Welcome to the Accompanist website!

April Alsup  presents
"Book Musical Basics"
a New Music Theatre Series

We provide accompanists to the music theater industry.

What is an accompanist? ac·com·pa·nist /əˈkəmpənəst/ a person who provides a musical accompaniment to another musician or to a singer.

We enjoy all types of music, but our specialty is contemporary musical theatre. We can work with your singers to perfect their skills and/or act as a music director for your productions.

Our team is lead by April Alsup, in 2018 she was nominated "Best Music Director" by her Colorado theater peers for the area's regional Broadway World awards.

Please let us know how we can help!

The invisible man, a case for digital sheet music

Every accompanist has scars associated to the task of turning pages. There's all sorts of stories of students called upon to turn pages for a visiting artist or lecturer that went astray. It seems like everyone has their eyes tuned in certain places and there's no single moment for one person to turn the page for another. The margin of error is small, but seldom does the audience notice.

An electronic Bluetooth foot pad
for turning digital (pdf) sheet music pages

What the artist really wants is for the page to turn with as little distraction as possible and it appears that some instruments are better suited than others. The good news for the accordionist is that your feet aren't considered part of the instrument and are free to turn the sheet music page at just the right moment. This is particularly helpful since the instrument is between the artist and the music stand and the instrument's keyboards are not easily seen at a glance.

An accompanist in the new COVID Age

2020 has been brutal for the theater community and professional accompanists are not immune. We've all been forced into a whole new way of thinking. Many of us were reluctant to embrace technology; after all, we often get our sheet music physically handed to us by an artist who is auditioning for a role and the casting experts expect us to play the parts flawlessly. I'm always glad when I know the song, but I'm easily annoyed when someone asks me to play it in a different key or speed-up the tempo...yikes!

April Alsup uses technology in the new COVID age

At least with teleconferencing the participants don't expect us to synchronize our parts with everyone in real-time and we usually get some time to deliver the instrumental accompaniments. I guess someday it'll all be done online, but for now the latency between the connections prohibits that and there seems to be a lot more planning involved in the musical development stages of new online theater productions. Perhaps it should have been that way all along, my guess is we'll be using teleconferencing a lot more even after the pandemic, it really is very convenient and allows us to deliver a better product for everyone involved.

We now support the Loveland/Fort Collins Area

Meet Thomas Catalano, our newest pianist/organist at accompanist.com. He graduated with a BFA and has been working as a musical director for much of his life. Mr. Catalano comes from musical pedigree and often performs with his siblings in church. He specializes in sacred music and can fill in as a choir director or as an organist. He works well with people and is eager to support the Fort Collins/Loveland area.

Looking for an accompanist for your church service?

April Alsup performs Bach Partita at
First Baptist Church of Denver

April Alsup has been playing the piano in church since she was 10 years old and with Summer nearly over everyone seems to be scrambling to find a competent accompanist who can play both sacred and secular music.

April Alsup studied piano performance and composition with William "Wild Bill" Buelow at Marietta College. She can fill in for your regular pianist in case of an emergency or when they have an event conflict or vacation. She is reliable and a well-known performer in the Denver metropolitan area and if she isn't available for your event we have several other accompanists who would be happy to work with you.

 

Need an accompanist for your next Beatles tribute party?

Why not use someone who grew up listening to their music? Someone who has played all of their songs. Someone who knows lots of their stories. Someone who has been to Liverpool, been to the museum, been on stage at the Cavern and walked down Penny Lane. April Alsup has been playing Beatles songs for nearly 50 years and will tell you that they never get old for her. Contact us today and let's make a date and "Get Back" to "Yesterday"!

Musical Theatre: Soup to Nuts

Every once in a while the stars align and a composer of a Music Theater work actually performs their work(s) for an audience too. There are several notable composers who sometimes perform their works live including; Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk and Robert Ashley. In 2018, our very own April Alsup performed her 90 minute work "WYSIWYG" to avid off-Broadway musical theater fans at Teatro LATEA in the East Village in New York City. Over the Summer the show received 12 award nomination for music theatre excellence including  "Best Music Direction"!

April Alsup playing WYSIWYG at Teatro LATEA (2018)