Chicago Duo Piano Festival to Host Winter Mini-Fest, 3/4-6

Music Institute of Chicago's popular Chicago Duo Piano Festival (CDPF) presents its annual Duo Piano Winter Mini-Fest March 4-6 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. The festival features two concerts:

On Friday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m., Music Institute faculty member Xiaomin Liang and Jue He perform the opening night concert, featuring Samuel Barber's Souvenirs; Sergei Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 1 for Two Pianos, Op. 5; Astor Piazzolla's Libertango, Tangata, and Michelangelo; Witold Lutoslawski's Variations on a Theme by Paganini; and Carmen Fantasy, with themes by Georges Bizet arranged for two pianos by Greg Anderson.

Liang and He, who perform as the Liang-He duo, won the CDPF's "Liszt 2000" International Competition for piano duos in 2011, then earned the gold medal at the Tokyo International Piano Duo Competition in 2014. They met while studying at Northwestern University, where both earned doctorate degrees. The duo has performed in festivals and concert series throughout Asia and North America and has frequently been featured on WFMT, Chicago's classical music radio station. They toured more than 40 cities in China from 2012 to 2014, performing in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, receiving rave reviews and further accolades.

The Faculty Extravaganza concert, the Mini-Fest's most popular event, takes place Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m., featuring Music Institute piano faculty members Elaine Felder and Milana Pavchinskaya, Mio Isoda and Matthew Hagle, Irene Faliks and Maya Brodotskaya, Inah Chiu and Sung Hoon Mo, Kathy Lee and Akiko Konishi, Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem, and Grace Juang and Mark George performing music by Ravel, Brahms, Corigliano, Liszt, Chabrier, and others.

Pianists are welcome to register for the March 4-6 Mini-Fest, featuring concerts, master classes, lectures, coachings, and student recitals. Tuition is $95 per student, which includes admission to all concerts and events, participation in student recitals, coachings, and a festival dinner. Registration deadline is February 22, 2016.

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