![My Funny Valentine: A Night with the Hillsborough Street Jazz Trio @ Ruggero Piano](https://www.ruggeropiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Hillsborough-Street-Jazz-Trio-300x200.jpg)
![The Free Spirits Ensemble - Let's Dance @ Ruggero Piano](https://www.ruggeropiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Raleigh-Symphony-Orchestra-Concert-03-26-22-300x300.jpg)
After almost two years, the Free Spirits Ensemble is back in Bosendorfer Hall at Ruggero Piano – and ready to dance! Our concert begins with Michele Mangani’s “Tre Danza Latine”. Next is featured “Four Unknown Dances” by Lanette Lind. We then shift to South American with four selections from Jobim and Piazzolla, arranged by Jim Williams – all designed to warm an early spring evening with Terpsichore.
MICHELE MANGANI
Tre Danza Latine for clarinet and piano
LANETTE LIND
Four Unknown Dances for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
Inveirno Porteno for violin, cello and piano
Oblivion for violin, cello and piano
FOUR LATIN SELECTIONS (ARRANGED BY JIM WILLIAMS)
FOR CLARINET, VIOLIN, CELLO AND PIANO
Girl from Ipanema | Antonio Carlos Jobim
Shadow of Your Smile | Johnny Mandel
Ausensias | Astor Piazzolla
Street Tango | Astor Piazzolla
![4th Annual Fall Course Series, Part 1 of 3 - Teaching Improvisation from the Beginning featuring Ed Paolantonio, Jazz Artist, Adjunct Faculty at Duke University @ Ruggero Piano](https://www.ruggeropiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1-300x300.png)
About the Series
Developing the Total Musician – Teaching Essential Skills: Improvisation, Accompanying, and Sight Reading
We value the commitment of piano teachers to serve our students with professionalism and teaching expertise. Committed to education, we proudly present this complimentary three-part lecture series. To ensure the health and safety of our clinicians and participants, this year’s programs will be available to attend in-person and via live stream.
Students who are available to participate due to flexible remote learning schedules are also welcome to attend! The live stream link will be available on our website at ruggeropiano.com prior to each presentation. These workshops are complimentary – we invite you to join us in-person or via Live Stream!
About This Presentation
Developing the skills to teach Improvisation can seem mysterious. The necessary skills to encourage a love of improvisation can be enhanced with learning the scale and chord work to open up possibilities at the piano. Altering melodies with rhythm or re-phrasing the musical line will be demonstrated. Written harmonies can be embellished with scales! Teacher participation is encouraged for hands-on learning during the presentation.
About the Presenter
Pianist Ed Paolantonio has been described as an “all consuming musician…(whose) solo struck sparks all around the room.” — Owen Cardle (News & Observer, Raleigh, NC) “He’s outstanding, …talented and prolific”, said R. C. Smith (Durham Morning Herald). Joe Vanderford (Spectator, Raleigh, NC) wrote of “Paolantonio’s sound … full of arpeggios, utilizing every one of the eighty-eights”.
Paolantonio hails from New York City, but lives now in Durham, NC. Besides earning a BS in Music Ed. from Suny Potsdam, and an MM. in Performance from UNC Chapel Hill, he studied 3½ years with world famous jazz pianist, teacher, and composer Lennie Tristano. He has been composing, arranging and performing jazz professionally since 1971, and has accompanied many jazz giants, including Dizzy Gillespie, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Lee Konitz, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath, Claudio Roditi, Tom Harrell, Woody Shaw and Emily Remler.
Paolantonio has toured North Carolina with jazz drummer Max Roach. As an artist on the NC Touring Program, he performed with his much-acclaimed jazz vocal group, String of Pearls. He toured the Middle East for USIA with vibraphonist Jon Metzger, and has been the recipient of two North Carolina Jazz Fellowship Awards and the Durham Emerging Artist Grant.
