San Jose State University, School of Music and Dance and
The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies
Hosts

The Kurosawa Piano Music Foundation (KPMF)’s
2nd International Piano Music Festival
Featuring Historic Keyboard Duo Performances

January 24-25, 2009
San Jose State University Campus

 Listen to Audio Announcement I

Listen to Audio Annoucement II

                                     CH=SJSU Music and Dance Dept. Concert Hall
                                     BC=The Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at the King’s Library 

KPMF is pleased to announce the joint Festival with San Jose State University during January 24-25. The Festival will include Master Classes, Private Coaching, Lectures and Demonstrations on Historic Keyboards at the SJSU Beethoven Center, climaxing with a Young Artists' Duo Concert, a College Students' Duo Concert, and two evening concerts. Pas de Duo and The Toscheff Piano Duo will perform Bulgarian, French, Russian and Spanish pieces at the Gala concert. The faculty of SJSU and a guest artist Barbara Day Turner, Music Director and Conductor of San Jose Chamber Orchestra, will perform duo pieces on the historic keyboard collection, including harpsichords, fortepiano, Erard, Steinway and Baldwin, at the Finale concert.

Download Master Class Schedule for January 24
Download Master Class Schedule for January 25

Pas de DuoStephen Varney and Naomi Sanchez have been performing as Pas de Duo since 2005 when they captured First Prize at the National Federation of Music Club's Ellis Duo-Piano Competition. They are also the recipients of the Abild American Music Award, the Charles & Francis Christmann Award, and First Prize at the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition. In 2006 they made their Carnegie Hall recital debut. Mr. Varney and Ms. Sanchez have extensive backgrounds as music teachers, and are the founders and directors of the Berkeley Academy of Music. They share a passion for working with young musicians, and have conducted master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Converse College, Holy Names University, and others. 

The Toscheff Piano DuoVely and Ilia Tosheff began their professional career as duo pianists in 1997. The Tosheff Piano Duo have given performances in Japan, Germany, Holland, Malta, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Switzerland and the United States. They have won numerous honors and awards at prestigious international competitions and festivals worldwide, including the grand prizes from Tokyo (Japan) 1998 International Piano Duo Competition, and from Dobrich (Bulgaria) 1997 The Coast of Hope International Contest.

 Demonstration of Fortepiano 
Patricia Stroh, the Beethoven Center's Curator, demonstrates the fortepiano.The fortepiano has a range of five octaves and five notes (or only 66 keys as opposed to our modern piano's 88) and can accommodate Beethoven's early period fortepiano works (and some sonatas from the middle period).

The Gala Concert Program (January 24, 7:30 pm)

Gala Concert featuring two sensational world-class teams: Pas de Duo and the Tosheff Piano Duo presenting a variety of piano duo repertoire from Bulgaria, France, Russia, and Spain. Do not miss this opportunity to experience the dynamic and exciting performances of these artists!  Pas de Duo made a debut at Carnegie Hall in 2006. The New York Concert Review Magazine proclaimed the concert was “like a profusion of Roman Candles…on a New Year’s Eve celebration: the audience simply loved it.” Volksstimme Newspaper in March 2003 praised The Tosheff Piano Duo with quotes such as "…a Bulgarian duo with charm and virtuosity…"
"...very filigree and pearl-like sound in a perfect and flowing teamwork... "
"...full of temperament and sweeping verve…."

Pas de Duo
Grande Tarantelle by Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Symphonic Dance by Rachmaninoff
Capriccio by Francis Poulenc
Les Preludes by Franz Liszt (one piano four hands)
 
The Tosheff Piano Duo
Georges Bizet - "Carmen Suite"
1. Les Toreadors
2. Prelude
3. Habanera
4. Seguedille
5. Intermezzo
6. Aragonaise
7. Les Dragons D'Alcala
8. Nocturne
9. Danse Boheme
Manuel Infante - "Danses Andalouses"
1. Ritmo
2. Gracia (El Vito)

Alexander Raichev - "The Dance of the Rebels"
                              (from the ballet "Epic of the Rebels")

 The Finale Concert (January 25, 7:30 pm)

Finale Concert will feature the faculty from San Jose State University's School of Music and Dance, and guests Barbara Day Turner, artistic Director of San Jose Chamber Orchestra, and Dr. Richard Sogg, performing on a variety of historic keyboards. The program will include J.S. Bach's Concerto for four harpsichords, Beethoven's four-hand Sonata opus 6 on an 1871 fortepiano, Faure Dolly Suite on an 1875 Erard, and Rachmaninoff and Ravel on modern pianos.

  Concerto for Four Harpsichords JS BACH
  Barbara Day Turner, Sharon Brook, Gordon Haramaki, Victoria Lington on 4 harpsichords

  Sonata Opus 6 for four hands BEETHOVEN
  Patricia Stroh and Richard Sogg on an 1871 Streicher Fortepiano

  Dolly Suite FAURE
  Sharon Brook and Gwendolyn Mok on 1875 Erard French Period Piano

  Romance RACHMANINOFF
  La Valse RAVEL
  Gwendolyn Mok and Namik Sultanov on Steinway and Baldwin 

Past Festivals:

The First International Piano Music Festival

July 2-3, 2008

Download News Release - The First Piano Music Festival in Silicon Valley

International piano duo artists from Armenia, Latvia, Japan, Italy and the United States will perform at

the Gala Concert

Concert artists will perform on a Grotrian Duo Grand Piano, the only one of its kind in the world

The Inaugural International Piano Music Festival (PMF) in Silicon Valley is sponsored, organized and presented by the Kurosawa Piano Music Foundation in collaboration with the San Francisco International Music Festival (Sfmf).

