Holiday Newsletter
Greetings from all of us at Pianofest!
As we welcome a festive holiday season ahead, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on our gratitude for your being a part of our musical community that enriches our lives not only during the summer weeks, but reaches across the world in a way that nurtures our blossoming performers and the appreciation of their collective global audiences. Our growing visibility and reach are evidenced by the stature of both our student performers and our distinguished visiting faculty, and the viewership of our live global streaming events.
Alec Baldwin’s visit to Pianofest this summer and his guest hosting was certainly a highlight of the season as he brought into focus his own curiosity about the lives and work of our performers. We have also inaugurated what has turned out to be a highly successful expansion of our Pianofest concerts into Westhampton at the beautiful Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.
We acknowledge, with our heartfelt thanks, the generosity of your support in moving forward well into our third decade at Pianofest. We invite you to please consider making a tax-deductible year-end gift to support our mission, our programs, and the education and future of our many musicians.
We wish you a wonderful holiday and time with friends and family, and plenty of time to reflect on the value of our lives through music—and we look forward to seeing you at our next event!
Warmest wishes,
Zsolt Bognár, editor
PIANOFEST WEDDINGS
Pianofest has been the cradle of lifelong relationships, and this year we can celebrate at least two Pianofest weddings: Arianna Körting and Robin Giesbrecht were married at Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York. Their duo, “Arianna and Robin”, made its Weill Recital Hall debut at Carnegie Hall in March. Matt Griswold and Gvantsa Zangaladze were married in August at Carnegie Institution for Science (pictured above). Many Pianofest alumni were in attendance at both weddings.
ALUMNI NEWS
Michael Brown made his Mostly Mozart Festival recital debut at Lincoln Center with a program of monumental piano variations in July, in what Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times called “a fearless performance”. Michael continued his increasing momentum in a performance together with Orion Weiss at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in a program featuring Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and the Messiaen Visions de l’Amen. In describing the program to us ahead of time, Michael characterized it as “possibly the loudest program ever”.
Misha Galant was named the 2020 Gilmore Young Artist. The prize is awarded every two years to the most promising performers of the new generation, decided by an anonymous global selection committee. It is one of the most prestigious recognitions in the piano world.
Albert Cano Smit was named winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, a prize that includes a three-year contract of comprehensive management and performances in New York and Washington.
Fei-Fei Dong has continued a developing career with rapidly increasing momentum. In May she made her Carnegie Hall debut at Stern Auditorium with Rachmaninoff second concerto and the New York Youth Symphony, with whom she subsequently toured in Spain.
ALUMNI INTERVIEW:
ANDERSON & ROE PIANO DUO
An Interview with Pianofest Alumni — Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe of Anderson & Roe Piano Duo.
You met at Pianofest, correct?
Liz: We actually met during Freshman Orientation week at The Juilliard School; we were assigned to the same floor in the dormitory! A close friendship and mutual respect quickly developed, and I remember we were both excited to have the opportunity to attend Pianofest together a couple years later. We spent three consecutive summers at Pianofest (2002-2004), and our time there would end up playing a significant role in our lives: not only was it a place of bonding and inspiration (thanks to our fantastic teachers, peers, and audiences), it also set the stage for our piano duo career.
How did the piano duo start?
Greg: Our first piano duo performance ever was at Pianofest in 2002 — we played Brahms’ Haydn Variations. I remember how electric it was when we first sight-read in the living room/teaching studio at the Pianofest house. The piece is notoriously difficult to synchronize exactly, and we were perfectly together. That same innate sense of musical timing (or is it “mind reading”?) has followed us throughout our career; we rarely spend rehearsal time on the basics of ensemble.
Has the possibility of touring the world as a duo surprised you?
Liz: Neither Greg nor I had ever imagined that we would be in a professional piano duo; we were on the conventional path of building solo careers, and we began playing together just for fun. That said, we each possessed lofty dreams and visions for how classical music could impact the world, and we discovered that our ideals powerfully aligned—this, alongside our friendship, is the glue holding our partnership together.
