Steinway Lunchtime Series
The Steinway Lunchtime Series promotes local Pittsburgh area pianists. The recitals take place at Trombino Piano Gallerie, downtown in the Cultural District at 12 noon, on the second Thursday of each month. Recitals are generally 35-45 minutes in length. The lunchtime performances are free of charge and open to the public.
2010-2011 Season
Michael Cerveris
October 14, 2010 Including works by Chopin and Schumann |
Michael Cerveris has had a career as teacher and pianist in several colleges and universities. He has held several arts administrative positions functioning at various times as chair of piano departments, music department chair, dean of the school of arts and director of arts divisions. He has held tenures as Marshall University, Alverno College, Mercyhurst College, and Duke University. Dr. Cerveris holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School of Music, a Master of Musicology Degree from The Catholic University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from West Virginia University. His studies with distinguished teachers include Edward Steuermann, and Leon Fleisher. Cerveris served four years as piano soloist with the U.S. Navy Band-Orchestra. He has strong interests in collaborative art forms and has a resume as a music director for musical theater and interdisciplinary arts performances.
|
Linda Ellison
November 11, 2010 Schumann Fantasie, Op. 17 |
Linda Morgan-Ellison, pianist, is a native of Portland, Oregon and has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout the United States. She has served on the faculties of Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Hamilton College and Rhode Island College. Ms. Morgan-Ellison is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College and received a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music. She has continued her studies at Indiana University (Bloomington) with Menahem Pressler and is active as a teacher and performer in the Pittsburgh area. Ms. Morgan-Ellison has recorded for WQED-FM and has been a featured artist on their program Performance in Pittsburgh.
|
Kenneth Burky
with Agniezka Sornek December 9, 2010 Brahms Op. 119 Debussy En Blanc et Noir for two pianos |
Kenneth L. Burky, Professor, is Director of Undergraduate Music studies and Chairman of the Piano and Performance departments at the Mary Pappert School of Music, Duquesne University. Mr. Burky has enjoyed great success as a soloist, accompanist, and adjudicator throughout the country. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Indiana University-Bloomington and his teachers have included Emil Danenberg, Bela Nagy, Vladio Perlemuter, and Gyorgy Sebok, as well as James Friskin from the Juilliard School of Music and Arthur Loesser at the Cleveland Institute of Music. . While at Oberlin Burky spent a year touring and studying at the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg, Austria. In 1984, Burky was the Grand Prize winner in the International Piano Recording Competition sponsored by the NGPT.
Pianist Agnieszka Sornek holds a Master’s Degree in Music Education from the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in her native Poland and Artist Diploma from Duquesne University. Currently, Agnieszka is the Music Director of the Sacred Heart Parish in Emsworth. Active as a collaborative musician, Agnieszka performs regularly in the Pittsburgh area as an accompanist and a member of various chamber music ensembles. |
Becky Billock
January 13, 2011 Musical Toys by Sofia Gubaidulina Mirage by Elisenda Fabregas |
Becky Billock is an active recital soloist and chamber musician. She has appeared as soloist with regional orchestras in Oregon and California and has performed solo and chamber recitals in numerous locations throughout the U.S., including several tours of Northwest cities, and appearances on the Seattle radio station Classical KING FM 98.1, the Pittsburgh radio station WQED 98.3FM, and American Public Media’s Performance Today. Ms. Billock actively promotes women’s music and later this season will release a CD of piano music by American women. |
Lunchtime recital cancelled February 10, 2011 |
Anastasia Antonacos March 10, 2011 Works by Liszt and Schubert/Liszt |
Anastasia Antonacos has given notable performances around the world as a solo recitalist and chamber musician, playing in venues such as the Salle Cortot, Casa Orfeo, Holland’s Alkmaar Conservatory, and Alice Tully Hall. She won First Place at the International Young Artist Music Competition in Bulgaria, and she holds prizes from the Capdepera International Piano Competition in Mallorca and the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition, as well as other awards. Dr. Antonacos has made solo appearances with the Midcoast Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated with violinist Joseph Silverstein, and with members of the Vermeer, Cassatt and DaPonte Quartets. She holds a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University in Bloomington, and she is a member of the full-time piano faculty at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
|
Henry Wong Doe April 14, 2011 Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54 - Ludwig van Beethoven The Horizon from Owhiro Bay (2007) – Gareth Farr Transcendental Etude No. 9 “Ricordanza” – Franz Liszt Sonata No. 1, Op. 22 – Alberto Ginastera |
A native of New Zealand, Henry Wong Doe has garnered top prizes, including two “Audience Favorite” awards in the Rubinstein, Busoni and Sydney International Piano Competitions. Mr. Wong Doe has performed at Carnegie Hall, New York, Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Israel. Henry has performed with the Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber, Auckland Philharmonia and Israel Philharmonic Orchestras, and will make his debut this season with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. His first solo disc of piano works by New Zealand composer Gareth Farr, will be released this summer on HRL Morrison Trust Records. Henry Wong Doe earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School in New York, and was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Piano at Indiana University Pennsylvania.
|
Gerald Lee
May 12, 2011 3rd Ballade - Chopin Fantasie -Schumann Mr. Lee's performance was rescheduled to next season due to complications with the venue. |
Gerald Lee is Associate Professor of Piano at West Liberty University (West Liberty, WV). He earned three piano performance degrees: B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. from Illinois Wesleyan University, Indiana University, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, respectively. He was selected as a winner in the 2009 Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Auditions. In addition, he won 3rd place in the 2003 International Beethoven Piano Sonata Competition (Memphis, Tennessee) and 2nd place in the 2002 National Finals of the MTNA Collegiate Artists' Piano Competition. Dr. Lee maintains an extensive schedule of performances throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
|
Walter Morales June 9, 2011 Piano music from Costa Rica |
A native of Costa Rica, Walter Morales is the Music Director of the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra. A champion of new music, he has collaborated with such composers as John Adams, George Crumb, Richard Danielpour, Derek Bermel, Gary Schocker, Katherine Hoover, Mike Mower, Reza Vali, Nancy Galbraith, David Stock, Amy Williams and Roger Zahab among others. Morales is one of foremost interpreters of Costa Rican music in the world. An active concert pianist, Morales has toured through out the United States, Central and South America. In New York City he has performed at Steinway Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Lincoln Center. His first commercial recording featuring George Crumb’s Makrokosmos III: Music for a Summer Evening is available on Mode Records. In June 2007, this recording received the Diapason d’or, the highest phonographic award in France. |
Jack Kurutz with BJ Miller and Becky Billock July 14, 2011 2-piano repertoire by Hovhaness, Piazzolla, and Adams |
Jack Kurutz is an avid recitalist and chamber musician. In Boston, Kurutz
worked with ensembles including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Harvard Group for New Music. In Pittsburgh he has worked with Carnegie Mellon University’s Contemporary Ensemble, and is a member of the Living Room Chamber Music Project. Kurutz received his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami, and earned his Master of Music from New England Conservatory. In 2005, he completed an Artist Diploma from Carnegie Mellon University. In 2007, Kurutz won First Prize in the William Garrison Piano Competition. He will appear as a soloist with the Pittsburgh Philharmonic in May 2011. |