Leo, Chiara Vogel, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Steve Cohen, composer Sebastian Currier -- Photo (C) Lambert Orkis

As dessert was served, Lambert casually mentioned something that instantly caught my attention – his rules on how to always give a perfect performance. He called these rules “The Seven C’s.” Coming from a Grammy award-winning veteran performer, I knew that his rules would be worth memorizing, and recording here on my blog for others to learn from.

He was kind enough to write up a summary of our conversation, and I’m honored to present his rules on my blog.

Here are Lambert Orkis’ Seven C’s:

CALM, CONCENTRATE, COUNT, COMMAS, COURAGE, CHOICE, CONSISTENCY

Lambert Orkis

Stay CALM:  Your higher mental functions are blocked when you are emotionally charged.

CONCENTRATE: Practice thinking the right thoughts and focus your mind on what you’ve practiced while performing.

COUNT:  Music exists in and is organized by time.  Anxiety disrupts your timing, usually through compression (rushing). Therefore, you must re-establish your timing equilibrium through mechanical means (counting) in performance.

COMMAS:  As anxiety causes rushing, it also removes the punctuation which gives music its coherence. The punctuation is symbolized by “commas.” Mentally establishing punctuation through prior preparation gives you the ability to reacquire or maintain equilibrium by having a reference point in performance.

COURAGE:  Mental control does not come naturally to everyone. It can require a degree of courage to take responsibility for your thoughts, leading up to and during the performance.

CHOICE:  Mental laziness is easy.  We can choose whether or not to face ourselves and confront whatever intellectual or emotional issues we may have.

CONSISTENCY (of purpose):  Don’t give up before or during a performance until the performance is complete.  Constantly strive to make conditions as perfect as possible for an excellent performance and maintain a positive, engaged, and creative approach throughout the process until you have finally left the stage and have finished greeting the audience after the performance.

I’m certain that you can find inspiration in these words, whether you’re a musician, magician, public speaker or business presenter in any field.

The post The Seven C’s – How to Always Give a Perfect Performance On Stage appeared first on Chamber Magic.

Cole Porter’s piano – a small mahogany Steinway with Louis XVI courtly figures – is on display in the Park Avenue cocktail terrace of The Waldorf-Astoria. If you’re a Cole Porter fan, it’s definitely worth a visit. He composed many of his most famous songs on this piano, including I’ve Got You Under My Skin. 

Al Hirschfeld illustration of Cole Porter

Porter gave the piano to the hotel as a gift in 1939, and kept it in his suite until his death in 1964. There were actually two pianos in his suite, positioned curve to curve, so that two players could face each other while playing.

Here’s a floorplan I found online of suite 33A (click the image to enlarge):

Cole Porter kept two cats in this apartment for a while, one named “Anything” and the other one “Goes.” The cats reportedly never left the luxurious confines of their Towers suite.

Suite 33A was in the news in 2008 when it was put up for rental at $140,000 per month. Of course, that rental comes with twice-daily maid service.

Back to the piano. Cole Porter’s piano features double Empire-style legs, intricate hand carvings and decorative paintings. The keyboard lid is kept locked, so you unfortunately can’t tickle the ivories during your visit. However, I’ve heard pianist Daryl Sherman play this piano during her long tenure as the Waldorf’s pianist, and it sounds magnificent. The talented Ms. Sherman was kind enough to entertain over a hundred guests at my book launch party for Win The Crowd several years back.

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