An excellent clinician, Paolantonio has served in schools and colleges in and out of state. He was a NC Artist in Residence for three years, and has taught jazz improvisation and history at North Carolina Central University, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University, North Carolina State University, and Elon College. As an accompanist, Paolantonio’s recording credits include Baron Tymas’s CD “Insight at Midnight”; A Benny Goodman CD recorded for Elon College “Airmail Special”; Mike Waddell’s CD “Defining Moments”; a Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington CD recorded with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra; Scott Sawyer’s CD, “In the Stream”; Group Sax’s three recordings “A New Level”, “All’s Well” and “Prime Time”; Karen Love’s CD “I Believe in Little Things”; and Dan Axelrod’s L.P. “New Axe” distributed on the Phoenix Record label.
Dedications, Paolantonio’s first CD, showcases his superb talent as a composer and arranger, and demonstrates his outstanding ability as a jazz improviser.
“Dad’s Blues” is Paolantonio’s second recording as a leader and is available through Ed’s web site:
(paoloproductions.com)
![4th Annual Fall Course Series, Part 2 of 3 - Playing Well with Others: An Introduction to Collaborative Skills for Pianists featuring Dr. Allison Gagnon, Director of Collaborative Piano, UNCSA @ Ruggero Piano](https://www.ruggeropiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2-300x300.png)
About the Series
Developing the Total Musician – Teaching Essential Skills: Improvisation, Accompanying, and Sight Reading
We value the commitment of piano teachers to serve our students with professionalism and teaching expertise. Committed to education, we proudly present this complimentary three-part lecture series. To ensure the health and safety of our clinicians and participants, this year’s programs will be available to attend in-person and via live stream.
Students who are available to participate due to flexible remote learning schedules are also welcome to attend! The live stream link will be available on our website at ruggeropiano.com prior to each presentation. These workshops are complimentary – we invite you to join us in-person or via Live Stream!
About This Presentation
Pianists can be completely self-sufficient as musicians. There is a wealth of repertoire for piano solo. But there is so much more music in which pianists share the score with musical partners! Join Allison Gagnon in a workshop that explores collaborative skills for young pianists and introduces sample repertoire to teach these skills. Also included will be a discussion of the opportunities for student pianists who are equipped to share the music, whether with individual vocal and instrumental partners, or with a vocal or instrumental ensemble. The second part of the workshop may feature some work with teams of student participants. There will be time for questions and conversation throughout.
About the Presenter
Canadian pianist Allison Gagnon directs the Collaborative Piano Program at University of North Carolina School of the Arts and concertizes with vocal and instrumental colleagues across the US and internationally. At UNCSA, she performs not only with faculty and students, but also with guest artists, including soprano Latonia Moore in the 2022-23 season. Before joining UNCSA in 1998 she was affiliated with two Canadian universities: Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She was also a member of the piano staff at the Meadowmount School of Music in New York for almost 20 years.
A dedicated educator, Dr. Gagnon has twice received the UNCSA Excellence in Teaching Award (2014 and 2022). Graduates of the collaborative piano program she launched more than 20 years ago at UNCSA are active professionally across the US, in Canada and abroad. Her definitive edition of the piano reduction for Ernest Chausson’s Poème, Op. 25 for Violin and Orchestra has been published (www.encoremupub.com) and new reductions of two of Mozart’s instrumental concertos (K. 219 and K. 313) are in process, as are teaching materials in the field of collaborative piano pedagogy. Allison’s developing interest in the role of music in dementia care has led to a new dimension in her role as educator: since 2019 she has served as faculty mentor for the Music Between Us team of UNCSA’s ArtistCorps community engagement initiative, a project that provides interactive musicmaking in dementia care. In June 2022, the Music Between Us Program Guide was launched, available to all collegiate schools of music to inspire more such projects in communities beyond Winston-Salem.
Dr. Gagnon completed her DMA with Anne Epperson at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her earlier teachers were Dale Bartlett (McGill), Michael Krist (Vienna Hochschule fur Musik), Pierre Jasmin, and Margaret McLellan (Queen’s) and her mother Marjorie Gagnon. From CIM she holds the Brooks Smith Award of its Collaborative Piano Department. Her creative interests include ceramics and wildlife photography. Since 2015 she has served on NCMTA’s Executive Board, currently as Vice President for Membership.
