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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Cara McCool, Executive Director, Musical Arts Society of New Orleans [email protected], cell: 504.715.0818

2015 New Orleans Piano Institute & Keyboard Festival July 19–26, Roussel Hall, Loyola University Presented by the Musical Arts Society of New Orleans

The Musical Arts Society of New Orleans (MASNO) presents its 2015 New Orleans Piano Institute & Keyboard Festival (NOPI/KF) Sunday, July 19 through Sunday, July 26 at Loyola University’s Roussel Hall.

This summer’s event represents the 34th annual New Orleans Keyboard Festival (NOKF) and the 14th annual New Orleans Piano Institute (NOPI). Since 1981, MASNO has offered a weeklong festival featuring a series of master classes, lectures, and recitals. The educational component of the keyboard festival was enhanced in 1989 with the introduction of the New Orleans International Piano Competition (NOIPC) and further enhanced in 1999 with the establishment of the New Orleans Piano Institute. All master classes, presentations, and performances of the institute are free and open to the general public. Sponsors include Hall Piano Company and the Steinway Society of New Orleans, Loyola University, WWNO 89.9, Arts Council of New Orleans, and the Gauthier Family Foundation. NOPI An intensive solo performance program for advanced and intermediate college, high school, and junior high school , NOPI attracts local piano students as well as those from other states and abroad to take private piano lessons with members of a distinguished faculty. In addition to lessons, master classes, lectures and discussions, students will perform in the Showcase Recital, and may compete in the NOPI Solo Piano Competition and NOPI Concerto Competition. A central focus of these immersive studies of the piano and its music has been the New Orleans International Piano Competition. After 24 consecutive years, the NOIPC became a biennial event in 2012. The 26th NOIPC will take place in 2016. Attendance at the NOIPC rounds inspires NOPI participants to aspire to the artistic and technical heights of NOPIC competitors and expands their knowledge of and appreciation of the .

2015 NOPI Competitions This year NOPI will include Solo and Concerto Competitions.

Solo Competition prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in Division I (16 years and younger) and Division II (17 years and older) will total $2200. The Solo Competition times are as follows: Monday, July 20 Division I: 2:45-5:15 Division II: 7:00-9:00 Tuesday, July 21 Division I: 2:45-5:15 Division II: 7:00-9:00 The winners of the NOPI Solo Competition will be announced following the conclusion of Division II. The Steinway Society of New Orleans in collaboration with the New Orleans Piano Institute present the NOPI Concerto Competition of which the winner receives a cash prize of $500 in addition to a performance with the New Orleans Civic . The concerto competition will be held on Thursday, July 23, at 7:00 pm. In addition to the master classes, there will be a special presentation by Peter Mack sponsored by New Orleans Music Teachers Association on Friday, July 24, 1:15 pm. Sponsored by New Orleans Music Teachers Association, the program is titled "Lower the Rear End of the Elephant Slowly onto the Keys: Teaching Basic Artistic Concepts by Using Colorful Imagery". All competition rounds, master classes and lectures are open to the public at no charge thanks to the generous support of the Gauthier Family Foundation. New Orleans Keyboard Festival Feature Recitals The closing weekend of the 2015 NOPI/KF will feature performances by Stanislav Khristenko and Peter Mack. All recitals will take place in Roussel Hall. Tickets for each of the solo recitals will be $20 ($15 for students and seniors). A package ticket for both solo recitals will be available for $35/$25.

On Friday, July 24th, at 7:30pm Stanislav Khristenko’s Solo Recital "Music of the New World" will include: L. Gottschalk Bamboula, Op. 2 Le Banjo, Op. 15 S. Barber for Piano in E-flat Minor, Op. 26 INTERMISSION P. Glass Metamorphosis, Nos. 1 and 2 G. Gershwin Songbook: 18 Song Hits Arranged by the for Piano.

On Saturday, July 25th, at 7:30pm Peter Mack’s Solo Recital program will include: J.S. Bach Prelude in , transcribed by ‘Holberg’ Suite, Op.40 i) Praeludium ii) Sarabande iii) Gavotte iv) Air v) Rigaudon Frederic Chopin Ballade No.4, Op.52 INTERMISSION Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov “A Song of India” from the opera Sadko, transcribed by Alexander Siloti Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji Pastiche on the Hindu Merchant’s song from Sadko by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1922) Prelude for the Left Hand alone, Op.9, No.1 Albumleaf, Op. 45, No.1 Prelude, Op.51, No.2 (Lugubre) Prelude, Op.74, No.2 (Très lent, contemplatif) Etude in D sharp minor, Op.8, No.12 Julian Scriabin Two , Op.3 Sonate-Elegie in D minor, Op.11, No.2

