Music Institute of Chicago to Welcome Pianist Inna Faliks, 5/3

For its fourth annual Distinguished Alumni Concert, the Music Institute of Chicago presents pianist Inna Faliks Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston.

Faliks, whose mother Irene Faliks joined the Music Institute's piano faculty in 1990, offers an imaginative concert program to explore the connection between words and music. Faliks will perform Beethoven's Fantasie Op. 77; Shchedrin's Basso Ostinato; and Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6. Interspersed with the music will be poetry read by a guest to be determined. More information about Faliks' Music/Words program is available at musicwordsnyc.com.

After studying at the Music Institute with Emilio del Rosario, Inna worked with such towering figures as Leon Fleisher, Ann Schein, and Gilbert Kalish, eventually earning a doctor of musical arts degree from Stony Brook University in New York. She has performed in some of the world's most distinguished venues, including Carnegie Hall's Weill Concert Hall, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, Paris' Salle Cortot, Chicago's Symphony Center, and many more. Critics have described her as "a soloist in total command of her instrument" and "a concert pianist of the highest order." This year, Inna joined the prestigious faculty of UCLA as a tenured associate professor of piano.

Music Institute of Chicago: The Music Institute of Chicago believes that music has the power to sustain and nourish the human spirit; therefore, its mission is to provide the foundation for lifelong engagement with music. Founded in 1931, the Music Institute has grown to become one of the three largest and most respected community music schools in the nation. Offering musical excellence built on the strength of its distinguished faculty, commitment to quality, and breadth of programs and services, the Music Institute is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Pre-collegiate Arts Schools (ACCPAS). Each year, the Music Institute's teachers and arts therapists reach thousands of students and clients of all ages and levels of experience. The Music Institute opened a new location this fall at Fourth Presbyterian Church's Gratz Center in downtown Chicago. Other Music Institute locations include Evanston, Winnetka, Lincolnshire, Lake Forest, and Downers Grove. In addition, the Music Institute is proud of its longstanding partnership with the Chicago Public Schools through its Arts Link program. The Music Institute offers lessons and classes, creative arts therapy, and concerts through its Community School, Academy, Institute for Therapy through the Arts (ITA), and Nichols Concert Hall.

Pianist Inna Faliks performs for the Music Institute of Chicago's annual Distinguished Alumni Concert Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. Tickets are $30 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $10 for students, available at brownpapertickets.com/event/456089 or 847.905.1500 ext. 108. For more information visit musicinst.org.