![4th Annual Fall Course Series, Part 3 of 3 - The Magical Methodology of Sight Reading featuring Dr. Kent Lyman, Professor of Piano, Meredith College @ Ruggero Piano](https://www.ruggeropiano.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/3-300x300.png)
About the Series
Developing the Total Musician – Teaching Essential Skills: Improvisation, Accompanying, and Sight Reading
We value the commitment of piano teachers to serve our students with professionalism and teaching expertise. Committed to education, we proudly present this complimentary three-part lecture series. To ensure the health and safety of our clinicians and participants, this year’s programs will be available to attend in-person and via live stream.
Students who are available to participate due to flexible remote learning schedules are also welcome to attend! The live stream link will be available on our website at ruggeropiano.com prior to each presentation. These workshops are complimentary – we invite you to join us in-person or via Live Stream!
About This Presentation
In this presentation Dr. Lyman discusses some of the basic elements required for success in developing sight reading skills. The methods and materials presented and discussed may lead one to wonder whether success in sight reading really is magic, or whether it can be attained through rigorous application of proven principles
About the Presenter
Dr. Kent Lyman is a Steinway Artist, and has distinguished himself as a soloist and chamber musician throughout much of the United States, in South Korea, China, Italy, and Brazil. He has performed and/or lectured in many venues, including the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, the National Conference of the Sonneck Society for American Music in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu, among many others. For the last several summers, he has worked as the principal rehearsal pianist for the International Young Artists Project, based in Monte San Savino, Italy. This program provides opportunities for young singers to study and perform Italian opera and art song in Italy, under the tutelage of native speakers. He has made a number of trips to South Korea where he has taught master classes and performed as a soloist at universities and schools throughout the country, including Seoul National University, Sejong University, and many others. In May of 2018, he was invited to give a keynote lecture on using technology in piano teaching at the National Conference of the Korean Piano Pedagogy Association. He delivered the lecture in Korean, which he speaks fluently. During a concert tour of Asia in the fall of 2007, he added China to his list of international venues, with concerts and master classes at conservatories of music in Shenyang and Guangzhou. He has toured Brazil, where he performed at the University of Campinas, and served as the opening concert artist and as a judge for the 22nd annual Paulo Giovanini National Piano Competition in Araçatuba, Brazil.
He has appeared with a number of orchestras, including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, the Raleigh Civic Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (Raleigh, NC), the Broward Symphony Orchestra (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) and the Florence Symphony Orchestra (South Carolina). As one of twelve nationally selected finalists, he has performed at the Chicago Symphony’s Ravinia Festival in master classes with Menahem Pressler, Leon Fleisher, and Misha Dichter. He has toured the East coast with the Piedmont Trio in performances of a program commemorating the centenary of the death of Clara Schumann. Mr. Lyman has recorded for the Centaur label, and can be heard on a CD performing chamber works of the late American composer Virgil Thomson. There are also a number of professionally produced videos that are available to view on Youtube, including one of the only known recordings of Korean piano music by Bang-ja Hurh, her suite entitled Pieces of Arirang.
Kent Lyman is currently Professor of Music and Coordinator of Piano Studies at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina. A native of Utah, he received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and master’s and doctoral degrees from Indiana University in Bloomington, where he studied with James Tocco.
We are excited to host the 2023 Fourth Friday Concert Series. Masks are optional and seating is limited to the first 100 guests on a first-come, first-served basis. This concert series will be available to attend via live stream on our YouTube channel and a link to each concert will be available on the home page of our website, www.ruggeropiano.com. Please contact our office at 919-839-2040 with any questions!
We are excited to host the 2023 Fourth Friday Concert Series. Masks are optional and seating is limited to the first 100 guests on a first-come, first-served basis. This concert series will be available to attend via live stream on our YouTube channel and a link to each concert will be available on the home page of our website, www.ruggeropiano.com. Please contact our office at 919-839-2040 with any questions!
Presto was founded in 2007 in San Diego. The club was started to offer amateur pianists an outlet for performance. The club meets once a month at members’ homes. When one of the founders moved to Carrboro in 2011, a second section was created for the Chapel Hill/Durham area and then expanded to a third section for the Raleigh/Cary area in 2015. Presto’s mission is to bring serious pianists together to share classical piano music through performance and to inspire growth and instill confidence in all participants. Presto also organizes and develops musical opportunities for the group such as piano master classes, social gatherings, recitals, and workshops. The group offers a nurturing environment to its members, honoring each at their particular performance level. Presto promotes a lifelong study and enjoyment of piano performance. New members join by referral. Please contact any of the performers at the concert if you’d like to join or learn more about Presto. http://www.prestopiano.org/index.htm
We are excited to host the 2023 Fourth Friday Concert Series! This series will be available to attend in person or via live stream on our YouTube channel – a ink to each concert will be available on the home page of our website, www.ruggeropiano.com. Please contact our office at 919-839-2040 with any questions!
