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Nora On Blip.tv

Nora The Piano Cat

Big news! I’ve signed with Blip TV (The Pet Collective). What does that mean, exactly. Well, I have a page there and all of my videos, too. But most importantly, I’ll be having my personal assistant, Burnell, create two new videos every month. There’ll be new vids of me playing, of course, but also me answering your questions and introducing things like “Music Theory Moments with Nora” and “Meet the Cats of Raven’s Wing,” which is what B&B call the seven of us, collectively. There’s Max, Gabby, Clara, Jenny, Ellie, Rennie, and me. Of course, they don’t play the piano, but they all have interesting stories to share and probably a bit of gossip about their oh-so-famous sibling (moi), as well.

Check it out at blip.tv/norathepianocat

I Am the Official Mascot for the National Music Festival…

Nora The Piano Cat

Below is reprinted The National Music Festival’s press release:

National Music Festival at Washington College is pleased to announce that Nora the Piano Cat has now become its official mascot.

CaitlinPattonNMFNora T-Shirts“We are excited to welcome Nora the Piano Cat into our family at the National Music Festival at Washington College,” says Caitlin Patton, Executive Director of the Festival. “This is a huge opportunity to excite and bring new audience members to concert music.”

RichardRosenbergNMFFestival Artistic Director Richard Rosenberg conducted the U.S. premiere of the “CATcerto,” written for Nora and orchestra by Lithuanian composer Mindaugas Piečaitis, in 2010 in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The piece has been performed multiple times throughout the U.S. since then. Last year at the National Music Festival, Rosenberg conducted it again, this time with Betsy Alexander and Burnell Yow!, Nora’s personal assistants, in the audience. It was their first time hearing it live.

“We had heard and seen the piece performed before on YouTube, but it was quite another thing to actually hear it performed live,” said Alexander. “All in all, it was an incredible experience.”

Patton and Rosenberg had the privilege of meeting Nora, Alexander and Yow!, and Mindaugas Piecaitis in August 2010.

“It was quite amazing to finally see Nora at the piano,” Patton said. “We enjoyed meeting her and interacting with such a sensational character. She truly is a feline diva!”

BetsyWithNoraBurnellWithNoraNora was adopted nine years ago by piano teacher and composer Betsy Alexander, and artist Burnell Yow!. Alexander noticed Nora’s interest in the grand piano in the living room. After watching piano students play for a year, Nora decided to play a couple of notes on the shiny grand piano. Since then, she hasn’t stopped. She first caught the attention of Alexander’s students, who began bringing their friends to hear her play the piano. When Betsy wanted to show her niece in Wyoming a video of Nora playing the piano, her students suggested posting the video on YouTube so her niece could see it. Alexander had never even heard of YouTube. The day the video of Nora tickling the ivories went public, it garnered seventy-two views. Within just a few weeks, it had gone viral and Nora became a YouTube sensation with a combined thirty-seven million viewings to date. She now has tens of thousands of adoring fans from all over the planet.

“We are excited to have this chance to work with Nora,” Patton says. “It opens a whole world of opportunities to help both of us achieve our goals.” Nora and the National Music Festival plan to sponsor a musical composition competition in the upcoming years for composers of all ages. Designs for NMF and Nora merchandise are in the works and will be ready for sale soon. The National Music Festival at Washington College is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization devoted to bringing classical music to a wide audience and providing full scholarships to the young musicians on the cusp of their professional careers, who attend as apprentices. The Festival can only thrive on the generous contributions individuals as well as businesses.

For more information about the Festival, visit www.nationalmusic.us, e-mail info@nationalmusic.us or call (410) 778-2064.

Click here to download the PDF of the Press Release.

Nora Shows Up In NY Times Crossword

Nora The Piano Cat

Nora In NY Times CrosswordI’ve been sculpted out cheese by Friskies, been an answer on game shows (in the US and in Russia), been projected onto a thirty-foot screen on a raised drawbridge in St. Petersburg in front of 30,000 people, been the subject of several musical works, most notably CATcerto by composer/conductor Mindaugas Piecaitis, been the subject of a half-hour documentary on Extraordinary Animals first broadcast in the UK, and now I find out that in November of 2012 I was an answer to a clue in a NY Times crossword puzzle. Looks like I have been pretty much accepted into the realm of popular culture. What fun! (Click image for a larger view.)

Nora The Piano Cat Receives “Special Mention” from Graffest 2012

Nora The Piano Cat

Special Mention from Graffest 2012DrawbridgePhotoAs you may recall, my first video was screened at Graffest 2012, an open-air cinema festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, before a crowd of 30,000. It must have been so cool to see it projected onto a 400 square meter screen hanging on a raised drawbridge. Anyway, I received a Special Mention as a cat creator, and they sent me a certficate all the way from Russia! (Click thumbnails to view larger.)

