love and thanks only a dad can feel to Mayme and Annika, my daughters, for always making me feel like I was the best piano player in the world, and the greatest dad. All the music I've been afforded in this life is not even half the measure of the beauty you've brought to my life. The Story I love all kinds of music, but my first love is classical piano music. I started playing the piano when I was 8 years old. I loved to play Beethoven, Bach, Brahms, Debussy, Scott Joplin and others, but when I was introduced to Chopin, it struck a chord with my soul. His melodies were hauntingly beautiful. The finesse in his music, the challenges he posed to the pianist, can be compared to the dexterity and elegance with which a poet might pen an intricate sonnet. I loved to play all that Chopin composed for the piano, but the Nocturnes seemed to speak to me the most. As a child, and in college, I played a few of the Nocturnes. To my surprise, I recently discovered that Chopin had written 21, most of which I had never heard! Fre‘de‘ric Chopin He has been called the poet of the piano. Born in Poland in the early spring of 1810, he is considered one of the true masters of the Romantic period. He was a child prodigy who moved to Paris during a period of turmoil in his home country. As a young man, he supported himself as a teacher, composer and performer. Like many of his contemporaries, he suffered from poor health most of his life and died at the age of 39. He is credited with inventing the musical form known as the instrumental ballade and made immeasurable contributions to such forms as the piano sonata, mazurka, the waltz, the polonaise, the e‘tude, the impromptu, the pre‘lude and, my favorite, the nocturne. The Experience It goes something like this: I open the score and I begin to play. I begin at the first nocturne, a surreal kaleidoscope I've never seen or heard. I am like a child again, discovering something wondrous and new and magical. I am hearing melodies for the first time that rise to me out of centuries as I play for you. And they resonate in my soul long after I touch the last key. I hope my interpretations of these pieces touch you as they do me, and that they come to mean as much. It is one of my life's joys to share them with you, here. Recorded in Pendleton, Indiana, Summer of 2009 Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Scott Kemper Mixing consultant Mike Graham, The Lodge Recording Studios Transfer and Mastering John Bolt, Guilford Park Mastering Yamaha C7 Neumann KM84's (courtesy of Mike Graham and The Lodge Recording Studios) API Mic Pre's © 2010 Scott Kemper Publishing Moontown Records