Piano and Friends

MATINEE SERIES - 3 PM SUNDAYS

2008 - 2009 SEASON

We are delighted to present some of the world's finest musicians, playing interesting repertoire both classical and contemporary. These musicians represent the 21st century's rising stars and the best of artists from Europe, Asia and the United States. All concerts are performed in the intimate setting of Leo Rich Theater.

Master classes for students of the Tucson Music Teachers' Association and the Tucson Junior Strings are open to the public on the Saturday preceding each concert, at 3:00 PM, at Leo Rich Theater. You are invited to meet the musicians at a reception after each concert.

Links are to the musicians' own websites

Ning Kam, violin (Singapore)
and Steven Vanhauwaert, piano (Belgium)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Stravinsky	Suite Italienne
Ravel	Sonata for Violin and Piano in G
James MacMillan	"Kiss on Wood"
Copland	Sonata for Violin and Piano

Ning Kam comes from a musical Singaporean family. She studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Curtis and Cleveland Institutes. In 2001 she won 2nd prize at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition in Belgium and was hailed as "manifestly the best violinist of the competition". Strad magazine praised her strong artistic personality, and the American Record Guide mentioned her humor, lightness and strength.

Steven Vanhauwaert studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, and now in L.A. with Kevin Fitz-Gerald. In 2004, he won the Grand Prize at the International Liszt Competition in L.A. His playing has been called stunning.

Piotr Zukowski, piano (Poland)

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Chopin	Polonaise in F sharp minor, op.44
Chopin	Polonaise in A flat major op.54
Chopin	Polonaise-Fantasy in a flat major, op 61
Gao-Ping	"Night Alley"
Balasz	"A Bourbon Street Blues"
Balasz	"A Christmas Song"
Szymanowski	Etude in B flat minor op. 4
Prokofief	Sonata no. 7
Scriabin	Sonata no. 9
Scriabin	Sonata no. 10

Born in 1982, Piotr Zukowski graduated from the Paderewski Academy where he now teaches. He has won numerous prizes in and out of Poland, including the International Piano Competition in Rome, and has given concerts all over Europe, the US, China, Japan.

Martin and Kristina Kasik
piano 4 hands
( Czech Republic)

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Schubert	Fantasy f minor op.102
Brahms	Waltzes No. 1-15, op. 39
Gemrot	World premiere
Dvorak	Slavonic Dances (2nd book), op.72: 1-7

Martin Kasik and his wife Kristina Kasikova have been playing together and separately since they met in school. Both have won major awards and competitions (Martin won First Prize at the 1999 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York) and both are passionate chamber players with international careers. Together, they have recorded a wonderful disc of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances. Harmony magazine wrote, "Kristina and Martin Kasik's interpretation [of the Dances] is lucid, radiant and superbly worked out in details. Their playing displays wonderful, carefully arched phrases and subtle rubati, which make the dances sound like music poems." Martin's solo and chamber careers take him all over the world, as do Kristina's. Kristina also teaches piano at the Conservatory in Prague.

Arizona Friends of Chamber Music

P.O.Box 40802, Tucson, AZ 85717

520-577-3769