Piano Festival Brings World-‐Class Artists to South Carolina's Capital City

Piano Festival brings world-class artists to South Carolina’s capital city For a rich lineup of world-class guest pianists and rising stars and a behind-the-scenes look at great musicians in the making come to the Southeastern Piano Festival in Columbia, SC, June 15 -22, 2014. The only piano-focused festival in the region, the Southeastern Piano Festival offers nightly concerts by outstanding award-winning faculty and guest artists, master classes, lectures and a rare opportunity to get an intimate view of the music-making process. Many audience members set aside the entire week to take in all the festival activities and explore South Carolina’s capital city. This year the festival kicks off with a Piano Extravaganza concert featuring half a dozen pianists performing on multiple pianos with the South Carolina Philharmonic. The week continues with concerts around the city and culminates in an international piano competition and concert by competition winners. Coming to the festival in 2014 is legendary pianist Leon Fleisher, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. In July 2013 Sony Classical released a 23-CD box set spanning the pianist's recording for the Columbia/Epic and Sony Classical labels from 1954-2009. "No American pianist can equal his combination of supple phrasing, intellectual mastery, and interpretive depth," according to The New Yorker. His recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra are considered among the best of the late 20th century and for a dozen years he appeared in all the world's major music centers to great acclaim. In 1965 at the height of his success Fleisher was struck with a mysterious neurological condition rendering two fingers on his right hand immobile. Rather than end his career, the pianist focused on repertoire for the left hand only along with conducting and teaching. Not until 40 years later was he able to return to playing with both hands after undergoing experimental treatments. Other guest artists include: Ingrid Jacoby, winner of the Steinway Hall Artists Prize, the Baldwin National Piano Competition, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and the Concert Artists Guild Award, has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra and at the Salzburg Music Festival. Alexander Korsantia won the gold medal in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition and first prize at the Sydney International Piano Competition. For his contributions to the arts to his native Republic of Georgia, Korsantia was awarded that nation’s The Medal of Honor. He recently performed at the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg and the Stresa Festival in Italy and with the Kirov Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic and Vancouver Symphony. Andrew Tyson, winner of first prize in the 2011 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and a 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Colorado Symphony and toured the United Kingdom with the Halle Orchestra. Along with concerts the festival includes a high-level training program for young pianists from throughout the nation – many of whom are budding concert pianists - who take part in the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition. The competition, all lessons and master classes are free and open to the public. The concerts will be held at important locations around Columbia, which was established in 1786 as the state capital. The Piano Extravaganza concert, a joint venture with the South Carolina Philharmonic, opens the festival at the Koger Center for the Arts. One concert will be held at the Columbia Museum of Art, which houses a globe-spanning art collection and another takes place in the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, a Gothic revival structure from 1845 which was recently restored. Classes and other concerts will be held the University of South Carolina School of Music, a modern and intimate concert hall adjacent to the Koger Center. If you love music – and especially piano music – the Southeastern Piano Festival in Columbia, SC is the place to be in June. For tickets and information, please visit http://southeasternpianofestival.com .

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