This Special Edition Fourth Friday Concert will feature UNC Chapel Hill Music Department Pianists & Meredith College Faculty!
We are excited to host the 2023 Fourth Friday Concert Series! This series will be available to attend in person or via live stream on our YouTube channel – a ink to each concert will be available on the home page of our website, www.ruggeropiano.com. Please contact our office at 919-839-2040 with any questions!
This Special Edition Fourth Friday Concert will feature Meredith College Department of Music Faculty & Staff!
As we celebrate two decades of Fourth Friday Concerts, we are excited to announce the return of our original emcee, Eric Hale, and accompanist, Sue Timmons, for this extraordinary evening. We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of the performers and devoted audiences who have supported Fourth Friday Concerts over the last 20 years. We hope you will be able to join us!
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. Contact Richard Ruggero at richardcruggero@gmail.com if you or your group are interested in performing!
Click here for Livestream link!
Performer Bios
15-year-old Olivia Li from Cary, NC studies the piano with Florence Ko and has over the years garnered myriad awards and scholarships. She placed first in various competitions including the North Carolina Federation of Music Clubs (NCFMC) Young Artist Auditions, 6 years consecutively from divisions Senior I until Concerto IV, as well as the Princess category of the NCFMC Royalty Competition, the SYMF Southwestern Youth Music Festival Competition, the USA IMAE Music & Art Exchange International Piano Competition where she had a masterclass with the renowned Gary Graffman, RTPA Scholarship Competition, CAPTA Bullard Competition, and 2nd prize of the prestigious NC symphony concerto competition and 3rd Annual Hayes School of Music Piano Competition. In her spare time, Olivia enjoys sharing her music with others and frequently hosts performances at local retirement centers, and hospitals. She has also been invited to perform at various events, such as 5 consecutive meetings for the 2023 Cary Environmental Symposium at the Cary Arts Center, where many esteemed speakers and mayor are invited as well.
Chris (Yuanduo) Li, who is 17 years old and currently in the 11th grade, attends Green Level High School in Apex, North Carolina. He was born in China in 2006 and began his musical journey when he was just six years old. He started taking piano lessons in June 2021 after moving to the United States, and he’s been guided by Florence Ko. Since then, Chris has achieved some impressive accomplishments: he came in second place in the 2022 Young Artist Auditions (YAA) competition at the Prince level. He also got first place in the Senior level of the 2022 Raleigh Piano Teacher Association (RPTA) scholarship competition, the Bullard piano competition (High School level), and the Raleigh Music Club Scholarship Auditions. It’s worth noting that he got second position in the Senior division of the 2022 Music Teacher National Association (MTNA) competition, and he won in the Senior division of the International American Protege competition. Additionally, he had the chance to be part of the East Carolina University piano festival and their master classes. In 2023, he achieved second place in the North Carolina Royalty Competition at the King level. He also won the National Federation of Music Clubs competition at the King level and the Hinda Honigman piano scholarship in Statesville, NC, performed in Environmental Symposium at Cary Arts Center. Apart from his dedication to playing the piano, Chris enjoys taking part in basketball and tennis, which brings him joy.
Jared Alan Yoakem is a pianist from Grand Rapids, MI. As a recitalist, he has performed at the Brendle Recital Hall, Wake Forest University, NC; Covington Arts Center, Radford University, VA; Katzen Arts Center, American University, DC; and Porter Arts Center, Brevard College, NC. As a collaborative artist, he has performed with ACDA, NATS, the National Orpheus Competition, and a variety of choral projects including two national PBS broadcasts at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. He has been awarded with the Dean’s Advisory Council Award for outstanding achievement in music from Belmont University in 2019. Yoakem has participated in the Collaborative Piano Institute at Louisiana State University, the Leon Fleisher Academy of Washington D.C., and the Vivace Music Foundation of Wilmington, NC. He has participated in masterclasses by Stanislav Ioudenitch, Marina Lomazov, Julian Martin, Anne-Marie McDermott and Robert McDonald. Yoakem holds degrees from Belmont University & East Carolina University, under the instruction of Elena Bennett and Kwan Yi. He currently serves as a piano faculty member at the Cary School of Music and as a teaching assistant to Kwan Yi.
