Move over, Keyboard Cat. Nora The Piano Cat has shown you up!
Sure, Keyboard Cat--with his uncanny ability to make any FAIL situation even funnier by playing people off, not to mention his awesome shirt--is an iconic Internet meme for the ages. But Piano Cat is a true iconic artiste.
Nora The Piano Cat is the star of CATcerto, a project masterminded by Lithuanian conductor/composer Mindaugas Piecaitis. CATcerto premiered last month at the Klaipeda Concert Hall in Lithuania, with Nora performing with Piecaitis's chamber orchestra via video. The four-minute piece was created specifically for this four-footed soloist, and it has since taken the Web by storm thanks to Nora's innate artistry.
Fast-forward to Nora The Piano Cat's solo at the 1:30 mark below, and just look at how much this feline feels the music. Look at how the world's "first professional cat concert pianist" leans on those ivories! Such emotion! Such animalistic passion!
Now Nora has her own Twitter account, Facebook fan page, official website, and blog, and she's conducted interviews for magazines all over Europe. And she's even released her own personal statement about CATcerto:
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When I was contacted by Lithuanian conductor Mindaugas Piecaitis regarding his idea to create an orchestral piece specifically for me, I thought to myself: "What an absolutely purrrrfect idea!" Isn't it every world-class performer's dream to have an orchestral concerto written especially for them?
Of course, the challenge in creating an orchestral piece of music specifically for me, Nora The Piano Cat, is that I am solely a studio musician. How would I ever be able to have the glorious experience of playing with an actual orchestra? Thank goodness, my personal assistants, Betsy and Burnell, were able to work with Mindaugas to create a solution to this seemingly insurmountable problem. A special account was set up on the Internet to share video footage. Betsy and Burnell began to film me again. Special computer software had to be ordered to enable important sound and video editing. And of course, my personal consent and cooperation was attained.
It certainly has been exciting to be a part of this historic collaboration involving the Internet, YouTube, computers, and film. As the first professional cat concert pianist, I am most pleased to have contributed to this exciting project.
Now that the piece is finished, I am so happy with the results. I would like to thank Mr. Piecaitis for giving me the opportunity to show the entire world that a cat concert pianist can indeed play beautiful music with an orchestra. It is the mission of every great artist like me to inspire others to create. If I have inspired even one person to write music, or learn an instrument, than I will have lived a meaningful life.
With much love to all of my fans in the music world,
Nora The Piano Cat
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All we can say is, the four minutes we spent watching CATcerto were four of the most meaningful minutes we've spent on the Interweb. And it's probably only a matter of time before someone makes a YouTube video of Keyboard Cat being played off by Piano Cat...
Go to www.catcerto.com for more Piano Cat videos and info.