With over 30 years of songwriting, I had a hunch that Billy Joel wasn't going to be content with the generic term 'concerto' for his music-turned-into-concerto for piano and orchestra. Asked to submit three possible titles, the winner became Stuart Malina's offering: Symphonic Fantasies for Piano and Orchestra. Perhaps a sister to the Symphonic Variations by Cesar Franck--though the Joel stands on its own at 30 minutes. With the premiere getting close, going through the score and parts and piano part for atleast a near-perfect sounding premiere, is a challenge. Aside from a synthesized demo, which is actually quite remarkable in simulated performance, I am very curious as to the final product. To be continued...