Click here for Livestream link!
Performer Bios
[caption id="attachment_10955" align="alignleft" width="150"] Grace Ueng[/caption]
Grace began studying piano last year to honor the memory of her mother, her first teacher. With an older sister who consistently placed first in their state and would go on to compete nationally and internationally, Grace quit after only a few years of lessons. She went on to study at MIT and Harvard Business School, pursuing interests outside music. Her sister, Vivian Fang, went on to earn two degrees from Juilliard and her doctorate from Peabody Conservatory. Vivian teaches in her private studio, serves on faculty at The Fay School outside Boston, and is President of New England Piano Teachers’ Association. After purchasing her Steinway from Ruggero, Grace started studying with Teddy Robie. Additionally, Vivian provides sisterly coaching. Grace also enjoys being a part of the Presto piano performance group. Grace is an ardent lifelong student of positive psychology studying under Tal Ben Shahar, the creator of Harvard’s most popular course ever on happiness, Arthur Brooks of Harvard Business School and Noa Kageyama, Juilliard’s performance psychologist. Grace is the founder of Savvy Growth, a leadership coaching and strategy consulting firm, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Prior to that, she served on the leadership teams of five technology companies. She writes a weekly column on Happiness & Leadership and has been covered in Inc. Magazine, The Daily Beast and The Wall Street Journal.
[caption id="attachment_10957" align="alignleft" width="150"] Triocha[/caption]
This trio features Erin Munnelly, flute, Sanford Enslen, cello, and Stephanie Schmidt, piano.
[caption id="attachment_10956" align="alignleft" width="150"] Newnew Hong[/caption]
Kangqi Hong, also known as “Newnew,” is a 14-year-old student born in Zhuhai, China, and currently resides with her aunt and uncle, Hong Schulte and Stuart Schulte, in Moore County, North Carolina. She attended Episcopal Day School from 3rd to 5th grade and is now a 9th grader at the O’Neal School. Newnew started learning to play the piano at the age of 6 in China, taught initially by her mother. She studies under Dr. Kristina Henckel and practices daily on a 1931 Baldwin grand piano. In February 2023, Newnew had her first public performance at a sold-out concert sponsored by the Arts Council of Moore County. She performed pieces by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Beethoven, and Saint-Saëns, impressing the audience with her skills. Newnew has taken part in numerous music competitions, winning first place in the solo piano category at Carmel Klavier 2022, Carmel IN, Fayetteville Piano Teacher’s Association competition in 2022, Fayetteville, NC, and Weymouth Young Musician’s Festival in 2020, Southern Pines, NC. Furthermore, she was a finalist in the 2023 North Carolina Symphony Concerto Competition. Newnew is also a laureate of the Piano League competition, participated in the MTNA competition, and received the Grand Prize in the Rising Talents Festival 2021, allowing her to perform at Carnegie Hall. Apart from concerts and competitions, Newnew has performed for local nursing homes, art shows, fundraisers, and Habitat for Humanity. In addition to her love for music, she is also interested in art, history, and science-fiction.
Click Here for Livestream Link
Program Notes
Mozart: Sonata KV 570 in B-flat Major
Mozart’s Sonata K570 is a late work which shows the composer at his absolute best. The opening movement is unusual: each theme serves as a springboard to the next one. Thus, the opening melody is a counterpoint to the second one, and the second transfigures to become the third one. In fact, the contrapuntal mastery must have been so appealing that soon after Mozart’s death the Sonata was reworked for violin and piano by an admirer, and is still sometimes performed in that manner, ostensibly as an authentic Mozart piece.
The second movement is an extensive rondo, drawing on the wealth of vocal and instrumental traditions, almost ready to be orchestrated. The frequent use of strophic variation allows the performer to introduce a variety of ornaments, something which was expected in both vocal and instrumental performances of the time.