The inaugural PMF will showcase the piano duo genre. During the summer of 2008 (July 2-3), the PMF will bring the excitement of piano duo music to the South Bay. Three acclaimed international piano duos have been invited to perform: The Riga Piano Duo from Latvia and Armenia, Duo Pianistico di Firenza from Italy, and Noriko &Yuko Kugimoto Piano Duo from Japan. Two Bay Area duos will also perform including: The Peery Piano Duo and Hiroko Mizuno & Yumi Tayama Duo. These renowned artists will perform an International Concert featuring works from the artists home countries on July 2, and the Festival will include the second Young Artists Piano Duo Concert on July 3. The inaugural SVIMF will also introduce two Japanese teams highlighting selected works of composers from Japan.

In addition to the professional concert presented by the participating international artists, educational links between professional artists and young pianists (age 10-18) will be established at the Young Artists component of the Festival. The 2-day intensive program will provide rich opportunities for young piano duo teams at various stages of artistic and technical development to interact and study with the professional artists through private coaching sessions, public master classes, workshops, master-classes with the great invited faculty, and a closing Young Artists Concert in the evening on July 3.

We encourage piano teachers to consider offering this opportunity to their students.
Bringing young musicians together with international artists will offer significant educational benefits by providing opportunities for them to discover other cultures as well as promoting an important artistic link between generations.

Download Information on "1st International Piano Music Festival"

Download "July 2 Gala International Piano Duo Concert - Program"

Download "July 2 Gala International Piano Duo Concert - Ticket Order Form"
 

 Grotrian Duo Grand will be used for July 2, 2008 Gala Concert: One-of-a kind in the world

 An exciting component to the July 2 Gala Concert is the donation of the Grotrian Duo Grand Piano by JB Piano of San Rafael. The artists will play on the the Grotrian Duo Piano, a one-of-a-kind instrument specifically designed for the piano duo genre by the Grotrian Piano Company of
Braunschweig, Germany.

The Riga Piano Duo

The Riga Piano DuoUnknown in America, but widely acclaimed in Europe, the Baltic States and Eastern Europe, The Riga Piano Duo has achieved legendary fame throughout its thirty-nine year artistic career.  The Riga Piano Duo has toured extensively in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Scandinavian countries, Israel, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, Russia, and all the Baltic countries. In addition to performances at prestigious international festivals in Russia and Europe, this dynamic duo has also made frequent guest appearances with major orchestras of Eastern Europe. The duo's most recent CD recording features a piano cycle of eighteen Sketches for piano duet by the Russian composer, Valery Gavrilin from St. Petersburg.

Duo Pianistico di Firenze

Duo PIanistico di FirenzeFormed in 1990, the Firenze Duo has specialized in repertoire for piano duet with a particular interest on unedited or unfairly forgotten compositions. Finalists of numerous awards at international piano competitions, the Firenza Duo is regularly invited to perform for many important music associations all over Italy, and is highly acclaimed for their perfect ensemble, exquisite tonal balance and refined stylistic choices. The Firenze Duo is also interested in orchestral and chamber music literature transcribed for two performers and has premiered many new works. Sara Bartolucci and Rodolfo Alessandrini are the Artistic Directors of the National Piano Competitions: "Città di Cesenatico" and "Muzio Clementi" in Florence.

Noriko & Yuko Kugimoto Duo

Noriko and Yuko Kugimoto DuoThe Kugimoto sisters have been playing together as a piano duo from early childhood. Both Noriko and Yuko are graduates of Osaka College of Music and are active musicians and teachers in Japan. Noriko was a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford University music department where she was an accompanist for voice and instrumental lessons, conducting classes, master classes and recitals. Yuko is currently a lecturer, chamber musician, and an accompanist for a choral group and instrumentalists in Japan.

The Peery Piano Duo

The Peery Piano DuoFor most musicians, performing at Carnegie Hall is the ultimate achievement. But for The Peery Piano Duo, it was just the beginning. Christie was in utero at the time of her mother's Carnegie debut. Who would have guessed that within two decades they would become a working piano duo - both Peabody graduates, both former students of Leon Fleisher?  Irene Peery-Fox has presented master classes and workshops worldwide, and is currently a professor at Brigham Young University.  Christie Peery Skousen began lessons with her mother at the age of 5 and returned to Carnegie Hall at 18 for her own debut recital. She is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory and the Peery Piano Academy in Mountain View, California.

The Tayama & Mizuno Duo 

The Tayama % Mizuno DuoJapanese pianists, Yumi Tayama & Hiroko Mizuno are active performers, chamber musicians, accompanists, and teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area.  A graduate of the Musashino Academia of Music in Japan, Yumi Tayama has performed in Europe and England. Hiroko Mizuno graduated from Japan's Toho Gakuen Conservatory of Music. In addition to numerous performances with chamber ensembles, and orchestras in Japan and America, she has also performed with renowned instumentalists including flautist, Sir James Galway.