Chicago Duo Piano Festival Mini-Fest Faculty Recital
$25 Pre-sale | $30 at the door
MIC students may visit "Current Students" to request up to 3 complimentary tickets.
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.
In addition to coachings and student recitals available to participants, the Mini-Fest includes recital at Nichols Concert Hall featuring members of the Music Institute of Chicago esteemed piano faculty.
PROGRAM
Schubert: Andantino Varié D. 823, No. 2 for Piano, Four Hands
Maya Brodotskaya and Irene Faliks
Debussy: Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune, Arrangement for Two Pianos by the Composer
Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem
Debussy: Six épigraphes antiques for Piano, Four Hands
Mio Isoda and Matthew Hagle
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
Lisa Kaplan: whirligig for piano, four hands
Louise Chan and Susan Tang
Barber: Souvenirs, Arranged for Two Pianos by Gold and Fizdale
Xiaomin Liang and Jue He
About the Chicago Duo Piano Festival
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.
Founded in 1988, the Chicago Duo Piano Festival has as its mission to foster a deeper interest in the repertoire, performance, and teaching of music for piano, four hands and two pianos, in a fun and supportive atmosphere. The Chicago Duo Piano Festival presents an annual summer festival and winter mini-fest, youth and adult competitions, master classes, and concerts featuring national and international guest piano duos. The festival has hosted many of the world’s most formidable piano duos, including the Paratore brothers, Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl, Tal and Groethuysen, the Contiguglia brothers, and Anderson and Roe.