The last movement is yet another, very much abbreviated rondo; in its center lives a pecking bird, engulfed by contrapuntal lines, very reminiscent of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 and violin sonata K. 378. In both cases, the tempo suddenly accelerates for the sake of that very bird, and I have taken the brazen liberty of doing the same.
Beethoven: Sonata Op. 28 in D Major
The so-called “Pastoral” Sonata owes its nickname to a publisher. This is, without a doubt, inspired by the ostinato in the left hand, prominent in movements one and four, clear stand-in for bagpipes. Yet, while as certain pastoral feeling cannot be denied, it by no means shapes the entire work. In his second and last D Major sonata, Beethoven chooses yet again to keep all four movements in the home key, with the second, slow movement, taking the minor mode. But the contrast between major and minor in our sonata is much less violent then in the earlier Op. 10 No. 3. A possible musical twin for the work is rather the “Spring” sonata for violin and piano, written at about the same time; undeniably handsome, tender, poignant, and positive, with a dash of humor.
Schumann: Kreisleriana Op. 16
Every December, our country falls under the spell of the German author E. T. A. Hoffmann. In fact, we eagerly await the experience of seeing a most garbled version of his short novel “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” now in the form of a famous ballet. Hoffmann, a near-contemporary of Schumann and his undeniable alter ego, had a double career as an author and a musician (Schumann’s stated aspiration as well); his views, aesthetics, and artistic goals were also very close to Schumann’s. And just like Schumann with his Florestan and Eusebius, the fiery and the meek aspects of oneself, Hoffmann had invented for himself a literary stand-in, a certain Kapellmeister Kreisler, is whose bizarre personality these aspects are fused in a strange way, compelling in the eyes of some, repulsive for most others. Such split personality is more than a child of an erratic mind, sophisticated one moment and childish the next; here, we also have the inability, and the unwillingness to put up with the world the way we see it. Kreisler’s life, inasmuch as Hoffmann’s or Schumann’s, is a struggle against a mounting tide of mediocrity, indifference, and pointless small talk. Ironically, Hoffmann tells us, Kreisler’s unpublished autobiography became scrap paper for a memoir by… a cat. Schumann’s eight scenes are not, apparently, descriptive of specific Hoffmann moments; they describe mental states.
Performer Bio
A native of Moscow, Dmitri Shteinberg holds a Doctorate in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and is currently the Clifton Matthews Distinguished Professor of piano at UNCSA. His performance credentials include Jerusalem Symphony, The Italian Filarmonica Marchigiana, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Israel Camerata Orchestra and Porto National Symphony under the batons of Massimo Pradella, Roger Nierenberg, Florin Totan and David Shallon, among others. In the United States, he appeared with the Baton Rouge, Richmond, Charlottesville, Salisbury and Manassas symphony orchestras. In 1995, he won the first prize at the Senigallia International Piano Competition in Italy, where he was the youngest competitor. Shteinberg was a guest artist at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Summit Music Festival, Music Festival of the Hamptons, the ”Oleg Kagan” Festival in Germany, Festival Aix-en-Provence in France and Open Chamber Music in Cornwall, England. Chamber music appearances include the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Alice Tully Hall in New York and the Saunders Theatre in Boston. Most recently, he gave the world premiere of Permutations for piano and orchestra by Robert Chumbley.
Click Here for Livestream
We are so excited to have students and faculty from Community Music School performing for this month’s Fourth Friday Concert Series! Repertoire to include selections from Bach, Liszt, Tchaikovsky and others from a variety of genres and styles.
Performer Bio
Founded in 1994, CMS is the only organization in Wake County that provides private, 1:1 personalized music instruction in multiple genres at just $1 per lesson for children who have limited or no access to music education. For the last 30 years, CMS has worked to ensure that every child with a passion for music has access to affordable, high quality music education; and empowers families to foster their children’s love for music; and raise awareness of the benefits of musical instruction in the development of the whole child. Please join in supporting the young musicians of Community Music School by donating $30.00 in honor of the school’s years of service OR become a CMS sustainer at $19.94/month, reflecting on the school’s year of establishment! Learn More Here
Click Here for Livestream Link!
