Hot Flashes, a two piano quartet, will be featured in the Los Alamos Museum of Art series ‘Inside Arts’. Courtesy photo

COMMUNITY News:

The next interview on the Los Alamos Museum of Art series, Inside Arts, will feature the Hot Flashes.

The interview airs 8:30 p.m. Sunday, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and 8 p.m. Thursday on PAC 8.

Twenty five years is a long run for any musical group and the two piano quartet, the Hot Flashes, is still going strong. Four accomplished pianists Joann Brown, Joan Brown, Kathy Strong and Ruth Williamson meet every week to rehearse and enjoy the friendship they’ve shared over these many years.

Seeing eight hands floating over the keyboards at once is an amazing sight; listening to them is a delight. Finding music written for two piano quartets is not easy but sleuthing the music stores on vacations is second nature to these four.

And how do you keep four people playing the same piece in sync? Beside the rehearsals, it is a series of subtle cues, the pressure of a shoulder, the slight nod of a head, the lift of a hand and ears that all hear the same piece playing.

Rehearsals are often broken up by laughter or suggestions on how to try a slight variance of interpretation. These women are bonded by a love of music and their craft and have weathered personal tragedies and celebrations together. Friendship comes in capital letters.

The Los Alamo Museum of Art series of interviews, Inside Arts, airs weekly on PAC 8, 8:30 p.m. Sundays, 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 8 p.m. Thursdays.