Calendar

Apr
26
Fri
Fourth Friday Concert Series – Friday, April 26th, 2024, 7:30PM @ Ruggero Piano
Apr 26 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Click here for live stream!

Performer Bios

Andrew Wood, 18, graduated from Enloe High School with the International Baccalaureate Diploma last spring (2023). He is currently completing a gap year of intense preparation for a college degree in piano performance. Andrew has given solo recitals at Meredith College, Saint Mary’s School, and at private residences and retirement communities in Raleigh and Winston-Salem. As part of his study last summer at Krakow Piano, he performed in group recitals across Poland at Dębno Castle, Liszt Hall at Hotel Saski in Krakow, and Fazioli Concert Hall at the School of Music of Jastrzębie Zdrój. In addition to his study at Krakow, Andrew has studied in summer programs at the New Orleans Piano Institute and the Eastern Music Festival. Now in his second and final year with the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute, Andrew has been a member of two piano quartets. Currently he has serves as collaborative pianist for the Enloe High School Choral Department, and volunteers by teaching conducting, music theory, and choral music at Enloe. Andrew has won and received honors in local festivals and competitions such as the Young Artist Auditions, NC Music Teachers Association, and the Raleigh Piano Teachers Association Scholarship. He has placed twice in the Music Teachers National Association Competition, Senior Division. Andrew thanks his family and his teacher, Dr. Margaret Evans, for their support and for providing many wonderful opportunities.

Hrishikesh Ram (Hrishi) is a piano student of Dr. Olga Kleiankina of NC State University, and is pursuing chemical engineering and chemistry as a first-year undergraduate student. He previously was a student of Mr. John Herrmann of Durham, NC, and is also coached by Ms. Elizabeth Beilman of the NC Symphony in chamber music, as a member of the Tre Voce Piano Trio, North Carolina Chamber Music Institute. Hrishi has won prizes at the national, regional and international level in both solo piano and chamber music.

 

Fifteen-year-old Benjamin Luo, a ninth grader who hails from Apex, North Carolina, began his piano study with Florence Ko at age five. Since then, he has garnered first-prize awards in a myriad of piano competitions at state, national, and international levels. Benjamin has been the first-place winner in the Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) Piano Competition in both Junior and Senior Solo categories in the state round for five consecutive years, beginning in 2019. He was also a two-time MTNA Junior Piano National Finalist. In addition, along with his brother Brandon, Benjamin placed second nationally in the 2022-2023 MTNA Senior Piano Duet Competition, following a first-place win in the state and divisional rounds. Benjamin has performed with several orchestras after winning concerto competitions, including the Hampton Roads Philharmonic, the Chapel Hill Philharmonic, and the Tar River Orchestra. Recently, Benjamin played the full Rachmaninoff No. 2 Piano Concerto with the Long Bay Symphony of South Carolina.

Anastacy Golovidov is a sophomore at North Carolina State University pursuing her Bachelor in Graphic & Experience Design along with a minor in Music with Dr. Olga Kleiankina. She began her piano study with Olga Urick and at age six entered her first competition. From 2011-2017 she earned several 1st place, 2nd place, and Honorable Mention awards at the Young Artist Audition piano competition. Her achievements include multiple North Carolina Music Teachers Association and North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs district awards. In 2018 she received 2nd place at the Elizabeth Bullard competition. In 2019 she won first place at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts piano weekend festival. Her most recent awards include 2nd place in Young Artist Audition piano competition in 2021, 1st place at NCFMC Royalty 2022 and she is a CAPTA Scholarship Competition award recipient for College Minor in Music.

Sam Prochnau is a sophomore at North Carolina State University studying aerospace engineering with a minor in piano performance. Sam has played piano for 14 years, studying first under Irene Fix and currently under Dr. Olga Kleiankina. As a soloist, Sam has experience performing recitals in both North Carolina and his home state of Pennsylvania, and has performed in numerous masterclasses with distinguished piano professors from across the country. Sam also enjoys accompanying, reaching the 2022 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) All-State choir conference, accompanying the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra, as well as playing with various other ensembles and soloists. Outside of music, Sam plays club ultimate frisbee for NC State, enjoys hiking, and is a member of NC State’s Design Build Fly aerospace engineering club.

Brandon Luo, 17, is an eleventh grader from Apex, NC, who began his piano study with Florence Ko at age five. Since then, he has competed in numerous piano competitions and has won many competition awards, including first place in North Carolina Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Senior and Junior Piano Competitions, East Carolina University Young Artist Piano Competition, Hayes School of Music Piano Competition, United States International Music Competition, Great Masters International Piano Competition, American Protégé International Music Talent Competition, Charles F.T. Nakarai Piano Competition, RPTA Scholarship Competition, RPTA Young Artist Audition, as well as the State Royalty Competitions, NC Federation of Music Clubs State Scholarship Competition “Mary Davis Memorial Award”, “Maxine Taylor Fountain Award”, “NCFMC Past Presidents Award”, and “Thursday Morning Music Club Of Winston-Salem Award.” Brandon, along with his brother Benjamin, placed second nationally in the 2022-2023 MTNA Senior Piano Duet Competition, after winning first place in the state and divisional rounds. Recently, Brandon received first place in the RPTA Young Artist Auditions Concerto Competition and Federation of Music Clubs Competition “Estelle Brady Senior Piano Concerto Award”.


