Piano takes center stage this weekend as classical music lovers delight in Fresno Philharmonic, Keyboard Concerts offerings
It’s a bonanza of a weekend for classical piano lovers. It’s possible to attend concerts featuring world class pianists on both Friday and Saturday evenings, a luxury that you’d normally only find in major cultural capitals. Here’s a rundown:
• Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva will perform Friday at the Philip Lorenz international Keyboard Concerts series. She won first prize at the 2010 Chopin International Piano Competition, considered one of the most elite competitions in the world.
Andreas Werz, artistic director of keyboard, tells Fresno State collegiate reporter, Samantha Rangel that it will be a concert not to miss:“I hope the audience will be mesmerized and inspired by listening to this world-class artist. In addition, it brings an international feel to Fresno which you otherwise only experience in the great halls of New York, London, and Berlin.”
The performance is 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, at the Fresno State Concert Hall.
• Canadian pianist Jon Kimura Parker joins the Fresno Philharmonic on Saturday and Sunday in a program featuring the much loved Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3. The program also features Ravel’s elegant “Le Tombeau de Couperin,” written in honor of fallen friends, and Sibelius’s majestic and structure-bending Symphony No. 5.
Parker is a professor of piano at Rice University and a frequent guest artist for orchestras around the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic. He’s also performed with Fresno’s Audra McDonald.
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The orchestra performs under the baton of Rei Hotoda, who was recently named as music director at the Las Vegas Philharmonic. She will fill that role concurrently with her Fresno duties. Concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, at Shaghoian Concert Hall.
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