[ Instrumental music playing ] Jamie: I'll be recording two works in July of 2025 at the most famous recording studio in the world, Abbey Road in London.

My original intention was to record two of my orchestral works in Europe.

Pianist Robert Thies talked me into trying Abbey Road.

I thought I'd never get in there.

Why not?

People think you can't do something.

You have to have the attitude of why not me?

Two of my biggest musical heroes recorded there, Paul McCartney, of course, and John Williams was there many times recording the music for "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter."

[ Metal dinging ] I'll have to play it.

No.

[ Laughs ] Just the fact that I was there and was able to play on the same piano as Paul McCartney.

Play some Beatles.

[ Piano playing ] For the past year, I've been planning this time at Abbey Road.

I had to bid on the time, because it's very full and busy recording studio.

I'm also hiring a producer from Los Angeles to go with me to Abbey Road.

60 members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

This will be from the top.

And a conductor.

It's taken me hundreds of hours to redo the scores and the parts for all the instruments.

A big part of that that I didn't know was coming was, of course, the different paper sizes in England, and the metric system means I had to reformat the score for English sized paper.

[ Keyboard playing ] I'm a lifetime musician.

I reached up and started playing the piano at about 3 1/2 years old and played piano essentially all my life.

In high school and in college, I was leading a double life of an extensive practice in classical piano.

But I became interested in rock 'n' roll at a very young age.

♪ When I was young, I never needed anyone ♪ I'll be receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Iowa Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

I definitely wanted to be a rock star at 18, but I also loved classical music so much that eventually, of course, led to things like composing these large orchestral works.

♪ I think of all the friends I've known ♪ Brubaker: I think in a way he was born to do what he's doing, and I'm so glad it's music.

[ Laughs ] I kept urging him to go ahead and set it up and I'd pay for it.

And he finally did.

Jamie: My wife and my daughter were able to travel with me and be at Abbey Road and experience the whole thing with me, and we met my son and his wife.

For the past 30 years, I've been teaching music theory and piano lessons at Simpson College.

I am going to retire soon, and I look at this as a stepping stone to the next chapter of my musical life.

Hello.

It's wonderful to be here.

Greetings from the American heartland.

I live in Des Moines, Iowa, and it's great to be here, of course, with the history of Abbey Road and the reputation of the Royal Philharmonic.

And I'm just thrilled to be here.

The piano concerto, I can tell you for today was commissioned and originally dedicated to the memory of two fine musicians, a mother and daughter, who both passed away within a few weeks of each other.

I hope to have made some beautiful music, and I look forward to you making beautiful music with it.

So thanks so much.

[ Piano music playing ] I'm very excited and pleased to have Robert Theis, Grammy nominated and international prize winning pianist, as the main part of this project.

[ Orchestral music playing ] I immediately connected to Jamie's musical language, and what I love about this concerto is that it has so many different aspects of music that I gravitate towards, dramatic classical forms and very intimate moments.

Musically, it's not a challenge.

Technically, on the other hand, it's quite challenging.

Vlasse: Conductor Geoffrey Paterson has led major orchestras all over Europe.

He conducts opera, he conducts classical masterworks, and because he's known for his particularly dynamic work with new music, I feel he's an absolute perfect fit for this recording.

Paterson: Jamie's piano concerto, it's -- it's a magnificent piece.

It has a really wonderful dramatic sweep, moments of exquisite, delicate beauty and romantic grandeur.

And it carries you, I think, in one huge romantic arch from the beginning to the end.

[ Orchestral music continues playing ] "The Heartland Poem" was written a few years after the piano concerto, and it is a piece that is meant to represent scenes in the history of the American heartland.

[ Orchestral music continues playing ] For me, as a -- as a Brit coming to American music, it takes me to somewhere very different and somewhere really evocative.

Jamie: I think all my composition comes from sitting at the piano and improvising.

I do play a lot of jazz now in my old age, so I am, I believe, very experienced improviser, but I've always improvised at the piano.

Christopher: I've heard his pieces that he's been working on my whole life.

It's like seeing the music that's been imprinted on your DNA is being immortalized.

Elise: We've seen him come home from playing gigs and teaching school and then continue to work on all of this stuff into the late night and not get any time to rest.

So I hope that he gets to absorb what he's accomplished and the stage that he's on now.

Lori: It's very, very personal to him.

I think a lot of people don't understand the vulnerability of writing music and putting it out there for other people to hear.

Jamie: I definitely have a lot more to do, just even related to these pieces, but I certainly hope to produce some new things, especially a new opera and maybe a second piano concerto.

I hope it inspires people to try things that they don't think they possibly could do, because, you know, the cliches are true.

Hard work will get you there if you just don't give up.

[ Orchestral music playing ]