Celebrating 30 Years of Chicago Duo Piano Festival
October 5th, 2017
The Music Institute of Chicago announces the 30th anniversary season of its annual Chicago Duo Piano Festival (CDPF) beginning this fall with a concert program Friday, October 27 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston and continuing with a year of performances and a youth duo piano competition.
Called a “duo piano mecca” by Pioneer Press, the Chicago Duo Piano Festival was founded in 1988 by Music Institute of Chicago faculty members and piano duo in residence Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem. Its mission is 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 festival offers coaching, master classes, concerts with special guest artists, and student recitals for students age 12 through adult.
Neiweem commented, “Thinking about our early days in 1988 as Chicago Duo Piano Workshop, we are gratified to see the festival grow into an event of international importance for fans of the piano duo. For this milestone season, we are presenting an expanded number of concerts and master classes, a world premiere piece for two pianos by Miami-based composer Robert Chumbley, and our annual national youth competition.” Aebersold added, “The CDPF mission continues unabated into the next decade, and we welcome everyone to share the enthusiasm by attending one of the many exciting events planned for our season of celebration.”
Music Institute President and CEO Mark George remarked, “What a magnificent achievement it is for Claire and Ralph to have led the Chicago Duo Piano Festival with such artistry and dynamism for 30 consecutive years!”
SEASON PROGRAMS
30th Anniversary Season Kick Off Concert
October 27, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Nichols Concert Hall | 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston
The program includes Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, featuring pianists Fiona Queen and Kay Kim and percussionists Josh Graham and John Corkill, and a 2008 CDPF commission, Patrick Byers’ Air from a Balcony, performed by Aebersold and Neiweem. Lauren Kim and Colin Song, Senior Division first place winners in the 2017 National Youth Competition for Piano Duos, perform Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Nocturne and Scherzo, and Jisu and Won Yang, who placed second in the Senior Division, perform Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor.
Chicago Duo Piano Winter Mini-Fest
March 2-4, 2018
Nichols Concert Hall | 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston
The Chicago Duo Piano Winter Mini-fest, an annual event, includes a weekend of master classes, coachings, lectures, student recitals, and other events open to all piano students. Registration deadline is February 1, 2018.
Mini-Fest Concerts at Nichols Concert Hall | Open to the general public
Duo Piano Dialogues presents “Exploring Claude Debussy”
Friday, March 2 at 7:30 pm
Duo Piano Dialogues, a series of performances with commentary by Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem, spotlights the unique repertoire for two pianists at one and two pianos. Marking the centenary of Debussy’s death, Aebersold and Neiweem present a program, dedicated to the composer’s music for piano duo, including his own arrangement of La Mer for piano, four hands.
Faculty Extravaganza
Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 pm
A “faculty extravaganza” concert showcasing the talented Music Institute faculty.
Chicago National Youth Competition for Piano Duos
June 2 & 3, 2018
Nichols Concert Hall | 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston
The Chicago National Youth Competition for Piano Duos is open to piano duos ages 9–18, currently in elementary to high school, studying and residing in the United States. Winners will receive cash prizes and participate in a winners concert, which will air later on WFMT 98.7FM.
Chicago Duo Piano Festival - 30th Anniversary!
Concluding the season is the 30th Chicago Duo Piano Festival, offering participants coaching, lectures, master classes, and recitals and featuring an expanded schedule of public performances.
Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem
Sunday, July 8 at 3 pm
The Opening Festival Concert showcases Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem performing the world premiere of American composer Robert Chumbley’s Whispers and Cries, a musical exploration of Beethoven’s growing deafness. This premiere takes place in collaboration with the Dranoff Foundation in Miami. Also on the program is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 in the arrangement for two pianos by Franz Liszt.
Guest Artist Concert featuring Inna Faliks and Daniel Scholsberg
Tuesday, July 10 at 7:30 pm
Featuring Music Institute alumna Inna Faliks and Daniel Schlosberg performing Mahler’s 6th Symphony, arranged by Alexander von Zemlinsky.
Guest Artist Concert featuring Vincenzo Maxia and Giovanni Carmassi
Friday, July 20 at 7:30 pm
Italian duo Vincenzo Maxia and Giovanni Carmassi perform Liszt’s “Faust” Symphony.
Other concerts to be scheduled include Music Institute faculty members Mio Isoda and Matthew Hagle performing Brahms’s Sonata in F Minor for Two Pianos, Op. 34b and the return of Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, featuring pianists Fiona Queen and Kay Kim and percussionists Josh Graham and John Corkill. There also will be a new series of lunchtime faculty concerts.
Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem
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 Washington Post has described them as “consummate practitioners of pianism, in complete sympathy with and understanding of each other and Schubert,” 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. Recent concerts include a 25th anniversary celebration concert at Merkin Hall in New York, an appearance at the Gina Bachauer Festival in Salt Lake City, and two recitals in Odessa, Ukraine. 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. In 2011, they presented two concerts broadcast live on WFMT to celebrate the Liszt bicentennial and organized the “Liszt 200” International Duo Piano Competition at Nichols Concert Hall.