press
(Click on the photos to link to the reviews.)
Click here to see what members of the press say about Patti’s playing...
Click here to see what people in the audience say....
John Loach, before “Patti with an ‘i’ and Patty with a ‘y’” at the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival, Toronto Star, 06/19/08
“If your partnership had a theme song, what would it be?
John: Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet." Beautiful, complicated, well orchestrated.
Patti: "Lucky To Be Me", because of the lyric: "What a night. Suddenly you came in sight, looking just the way I hoped you'd be. I'm so proud you chose me from all the crowd. There's no other girl I'd rather be. I could laugh out loud. I'm so lucky to be me."
Jazzin’ It Up In The Kitchen: Sarah Dann of Local Magazine interviews John and Patti Loach about the salons they host in their home, December 2014.
Ted Woloshyn, Newstalk1010 interviews Patti, Brad Hampton and Rae Ellen Bodie about the Picture of Happiness show at the Jazz Bistro, June 2014.
Bill Richardson of Classic 107 Winnipeg interviews Patti and surprise guest Fred Penner about the Picture of Happiness shows in Winnipeg in June 2014.
Kevin Prokosh of The Winnipeg Free Press interviews Fred Penner and Monica Huisman about the Picture of Happiness shows with Patti Loach and Brad Hampton (directed by Rae Ellen Bodie) that they hosted in their homes in June 2014.
Aynsley Wintrip Harris of TheSeptember.com interviews Patti in “Style Profiles”. April 6, 2014.
“When we met Patti Loach, we were instantly enamored. Not only is she witty and kind, she has boundless energy and a wonderful sense of style. Music is a thread that runs through her life as a pianist and stage performer. Have as much fun as we did getting to know Patti, this month’s Style Profile.”
“When you first meet Patti Loach, you instantly feel as though you’re in the presence of an artist. From her beautifully expressive face, her charming wit and her penchant for storytelling, it’s easy to imagine her taking the stage. When we met for coffee at her Toronto home recently, it wasn’t long before our conversation turned into performance as she offered up a familiar tune on the shining Steinway Grand in her kitchen. Patti is a pianist who would much rather accompany singers and instrumentalists than play solo piano, ‘I’m far too social to be a soloist!’, she says. ‘I thrive on collaboration and sharing the stage with others.’”
Shelley Yu of Kabuki Designs interviews Patti about her ‘fashion/style’ for Fresh Collective, August 2014.
Gaynor Jones, ArtsToronto, reviews Jazz In The Kitchen, September 23, 2013
“There’s a tradition that pianist Patti and John perform an opening number to welcome their guests (to the Jazz In The Kitchen salons). In addition to being our hosts, the Loaches are also musicians: Patti is a pianist and John plays trumpet. On Tuesday she chose “Pure Imagination” in which Patti’s lovely lyricism and sensitive style captured the essence of Bill Charlap’s arrangement. ‘Delicious,’ said Patti of Charlap’s arrangement: ‘delicious’ back to you for your playing, Patti.”
Don Wall, Forever Young News, May 30, 2013
interviews Patti about her work with singers Brad Hampton,
Jean Stilwell and Lindsay Sutherland Boal.
“To observe pianist Patti Loach in concert as an accompanist to performers such as Jean Stilwell, Lindsay Sutherland Boal or, these days Brad Hampton, is to witness a woman at the top of her powers. Her playing is precise and spirited and her presence – with buzzing energy in a thin frame, and wiry blonde hair that threatens to explode – often belies her role as a ‘mere’ background performer.” 
John Terauds, Musical Toronto, reviews
The Picture of Happiness.
“One more observation last night was on
the quality of Loach’s playing. This was show music rendered with a grace, subtlety and craft that could put many an art song or opera accompanist to shame.” John Terauds, Musical Toronto
Drew Rowsome, Fab Magazine, reviews
The Picture of Happiness.
"The Picture of Happiness feels like
spending an hour... with a very talented friend
who revels in the act of (story) telling and also
just happens to sing like a dream."