Stanislav Khristenko bio: Stanislav Khristenko's performances have captivated audiences on four continents since his first solo recital at the age of eleven. A 'poet of piano', 'an architect of great forms' (Le Soir), Mr. Khristenko has been praised in the media around the globe. Spanish El Pais wrote of his 'precise technique, powerful sound and fingers of steel.' The New York Times praised his recent Zankel Hall recital as being marked by “thoughtful lucidity and restraint,” and was particularly impressed by Stanislav’s performance of Zemlinsky’s “Fantasies on Poems by Richard Dehmel,” praising his “unruffled, unrushed calm” and calling it “the revelation of the recital.” The Washington Post wrote 'it was clear that Khristenko knows how to spin a story; his pacing was mature and unhurried, the dynamic range wide, and his fingers exhibited power and sensitivity'. Cleveland Plain Dealer described his performance as ''shimmering filigree and phrases of exquisite tenderness, in which every note mattered.' British Gramophone called one of his recent CD recordings on Oehms Classics 'Electric'. Mr. Khristenko has appeared as a soloist with the National Symphony of Belgium, the Cleveland Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, Berliner Musikfreunde Orchestra, Takamatsu Symphony Orchestra and Conservatory Orchestra, among others. His performance highlights include solo recitals in Weill and Zankel Halls at Carnegie Hall, Schubertsaal in Vienna, Phillips Collection in Washington; and performances with orchestra in Grosser Hall of Berlin Philharmonie, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Great Hall and Hong Kong City Hall. Mr. Khristenko has won top prizes at some of the most prestigious international piano competitions. In 2013 alone he won First Prize at the 2013 Cleveland International Piano Competition, First Prize at the 2013 Maria Canals International Music Competition, and was named Fourth Laureate at the 2013 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Stanislav Khristenko's recently released new CD on the Steinway & Sons label featuring works by Schumann, Bruckner, Brahms, and the Zemlinsky that was praised so highly in the New York Times, has received raving reviews. The Fanfare Magazine's Henry Fogel praised Stanislav’s 'poetic but firmly shaped performances'. The recording is also “highly recommended” by All Music Guide.

Peter Mack bio: Irish Peter Mack is in great demand as a performer, clinician, convention artist, adjudicator, and teacher. Celebrated for his moving playing, and his easy rapport with audiences, he has performed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as in , India, and the former Soviet Union. He is the winner of the New Orleans, Young Keyboard Artists, and Pacific International Piano Competitions. His prize in the Sherman-Clay competition included a Steinway grand piano. Naturally, he is a Steinway artist! Peter Mack is well known for his extensive repertoire, having performed twenty-six concertos with . A choral scholar at Trinity College Dublin, and a fellow of Trinity College London, he has a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Washington. His principal teachers were Frank Heneghan and Bela Siki. In 2013, Dr. Mack received the extraordinary honor of being asked to deliver both the Advanced Piano Master class at the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) annual convention in California and the Master class for MTNA Winners at the biennial National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP) in Illinois. His students are frequent winners of local, national, and international competitions. He is the proud teacher of nineteen MTNA national finalists, and two MTNA national first place winners. A former board member of MTNA, Peter Mack was the chair of the MTNA National Conference Planning Committee for the 2014 conference. In 2015, he was selected as an MTNA Foundation Fellow, a program that “honors deserving individuals who have made significant contributions to the music world and the music teaching profession.” Peter Mack's 2014-2015 list of engagements includes performances in two of the most acoustically perfect performance spaces in Europe; the Salle Cortot of the Ecole Normale in Paris, and the Haydnsaal of the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria. Dr. Mack is Professor of Piano Performance at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. "Mack is one of those lucky ones, born with a completely balanced set of talents. He has perfect piano hands, his technique is all but infallible, he has boundless temperament, style and taste, and above all, he communicates directly.... In all capacities he is indefatigable...." --Los Angeles Times Peter Mack (with Schulhoff) photo taken by Michelle Smith-Lewis.

In addition to the New Orleans Piano Institute and Keyboard Festival, MASNO’S Annual Fundraiser, XIII, will be held on Sunday, September 27th, at the Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, and will feature acclaimed Venezuelan American pianist Gabriela Montero. Additional event information will follow.

For Further Information A complete schedule for the 2015 NOPI/KF is available upon request. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the MASNO Office at (504) 899- 4826 or www.masno.org

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