Duo Piano Featured At Winter Mini-fest

The Music Institute of Chicago's Chicago Duo Piano Festival (CDPF) celebrates the joy of two-piano and four-hand piano performance at the CDPF Winter Mini-fest March 6-8 at the Evanston East campus, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston. Registration deadline is Saturday, February 1, 2020.

In addition to coachings and student recitals available to participants, the Mini-Fest includes a faculty recital, open to the public, Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall. The program and musicians include:

• Schubert: Andantino Varié D. 823, No. 2 for Piano, Four Hands
  • Maya Brodotskaya and Irene Faliks
• Debussy: Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un fauneArrangement for Two Pianos by the Composer
  • Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem
• Lisa Kaplan: whirligig for piano, four hands
  • Louise Chan and Susan Tang
• Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries arranged for Two Pianos, Eight Hands
  • Katherine Lee, Elaine Felder, Soo Young Lee, Fiona Queen
• Lutoslawski: Variations on a Theme by Paganini for Two Pianos
  • Soo Young Lee and Katherine Petersen
• Debussy: Six épigraphes antiques for Piano, Four Hands
  • Mio Isoda and Matthew Hagle
• Barber: Souvenirs, Arranged for Two Pianos by Gold and Fizdale
  • Xiaomin Liang and Jue He

Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem, who recently received the inaugural career achievement award in piano duo by the Josef and Rosina Lhévinne Legacy Foundation, are artists in residence and faculty members at the Music Institute and enjoy an international career as proponents of music for both piano duet and two keyboards. The Washington Post has described them as "consummate practitioners of pianism, in complete sympathy with and understanding of each other," and Gramophone Magazine called their Schubert recordings "utterly charming." The duo has appeared with orchestras internationally, including the Chicago Philharmonic and the Vienna Tonkünstler. They have performed in recitals throughout the U.S. and Europe. Concerts include a 25th anniversary celebration concert at Merkin Hall in New York, an appearance at the Gina Bachauer Festival in Salt Lake City, two recitals in Odessa, Ukraine, and more than 200 recitals in Austria and Italy. Aebersold and Neiweem have commissioned significant new works for the piano duo, including pieces by Joseph Turrin and Patrick Byers. The duo's CDs on the Summit label include Four Hand Reflections and music of Brahms and Schubert. They are frequent performers on WFMT 98.7FM and are founders of the Chicago International Duo Piano Competition.

Tickets are available at musicinst.org/nch or by calling 847.448.8326.

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