In-Person Chicago Duo Piano Festival Concerts Announced for July

The Music Institute of Chicago has announced that its 33rd annual Chicago Duo Piano Festival will take place July 9-18, featuring a combination of in-person and online coaching and performances by renowned piano duos. The concerts, which will be available to attend in person and livestreamed, take place Friday, July 9 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston.

Directed by Festival Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem and Music Institute piano faculty Katherine Lee, the Festival will observe all pandemic protocols related to masking and physical distancing for in-person coaching and rehearsals, which will be combined with online coaching.

The July 9 Gala Opening Concert features Aebersold and Neiweem, who are celebrating 40 years as a piano duo. They will perform the world premiere of "Cries and Whispers" by Robert Chumbley, co-commissioned by the Chicago Duo Piano Festival and the Dranoff Foundation; Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" from Symphony No. 9, arranged by Franz Liszt; and works by Brahms and Ravel.

The July 16 concert features Music Institute piano faculty performing a mixed program of music for piano duo. Performers include Matthew Hagle and Mio Isoda, Xiaomin Liang and Jue He, Inah Chiu and Sung Hoon Mo, Louise Chan and Susan Tang, and more.
Chicago Duo Piano Festival concerts take place Friday, July 9 and 16 at 7:30 p.m.at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston.
Both performances are free and open to the public.To attend in person, RSVP at musicinst.org/cdpf-summer-festival by noon the day prior to each event;to view the livestream, visit musicinst.org/cdpf-summer-festival.

Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem, artists in residence and faculty members at the Music Institute, enjoy an international career as proponents of music for both piano duet and two keyboards. 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.

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