Piano Heist

Lifelong friends, and colleagues, Nico Rhodes, and Patrick Courtin, shocked and appalled by the realization that piano just isn’t cool anymore, set off on a divine quest to redeem the keyboard and reinstate its reputation as the greatest instrument of ALL TIME! Armed with the music of the greatest composers, songwriters and performers of the past 400 years, and the technology of the 21st century – their virtual orchestra (Dougie), Nico and Patrick deliver everything from classical piano raptures to bombastic boogie woogie, from romantic piano ballads to 80’s keyboard synth battles in their show Piano Heist! What ensues is a mishmash of theatrical wonder, comedy, audience participation, heartfelt stories, a pinch of history, and a world of musical madness.

Project Creator: Nico Rhodes is a genre jumping, multilingual musician who collaborates with other artists and artforms to experience and explore music in as many styles as possible. Growing up touring around the globe surrounded by artists and the world of theatre – he is equally comfortable playing jazz, classical, funk or roots music, orchestrating a symphony, writing musicals, and conducting choirs. He begins his day with an expresso and practicing his Japanese, the language he is currently embracing. Nico Rhodes is one of the most in demand young arranger/musical directors in Canada, with 40 stage musicals to his credit. He’s written 400 original compositions, four original musicals and arranged two symphonic pops concerts. He has been nominated for two Jessie and five Ovation Awards and in 2019 was honoured with Nanaimo’s Emerging Cultural Leader Award. He composes for stage, screen, and media, collaborates with multiple choirs, plays with several jazz trios and tours in a duo with his mother, renowned chanteuse Joelle Rabu. In 2022 Nico created his dream show – Piano Heist and produced a series of four multi-artist multi-genre concerts entitled Chapters for The Port Theatre in Nanaimo B.C.

Patrick Courtin is first and foremost a pianist, but also, he is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, music director and teacher. From his first professional gig accompanying a choir at the age of 14, Patrick has been a career musician. He is classically trained (Royal Conservatory of Music) and completed grade 10 by the age of 17. He then went on to complete a bachelor’s degree of Music in Jazz Studies at Vancouver Island University. For the past decade, Patrick has directed musical theatre productions, played in recording sessions, created music for film + TV, and toured across Canada, the United States and China. Patrick is comfortably at home in many musical settings, having played in professional ensembles in a variety of genres from jazz and classical, to rock and funk. Patrick’s eclectic experience of musical collaboration has included accompanying silent film, opera singers, swing dancers and historical theatre productions.

Tickets: $32.50 Members, $37.50 Non-Members (+applicable taxes & fees)