Chicago Pianist Jonathan Cambry
Youtube's Star Piano Playa Programs Computers and Makes Web Tools
Mar 26, 2008
With 4,702 subscribers, PianoPlaya123 is the 46th most subscribed to Guru (a designation that the subscriber is an expert in a specific field) on YouTube. His videos have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and his channel has been viewed more than 100,000 times.
PianoPlaya123 is 25-year-old Jonathan Cambry, a second year university bachelor's student in the Chicago College of Performing Arts.
While he studies for a degree in piano performance, his other great talent is with computers.
"When I was young, I taught myself programming and my parents found out and encouraged it," Cambry said.
Around the time that YouTube was developing, he was establishing his own video-sharing site with his brother. They called their site Jookey. It was intended for artists to showcase their art. To test the encoding speed of the site, Cambry made several recordings of himself playing piano. When he found out about YouTube, he posted a video of himself playing Rachmaninoff's "Moment Musical no. 4" for comparison. He found that YouTube was easier and they abandoned Jookey.
YouTube featured his video and it had received about 500,000 views as of this writing. Cambry decided to post the other recordings he made to test Jookey on his YouTube channel. He made more and started a video blog with them.
As a result of the popularity, Cambry was invited to perform at an art gallery in New York.
Cambry began playing the piano when he was three. He attended the Oberlin Conservatory for three years and transferred to Northern Illinois University before enrolling at Roosevelt.
"[The CCPA] has really changed since I first applied to college," Camby said. "Its faculty is completely different. I think back then it was called the Chicago Musical College."
The CCPA adopted its current name in 2000. Cambry has ideas for projects, but has no intention of being a solo performer. He'd like to teach and use his knowledge of computers to help pianists and listeners.
For pianists, he has his Web site (www.pianofever.com), where pianists can post recordings of themselves like Cambry did on YouTube. Cambry hopes it will be a good resource for pianists, especially pianists who want recognition. Cambry believes that one of the reasons people like watching his videos is because he performs in street clothes.
"Not too many people identify with a pianist if they're wearing a suit," Cambry said.
He hopes to get the younger generation interested and connected to the piano.
Cambry described one of the greatest honors being when composers send him their sheet music.
"Here is someone who has created a piece and told me, 'Wow, you're great. I would be honored if you would play this.'"
[This article was based on an interview I did with the pianist. This article was published in the Roosevelt Torch on Mar. 10 2008]
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