Dueling Pianos at Saddleback College

Posted by CotoBlogzz

Mission Viejo, CA – The Department of Music at Saddleback College announced this week  a two-piano recital with renowned pianists Kirill Gliadkovsky and Chris Durrenberger  for Thursday, February 16^th at 7:30 pm in the McKinney Theatre.  The concert features Mozart’s Greatest Work for Piano Ensemble – his grand Sonata in D Major for two pianos; Brahm’s extremely popular and richly melodic Hungarian Dances for piano duet (one piano four hands) and Camille Saint-Saens’ humorous, witty and charismatic Carnival of the Animals – a musical tale describing characters of various animals, as well as humans, and making fun of certain musical and non-musical stereotypes with narration of a poem by Ogden Nash, written specifically for the piece. 

Chris Durrenberger, Associate Professor at Wittenberg University in Springfield Ohio, has received top prizes at major national and international competitions, including the Coleman and Carmel Chamber Music Competitions, the Los Angeles Etude Musical Club Piano Competition, the Young Keyboard Artists Association International Piano Competition, and the National Music Teachers Association National Piano Competition. He was selected to pilot a National Endowment for the Arts residency, “Chamber Music in Rural America,” which led to hundreds of performances, live broadcasts on National Public Radio, a featured spot on ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and a performance for the National Council in Washington, D.C.  Solo, concerto, and collaborative engagements have taken Dr. Durrenberger throughout the world, including the Sarasota and Aspen Music Festivals, the Cairo Opera House, and the Taipei National Hall.

Since making his first public appearance at the age of six, Kirill Gliadkovsky has toured extensively on three continents performing piano and organ recitals and as a soloist with orchestras in various cities in Russia, including Moscow's prestigious Bolshoi, Maliy and Rachmaninoff Halls, St.-Petersburg Philharmonic's Glinka Hall, as well as in Italy, U.K., Poland, Mongolia, Canada, Japan and throughout the United States. The venues included Purcell Hall in London, Merkin Hall in New York, Jack Singer Hall in Calgary, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, CA, Centers for the Arts in Scottsdale and Chandler AZ, National Gallery of Art and Catholic University in Washington, DC, 1st Congregational Church in Los Angeles, Philharmonic Hall in Poznan, Poland, and many others. He has performed at various music festivals, such as Aspen, Ventura, Music in the Mountains, Redlands Bowl festivals in the USA and Credomatic Festival in Costa Rica, and worked with well-known conductors Pierre Boulez, Mehli Mehta, Gordon Johnson, John Farrer, Mischa Semanitzky, Patrick Flynn, among others. Mr. Gliadkovsky's popularity is also fast growing being a featured artist in numerous live TV and radio broadcasts and programs on such networks as NPR, CBS, PBS, CBC, WQXR, KBYU, KPAC, Russian State TV and Radio and others. He has recorded six CDs for Alexei Records and for CMK Classics labels.  

Tickets are $12 general; $10 seniors; $7 students; 2 for 1 for music teachers with a MTAC or CAPMT ID.  Saddleback College is located at 28000 Marguerite Parkway in Mission Viejo, just east of Interstate 5 at the Avery Parkway exit.  Free parking is available in Lot 12.  Take Avery Parkway to Marguerite Parkway turn left to the third traffic light, which is Saddleback’s Marguerite entrance. Turn right into the campus and take the second left to “Theatre Circle,” turning right into Lot 12.

The Music Department has established a comprehensive program which is considered to be one of the finest in California:  a complete lower-division curriculum for transferring music majors, numerous performance groups, private and group lessons, a full concert series with faculty and guest artists, and general music courses.  The nationally recognized faculty is dedicated to performance and to teaching in all areas such as vocal, instrumental, jazz, guitar and piano.  Other music classes include harmony, musicianship, composition, history and appreciation of western art music, rock, jazz and world.

Located in Mission Viejo, Saddleback College provides quality higher education and training to the greater south Orange County community.  Having served more than 500,000 students since 1968, Saddleback College offers more than 300 degree and certificate programs to help students reach their personal, career, and educational goals.  For more information, please visitwww.saddleback.edu.  For Fine Arts events, visit www.saddleback.edu/arts.