Drew Rowsome, FAB Magazine
For more articles about Patti’s work with Brad Hampton, please click here.
Richard Ouzounian interviews
Patti along with actress Patricia Zentilli
about their show,
“The Shopping Cart of Love”.
“Loach is a chameleon of the keyboard,
playing brilliantly in so many different styles
I sometimes feel she should be checked out for multiple personality disorder.”
Musical Theatre Blogger Amanda Campbell reviews Shopping Cart of Love, October 31, 2009.
“The next time you want something warm, something sweet, and something that will make you feel both jubilant and joyful, I would strongly recommend that you put a cabaret by Patricia Zentilli and Patti Loach in your shopping cart of life.”
Culture Maven Blogger Anya Wassenberg
reviews Shopping Cart of Love, November 1, 2009
“All of it was held together by the engaging characters of the ladies. Her hands deftly occupied with providing the sparkling musical accompaniment, Loach was the more sophisticated older woman to Patricia's often sweet and vulnerable stage presence, both her spoken and sung lines showing an impressive range of hitting emotional notes along with a nice comedic touch.”
John Terauds, Classical Music Critic for the Toronto Star, previews the show and describes a rehearsal he watched.
The Toronto Star, March 29, 2007
“They are two serious artists who are leaving nothing to chance. One particularly insightful moment is when Stilwell is told to make eye contact with her audience.
"I never do that in opera," she says, taken aback. "I usually look for the Exit sign." But the singer complies, now deploying her big, magnetic brown eyes to magical effect.
"It's all about communication," realizes Stilwell. Suddenly, the rest of us in the room are drawn even deeper into her personal world of laughter, tears, frustrations and realized hopes.”
.
Stilwell and Loach work well together, and I liked the mix of material here – from opera to jazz and Broadway,
to those new songs by New Yorker John Bucchino..
“Carmen unZipped is an outstanding CD.”
discusses Jean Stilwell, the diva, the woman,
as well as Jean’s friendship and musical collaboration with Patti Loach. Winter 2006.
“It became apparent that the two are sister friends - kindred spirits - although Patti maintains she is far too sensible to expose the "wild core" Jean insists they have in common.
They both cherish relationships with their supportive and musical families. The Loach home features a grand piano and state-of-the-art recording studio - the backdrop for many casual dinner parties. It is a place where the great musical and theatrical talents of the country showcase their ‘chops, partake in great wines, fine cheeses, Patti's brilliant culinary skills, and yes, good coffee.
These magical gatherings catapult the notion of entertaining at home to a whole new level.”
“Patti Loach's home revolves around her piano.
It's the centrepiece of her kitchen, kitty-corner from the food preparation area.
Stove and Steinway are juxtaposed in a floor plan that took scads of hi-tech CAD models to create.”
“You should see me making dinner here -- stir a little, chop a little, play a little.
I can't tell you how many times I've burned cookies because I was working on a difficult passage in a Brahms Ballade."
Noteworthy is "Falling in Love Again" - Marlene Dietrich's theme song, here given the full diva treatment, and well supported by Patti Loach (piano), David Bourque (clarinet) and John Loach (trumpet). Patti Loach is a sympathetic partner on the piano.
A conversation with Tom Murray, Jean Stilwell and Patti Loach about the genesis of the CD, and about Patti and Jean’s musical partnership.
“Carmen Unzipped...is a highly personal travelogue detailing ‘adventures and stories while we've travelled around or just sat in my kitchen/studio, making music, drinking a little wine, eating mass quantities of gorgonzola,’ says Loach. ‘I knew there was a show in those stories.’ “
“The show seems to rotate as much around the friendship of the two performers as it does around Stilwell's reminiscences. ‘We've found a very unique place and, in fact, I don't think I know of another singer and pianist team that does what Patti and I do.’ Stilwell says. ‘Patti is equally involved verbally in the show. We have a dialogue -- she describes how we meet, the seminal moments in my life -- and we have this wonderful repartee.’”
