REXBURG—The Romance Theater will host pianist Marvin Goldstein and vocalist Vanessa Joy on Oct. 6. They’ll sing “audience favorites” from Celtic melodies and familiar folk tunes to modern hits and Broadway favorites.
Goldstein is an internationally acclaimed pianist who has performed for audiences around the world for decades. Joy is a soprano who has also performed worldwide and is a frequent speaker. The two have performed together over the last 16 years. They first met at a business seminar where Goldstein was going to accompany Joy but asked another pianist to play for her so he could just listen.
“So, all of a sudden, I started to hear her sing, starting, and I said, ‘Hold on a minute, hold on … I just got to have this arrangement go to the other pianist because what I’m listening to, I don’t want to be bogged down by accompanying. I have got to hear her,’” Goldstein said.
Now they have several albums together and have performed for audiences together around the world. Joy says when they first started performing together, she was quite nervous and let Goldstein run the show. He didn’t have a set list for her. He would call her out on stage when he was ready to play a song for her to sing.
“It was a lot of fun, but it was quite scary,” Joy said. “And eventually I got up the courage to talk to him and say, ‘Look, I think it would be nice to have a show order of some kind.’”
Goldstein said he had to learn how to become an accompanist for a singer and didn’t even realize how nervous Joy was before their conversation. He learned he couldn’t just play the melody lines on the piano. His style evolved as they continued to work together.
“But right now I can listen and let her have the freedom of creating her own way through the song, and that’s how it’s evolved,” Goldstein said.
Even though the duo has evolved, they still can be spontaneous on the stage. They keep adding songs to their set list. Come the night of the concert, they may change songs on the fly.
“I’ve learned that it is faith, and every step you take is nerve-wracking,” Joy said. “But when you have faith, you have prepared and you take that step forward, you’re going to be OK, and it always has worked out and has always been the best.”
The duo recently returned from performing in Spain, where Joy said they often changed songs on the spot and after the concert somebody would come up to her and tell her they needed to hear that particular song.
“I’m telling you, it’s really going by God leading me, and that’s how I feel and that’s what Marvin taught me and it’s really a cool thing, but it does make you nervous,” Joy said.
The concert is Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Romance Theater on Main Street in Rexburg. Local vocalists, McKinley Rose Judd and Aidyn Kunz will give the pre-show performances. Tickets are $30 and are available at tetonriverarts.org.