Park ICM Announces Two March Concerts

Park International Center for Music (Park ICM) announced today that their 2020-2021 Season would continue in March with two wonderful ways to experience classical music both free and freely available at Park ICM.

"Though the pandemic has continued to shutter our theaters," said Park ICM Executive Director Lisa Hickok, "We have been committed to bringing the best in classical music to our audiences. Having partners such as the 1900 Building and our new friends at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center in the Crossroads allows us to do just that."

First on the exciting line-up is a new collaboration between Park ICM and the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center in the Crossroads. Called "Witness: A Retrospective, Featuring the art of Jason Pollen and the Music of Park International Center for Music," the evening will feature students of Park ICM enveloped by the amazing visual art of internationally acclaimed artist, designer and educator, Jason Pollen.

An iconic visual artist since he arrived in Kansas City in 1983, Jason moved to the Midwest to become a professor in the Fiber Department at the Kansas City Art Institute. "I have been drawing, painting, collaging, designing and stitching since I was a child," said Pollen. "This retrospective is an overview of works created in this past half century. My art journey has been characterized by experimentation with process and materials, and the search for a compelling communicative visual language. I have often felt as if I were witnessing my hands create something from nothing. I then feel compelled to breathe as much life as possible into whatever shows up."

Broadcast from the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Hickok hopes that this will be just the beginning. "When I first met with Jason to discuss the possibility of a collaboration, he mentioned that he was the product of a family of classically trained musicians and that he was 'eager to have the music resonate' with his works. We are so excited to bring that vision to fruition. Especially in times of such uncertainty, it is lovely to foster new relationships in the artistic community. We hope that putting together this amazing combination will appeal to classical music and visual art lovers alike and, hopefully, promote the desire of other artists and arts organizations to work with Park ICM in the near future."

The concert will feature six Park ICM students including Orin Laursen, Ilya Shmukler, Ilkhom Muhiddnov, Igor Khukhua, Evangeliya Delizonas-Khukhua, and Anastasia Vorotnaya, plus Park Collaborative Pianist Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich. The repertoire featured will be:

Camille Saint-Saëns : Havanaise

Orin Laursen, violin with Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich, piano

R. Wagner - F. Liszt : Overture to "Tannhäuser" S. 442

Ilya Shmukler, piano

Fritz Kreisler : Praeludium and Allegro

Ilkhom Mukhiddinov, violin with Lolita Lisovskaya-Sayevich, piano

Fritz Kreisler : Liebesfreud

P.I. Tchaikovsky : Melody

Nikolo Paganini : Caprice No: 18

Igor Khukhua, violin with Evangeliya Delizonas-Khukhua, piano

Sergei Rachmaninoff : Moments Musicaux Op 16, No. 3. Andante cantabile, B minor, No. 4. Presto, E minor

Sergei Taneyev : Prelude and Fugue Op.29

Anastasia Vorotnaya, piano

Tune into "Witness: A Retrospective Featuring the Art of Jason Pollen with the Music of Park International Center for Music," Friday, March 5th, 2021, broadcast from the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, 7:30 p.m. More information and broadcast link available at ICM.PARK.EDU. No in person seating available. Virtual only.

The second offering in Park ICM's roar into March is internationally acclaimed pianist Behzod Abduraimov. Described by The New York Times as the "master of all he surveys" and with The Washington Post noting to "keep your ear on this one," Abduraimov's captivating performances continue to receive international praise. Following his debut success at Carnegie Hall in 2015, Behzod has performed with leading orchestras worldwide. An award-winning recording artist, his most recent album, "Debussy, Chopin, Mussorgsky" was released in January 2021 by Alpha Classics and has already reached the "10 Classical Albums you must hear this month" on the Apple Music this past week. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990, Abduraimov began to play the piano at the age of five as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent. He is an alumnus of Park University's International Center for Music, where he studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch, and now serves as the ICM's artist-in-residence.

Program to include:

Ludwig van Beethoven's Sonata Op. 27, No. 2 "Moonlight"

Sergei Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42

The finale will be something to behold, as Behzod will be joined by Park graduate student, Kenny Broberg, in Sergei Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 1, Op. 5 in G-minor for Two Pianos. Having won the silver medal at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and the bronze at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Kenny is a current finalist in the 2021 American Pianists Awards competition that, after a delay due to COVID, will be completed this June.

The program will be broadcast from the 1900 Building in Mission Woods, Kansas, Saturday, March 6th, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. More information at ICM.PARK.EDU. NOTE: This is a change from the originally released Wednesday, March 3rd date.

http://59productions.co.uk/project/behzod-abduraimov/

https://www.harrisonparrott.com/artists/behzod-abduraimov

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYAUofe3gCE&feature=youtu.be

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/classical-you-must-hear-this-month/pl.c709cdc139444d95b84d64ab25cbcac9

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