Nora & CATcerto Featured on Russian Psychic TV Show

Nora The Piano Cat


Yours truly and CATcerto, by Lithuanian composer Mindaugas Piecaitis, was featured on an episode of the Russian TV show, “The Battle of Psychics.” How about that?

Here’s how it works: A human psychic is isolated in a sound proof booth and a piece of music or other audio is played for the audience. The sound is also connected to a large circular bowl or disc of some sort with a thin layer of sand on the surface. The sound cause the sand to bounce around, forming patterns. After the sound has been played, the psychic is then invited to view the sand patterns and attempt to guess the sound or music.

Personally, I don’t understand Ukrainian, but I get the feeling the psychic guessed correctly. Perhaps, one of my Ukrainian fans can let me know.

I’m Gonna Be In ASTROgirl! Magazine…

Nora The Piano Cat

AstroGIRLASTROgirl! Magazine is an astrology-based celebrity teen magazine published by Bauer Publishing. I bet a lot of my teenage fans are loyal readers. Well, in their upcoming issue (due out in December, 2012) there is an article on the “World’s Most Talented Pets.” And, you guessed it! I’m one of them. Of course, I’m also a celebrity, and that’s probably the real reason they wanted to include me. 🙂 Keep an eye out for the magazine. I know I will. They also publish Twist Magazine.

CATcerto Performed at Washington College…

Nora The Piano Cat

Last night, June 16th, 2012, Richard Rosenberg conducted CATcerto by Mindaugas Piecaitis at the closing of this years National Music Festival in Chestertown, MD. As you know, CATcerto was written especially for me, and I appear via video on a large screen above my human collaborators. The piece has been performed over 17 times by orchestras around the world. Maestro Rosenberg has, himself, conducted the work four times. What makes last nights performance especially significant for me is that my personal assistants, Burnell and Betsy, were able to attend the concert on my behalf. I don’t travel well, so I tend to stay home. It was a fantastic experience for them both, as this was the first time they had seen it performed live. They also got to meet the conductor afterwards. I am told he is not only a big fan of CATcerto as a musical work, but also is quite a fan of yours truly. And he’s a real animal lover who, along with his wife, Caitlin Patton, has rescued a number of other very lucky dogs and cats. Here’s a photo of the Maestro with Betsy taken by Burnell. Other photos were taken by another photographer, and as soon as I get copies of those, I’ll post them.

Conductor Richard Rosenberg & Betsy Alexander

The Film Crew Arrives – at 8 AM…

Nora The Piano Cat

Emma & Ross

I had breakfast at my usual time: 7 am. I had barely finished and headed off to resume my napping, when the doorbell rang. I knew immediately who was at the door. And how could I disappoint them. They had come across the ocean for an audience with the diva. In they came: one, two, three, four human beings carrying all manner of bag and padded case, from which miraculously appeared every kind of technical gadget: big cameras and little cameras, big lights and little lights, tripods, and wires! There were so many wires that the floor around my piano began to resemble a den of snakes. Fortunately, I was already on the bench, and I was determined to stay there.

As the morning progressed, I played and posed to the delight of one and all. Then a few of Betsy’s students began arriving to be interviewed on camera. I even heard the crew filmed at a cafe about a block away, and there they talked to some of my neighborhood fans. Wish I could have been there.

I was a little disappointed that Burnell didn’t take more photos. Turns out the director really wanted Burnell to be in the film as well (something he wasn’t too keen on), so that meant he was in front of the camera instead of behind it. Oh, well. The girl in the photo above is Emma. She’s a student who plays with me often. Her dad took the photo. The other photo is of Ross, the camera man.

So, the film, which is a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of famous animals – and features 7 other non-humans – will probably be shown on UK television in July.

“Fur & Flying Feathers” CATcerto Comes to Colorado…

Nora The Piano Cat

David RutherfordOn January 28th, 2012, the Longmont Symphony Orchestra, with guest conductor, David Rutherford (pictured at left), will perform a program titled “Fur and Flying Feathers.” Works included in the concert are by John Williams, Mussorgsky, Saint-Saens, and my favorite, Mindaugas Piecaitis. Maestro Piecaitis, as you well know, is the composer of CATcerto. And, if you haven’t guessed by now, the “fur” part of the program is the performance of CATcerto with video of yours truly projected onto a large screen behind the orchestra. Perhaps you’ve seen the YouTube video of the original performance with Piecaitis conducting the Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra in the Klaipėda Concert Hall in Klaipėda (Lithuania): http://youtu.be/zeoT66v4EHg

CATcerto has been performed 14 times in 5 countries. And now it comes to Longmont, Colorado in the United States. If you live nearby, I do hope you check it out. The fur and feathers will be flying.

For more info, check out the article by Quentin Young, Longmont Times-Call.

Or http://www.longmontsymphony.org/

For more info on CATcerto: catcerto.com

For more info on Nora The Piano Cat: norathepianocat.com