Three Days of Nonstop Piano Performances
Leon Fleisher
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Shriver Hall Concerts celebrates its 40-year legacy this
weekend
By Greg Rienzi The Gazette
When Murray Perahia first performed in the
Shriver Hall
Concert Series, the Grammy-winning pianist had not
quite hit the big time. Perahia's 1971 concert at Shriver,
in fact, found the young prodigy wearing an old pair of
brown shoes because he simply couldn't afford new black
ones.
Like Perahia, many emerging artists have used the
chamber music series as a significant steppingstone in
their careers and later returned to the series as
undeniable stars.
To help celebrate the Shriver Hall Concert Series'
40th anniversary and its legacy of presenting great
pianists, the music institution will host a Piano
Celebration on April 7, 8 and 9 that will include nonstop
recitals, lectures, exhibits and demonstrations.
Kit Armstrong
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The event will feature some of the world's most
renowned pianists, including Leon Fleisher, Krystian
Zimerman and jazz great McCoy Tyner, the last surviving
member of the legendary John Coltrane quartet. It will also
present emerging artists such as Kit Armstrong, the
14-year-old prodigy who began formal composition and piano
studies at the age of 5.
The speakers will include The New York Times' chief
art critic, Michael Kimmelman; David Dubal, an
internationally renowned lecturer, scholar and writer; and
Michael Beckerman, a professor of music at New York
University.
Venues are on the Homewood campus and at the adjacent
Baltimore Museum of Art.
Malcolm Bilson
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The Shriver Hall Concert Series traces its roots to
1965, when a dedicated band of Johns Hopkins faculty
members led by Ernst Bueding hatched the idea of bringing
world-class music at affordable prices to the area. The
group was allowed to use the university's 1,100-seat
Shriver Hall for its opening concert by Jean-Pierre Rampal
and Robert Veyron-Lacroix. Due to the concert's success,
the group was permitted to continue to use the facility
rent-free.
In its first few years of existence, the concert
series was run by the university's Office of Special
Events. Today, the private nonprofit series is run by new
executive director David Baldwin, a governing board and a
dedicated staff who are responsible for the planning and
operation of the series. Baldwin, who joined the musical
series in January, was most recently director of ICM
Artists, London Ltd., a management agency.
Baldwin said both the music series and the upcoming
Piano Celebration are unique.
Krystian Zimerman
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"There is no other series like this in the area, one
that brings such a consistent quality of chamber music and
international soloists," Baldwin said. "And this Piano
Celebration will be unlike any other of its kind. I don't
know of any program that is doing something as concentrated
as this, activities and performances every hour for three
days."
Both individual-event tickets and passes are
available; for details, go to
www.shriverconcerts.org or call 410-516-7164.
Shriver Hall Concert Series Piano
Celebration
Friday, April 7
5 to 6 p.m. David Dubal, lecture.
BMA's Meyerhoff Auditorium
8 p.m. Krystian Zimerman, piano
performance. Homewood's Shriver Hall Auditorium
Saturday, April 8
10 to 11 a.m. Michael Beckerman,
professor of music at New York University, lecture. BMA's
Meyerhoff Auditorium
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Michael
Kimmelman, chief art critic of The New York Times, lecture.
BMA's Meyerhoff Auditorium
2 to 3:30 p.m. Malcolm Bilson,
piano, lecture/recital. BMA's Meyerhoff Auditorium
4:30 to 6 p.m. Kit Armstrong, piano
performance. BMA's Meyerhoff Auditorium
8 p.m. Leon Fleisher, piano
performance. Homewood's Shriver Hall Auditorium
Sunday, April 9
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. David Dubal,
internationally renowned lecturer, scholar and writer,
special brunch. Homewood's Glass Pavilion
3 p.m. Fazil Say, piano
performance. Homewood's Shriver Hall Auditorium
8 p.m. McCoy Tyner, piano
performance. Homewood's Shriver Hall Auditorium
GO TO APRIL 3,
2006
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