"Patti credits her participation in musical theatre at Thomson for developing her interest beyond practicing the Conservatory piano repertoire. She loves the art of accompanying, especially in a dramatic setting. Collaborative work is much more redemptive."
Dianne Wells: Wholenote Magazine, May 2007
A review of Carmen UnZipped, the show, and Carmen UnZipped, the CD.
“Lovingly recorded by Patti's husband John Loach, who also plays trumpet on Falling in Love Again, the homey atmosphere provides a warm but pristine sound quality that captures the extreme strength, vivacity and intelligence of these two gorgeous and talented women.
Time, indeed, for the world of opera to unzip its laced-up image."
A review of Carmen Unzipped at the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival’s
Opening night in the Cabaret series.
"What makes this evening is the
sheer force and presence
of Stilwell and Loach on the stage."
Best Health Magazine
2009 issue
Photo taken in 2004 in Florence, Italy.
Patti and her friend, chef Jayne Dunsmore of Jayne’s Gourmet, enjoying a Tiramisu after running a
half-marathon along the Arno River.
Beach Town Crier, 1998
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
“After sitting and staring at a computer screen all day, there’s nothing like a good run, or so says the Beach Town crier’s Athlete of the Month. One of the of the reasons the Pine Crescent resident and her family moved back to the area from Kingston was because of the diversity of the running routes - along the Boardwalk, on the hills and tree-lined streets between Queen Street East and Kingston Road, along the path on Ashbridge’s Bay and of course the Martin Goodman Trail.
‘There a real rush when you’re running the Boardwalk on a really windy day and the waves are crashing onto the shore beside you and the wind is just howling and you’re almost being blown into the lake,’ Patti tells the Town Crier. ‘I love that.’ Loach, who has been a big part of the fundraising committee to refurbish Malvern Collegiate’s band uniforms, took up running at the age of 35. The first organized run she took part in was the Toronto Marathon, and her favourite is the Breast Cancer Foundation’s Run for the Cure, for which she always puts together a team.” Being named Athlete of the Month was certainly a shocking honour. ‘The fact is, I’m really a dweeb,’ Patti says. ‘I can’t catch or throw, or even kick a ball. But I can run.’ She sure can.”
Mary-Lou Patricia Vetere of Opera Today
interviews Jean and Patti.
“Before the interview began, I was delighted
to have been witness to a moving
and quite effective performance of
“Ne Me Quitte Pas” with Jean, Patti,
and Patti’s husband, trumpeter John Loach.
The beautiful blend and emotional performance
created the kind of passionate interplay that is
necessary between musicians and everything
was still for that few moments.“
Rick MacMillan reviews
UnZipped, the CD
and interviews Jean about her career.
“ A follow-up recording is in the works.
Watch for it.”
Deirdre Kelly: Globe and Mail, April 27, 2007
An article that describes the recording studio that doubles as Patti’s kitchen.
"The piano takes up a lot of space and so a lot of thought went into building a room around it," says Ms. Loach, a miniature blonde with a personality as oversized as her prized instrument.
"I love the look of the room when it is set up for recording," Ms. Loach says. "I love the look of the hardware. Maybe it's because I love the look of music being made.
The end result is a kitchen unlike any other.
interviews Jean Stilwell and Patti.
“Jean and Patti’s musical connection is supported by a tremendous friendship, which makes this collaboration even more wonderful to observe.
A good model for all singer/pianist relationships; when you find this irreplaceable musical partnership, hang on to it and don’t be afraid to look at your colleague every so often and say, without speaking….Ne me quitte pas.”
The interview may also be viewed here
Leigh Blenkhorn at Simcoe.com talks about a performance of Carmen UnZipped in Barrie.
“The magic in Carmen UnZipped is the partnership between Stilwell and Loach..”
Don Wall of Forever Young News (05/30/2012) previews Patti’s performance with Lindsay Sutherland Boal in “Conversations at 3 a.m.”