Performer Bio
Czech pianist Kristina Henckel and Cuban pianist Amanda Virelles formed 4HANDS Piano Duo in 2019. Their duo repertoire includes master pieces from the Classical, Romantic and 20th century periods. Both pianists started performing careers in their countries of origin, and completed doctoral degrees in piano performance and pedagogy in the United States. Currently, both Kristina and Amanda hold faculty positions in North Carolina, at Sandhills Community College and Fayetteville State University.
Dr. Kristina Henckel, an accomplished pianist and teacher, is a native of the Czech Republic. She is a graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, under the tutelage of Professor Peter Toperczer. During her study she received several awards in competitions held in the Czech Republic: third prize in the Chopin Piano Competition and Smetana International Piano Competition, and first prize in the National Piano Competition of Conservatories, including an award for best performance of Antonín Dvořák’s composition. At 18 Kristina debuted with Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 Op. 73 “Emperor” with the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra. She further collaborated as a soloist with other regional orchestras in the Czech Republic.
After relocating to the United States in 1999, Kristina continued her studies by earning a doctorate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma. In Oklahoma she acquired additional awards for her performances: first prize in the Donna Turner-Smith Piano Competition and first prize at the Graduate Concerto Competition 2012. In addition, her dissertation “Pianistic Analysis of Bedřich Smetana’s Piano Cycle Dreams” was nominated for the University of Oklahoma Provost’s Dissertation Prize 2016.
Kristina has performed numerous solo and collaborative recitals in Europe and United States. She also made several recordings for Radio Vltava, Czech Republic. In the fall of 2015 she became a Ritmüller piano artist. In May 2016, she released a CD with the piano trio Turnía featuring the piano trios of Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana. In April 2016 the ensemble was featured on the radio show Northwest Focus on King FM 98.1 in Seattle, WA. Kristina is also a member of the 4HANDS Piano Duo with Cuban-American pianist Amanda Virelles.
Currently she serves as music faculty at Fayetteville State University and Sandhills Community College in North Carolina.
Amanda Virelles has played for audiences around the world captivating them with her unique sound and deep interpretations. Her performances have been described as sensible, profound, and energetic. She has performed as a soloist as well as collaborative artist throughout the United States, Europe, South and Central America and the Caribbean.
Amanda began her piano studies in Cuba with Emilio Morales, and later with Serguei Leschenko, continued with Heirinch Neuhaus’ protegé Margarita Fyodorova at Moscow State Conservatory Tchaikovsky, and received her Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Russian Academy of Music Gnessins in Moscow, Russia, under the guidance of Inna Malinina, former disciple of Alexander Goldenwieser. Virelles also holds a Master Degree and a Doctoral Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she received both a full assistantship and a fellowship as the winner of the Doctoral Assistantship Competition. While at USM, Amanda was a student of Dr. Lois Leventhal.
After winning First Prize and an Special Prize for best Cuban and Latin-American music performance in the “Amadeo Roldan” Piano Competition, in Cuba, she was given a full scholarship to study in Russia. She appeared as a soloist with several orchestras in Europe and South America under the direction of renowned conductors such as Yoshikatsu Fukumura, Mikhail Shervakov, Dmitir Manolov, Fillipo Zigante, Kimbo Ishii – Eto, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya. She was a featured winner of the William T. Gower Concerto Competition with the USM Symphony Orchestra under conductor Jay Dean. She has also performed under the baton of Raul Munguia and Alejandro Drago.
As a pedagogue Dr. Virelles has served as an Associate Professor of Music at Universidad del Atlántico in Colombia, in the fields of classical piano, theory, and chamber music from 1997 to 2003. Previously, she was on the piano faculty at the Conservatorio Nacional in Lima, Peru. Since her arrival to the United States, she has also served at Lane College, Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and at the School of Music of Belmont University. Currently, Dr. Virelles is an Associate Professor of Music at Fayetteville State University, in Fayetteville, North Carolina and teaches piano at Fayetteville School of Music
Amanda is an avid performer of chamber music and plays regularly with “Duo Guitiano” with Colombian-American guitarist Carlos Castilla and 4HANDS Piano Duo, with Czech pianist Kristina Henckel. Her solo and duo recordings are available in digital platforms.
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.
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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.
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