Founded in June, 2003, the Fourth Friday Concert Series, formerly know as the 4th Friday Mix, stands as one of our area’s longest-running concert series. We remain committed to providing free and inclusive concerts that welcome musicians with a passion for sharing their talents. All attendees, including children capable of listening attentively, are warmly welcomed. Fourth Friday Concerts typically feature 2-4 performers or performance groups, although special occasions may showcase a single performer or group for the entire concert. 

May
14
Tue
Solomon Eichner in Concert @ Ruggero Piano
May 14 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Performer Bio

Consistently in demand on the concert stage, Polish-American Concert Pianist Solomon Eichner has garnered international acclaim with performances in England, Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria and throughout the U.S.  Declared by the American Liszt Society as “A sensitive pianist, Solomon’s playing is poetic, beautiful and moving with deep feeling”, “A young Arthur Rubinstein”.

In the 2023 season commemorating Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday, Solomon performed many concerts showcasing the composer at various universities and concert series from San Francisco to Sarasota to Southampton.

An avid chamber musician, Solomon debuted on the 2023 Newport Music Festival, Rhode Island with Cellist Amit Peled.

Solomon performed in the 2022 season with the North Carolina Symphony, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto under Conductor Christoph Koenig.  In 2021 Solomon debuted with the NC Symphony playing Saint Saens Carnival of the Animals.

Sponsored by the March of the Living Foundation, Solomon performed for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at the Krakow Philharmonic Hall, Jewish Cultural Center and at Auschwitz in front of a crowd of 20,000 people.

Solomon has performed concertos with conductors Uriel Segal – Grieg; John Gordon Ross – Rachmaninoff 3rd; Mark Peterson – Liszt 1 and Chopin 2; David Hagy – Mendlessohn 1; Michelle Di Russo – Saint Saens Carnival of Animals; Tonu Kalam – Beethoven Triple; and appeared with George Mariner Maull on his Discovery Orchestra series. Orchestras Solomon has performed with include NC, Salisbury, Western Piedmont, Wilson, UNC, Discovery, Alicante Spain.

Solomon is a prizewinner of the Liszt-Garrison International Competition, International Young Artists Competition Washington D.C., GoldenKey Carnegie Hall Debut Competition and Miami Music Festival Concerto Competition.

Music Festivals Solomon has performed in include Perugia Italy, Pianofest in the Hamptons, Montecito California, Atlantic Maine, American Fine Arts Festival in Austria, SUNY New Paltz, IKIF Mannes.

Concert series Solomon has recently performed on include Artist Series Sarasota, Noontime Concerts Old St. Marys Cathedral San Francisco, Parrish Museum Water Mill, Community Concerts at 2nd Baltimore, St. Paul’s Church Augusta with Violinist Brian Reagin, Chamber Music Raleigh, Cary Page-Walker House, Paderewski Festival, University of Tampa Sykes Chapel, Tribby Arts Center Ft. Myers, Polish Embassy D.C, Temple Longboat Key, First Presbyterian Naples, Yale Gordon Trust, National City Church D.C, Music in the Great Hall, Bower Chapel Trinity by the Cove, Weymouth Arts Center, Pamlico Music Society, among others.

Originally from Baltimore, Solomon graduated from the Manhattan School of Music and Peabody Conservatory. When not concertizing, Solomon maintains a faculty position for the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute. Currently Solomon resides in Chapel Hill with his wife.

Website: www.solomoneichnerpianist.com

*Subject to credit approval. Monthly payments of $55.56 per $1,000 borrowed for 18 months at 0% APR. On purchases of new and in-stock qualifying Yamaha pianos from April 1, 2024, to June 3, 2024.

*Subject to credit approval. Monthly payments of $55.56 per $1,000 borrowed for 18 months at 0% APR. On purchases of new and in-stock qualifying Yamaha pianos from April 1, 2024, to June 3, 2024.

Customer Reviews

On the 4th Friday in September I took my election-weary self to Ruggero’s for a luxurious two hours of arias, Broadway tunes, Chopin channeled by a physicist from Duke, and a Beethoven sonata performed by a duo on a Yamaha and a Schimmel. I left rejuvenated by music, sated by hors d’oeuvres, and stimulated by discussions with a welcoming and eclectic mix of other music lovers. All for free. Ruggero’s generosity to the community is its own lovely melody. - Margaret Toman

Contact Us Here

Scroll to Top