Album Notes

So you walk into a piano bar and THERE THEY ARE:

Johann Sebastian Bach ( THE grandfather of classical music ),
jazz piano master Dave Brubeck,
'Peanuts'composer-pianist extraordinaire Vince Guaraldi,
AND ( Mr.Ragtime himself! )
Scott Joplin - each taking a turn at playing one of your favorite Christmas songs...

sound like a dream? It doesn't have to be!
Hear pianoman Richard Sladek channel the greats on this holiday CD and you'll see what we mean.

A must for any holiday music collection and great stocking stuffer. But don't stop there, treat yourself to one today, and you'll be in the Christmas spirit all season long!
( Cassettes available upon email request.)

READ THE REVIEW AT http://www.christmasreviews.com/wrichardsladek.shtml


AND NOW A LITTLE INFO ABOUT THE ARTIST - RICHARD SLADEK

A Chicago native, Richard Sladek started playing the piano with inspiration from his parents at age seven. Early formal studies were with John Calderone and later with Lydia Smutny Sterba and Dmitri Paperno. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree at the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University under the tutelage of Saul Dorfman and Felix Ganz.

He has been coached by concert pianists Robert Vanderschaaf, Donald Walker, Joseph Cisar, and Pawel Checinski. His private theory and composition studies were with Ralph Dodds and William Russo.

Mr. Sladek is the recipient of several awards including those from the Chicago Musical Arts Club and the Grace Welsh National Piano Competition.

Professionally, he has served as staff accompanist for Columbia College and the Second City National Touring Company. He has also accompanied for the Salt Creek Ballet, and The Academy of Movement and Music, as well as played for ballet master classes with the renowned Maria Tallchief, Violette Verde and Ken Von Heidecke.

He was a featured artist at the Oak Brook Nordstrom and at Von Maur at Yorktown Center, Lombard. In 1994 Von Maur commissioned him to record "Christmas Favorites" to celebrate the first holiday season of the company in the Chicago area. It has also been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio.



Mr. Sladek has received a New York Film Festivals award for Outstanding Achievement for his Original Music for Video with the nationally acclaimed education theater troupe, Wavelength. As musical director/composer for 16 years, he performed for over 100,000 educators in North America and the Netherlands. He has played keyboards in numerous musical theater productions, most notably for the Shubert, Marriott Lincolnshire, Theater at the Center, Apple Tree and Circle Theaters, and the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse.


Mr. Sladek's 2002 solo piano recording,
"Piano Celebration", features a variety of musical styles ranging from Chopin to Joplin to Ellington.