“A Tribute to Vladimir Horowitz,” June 26

Pianists James Giles, Gideon Rubin, Yoshikazu Nagai and Frank Weinstock will perform music by Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and others who are associated with keyboard genius Vladimir Horowitz.

Tickets are available in advance for $15 or $13 for seniors. Tickets at the door on the night of the performance are $17 or $15 for seniors, or free with valid Elon identification. Tickets may be purchased by calling the McCrary Theatre box office at (336) 278-5610.

MORE ABOUT THE CONCERT:

As part of its opening week festivities, the Eastern Music Festival will present three nights of performances celebrating the genius of Russian piano virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz. Pianists James Giles, Gideon Rubin, Yoshikazu Nagai, and Frank Weinstock will perform music by Mozart, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and others.

The concerts is sponsored by the Piedmont Music Center in Winston-Salem and Charlotte and by Steinway and Sons. Steinway is the official piano of the Eastern Music Festival and School. The program for each concert opens with two sonatas by 17th century composer Domenico Scarlatti. Scarlatti wrote a staggering 555 keyboard sonatas during his life, and they exploit the full range of musical expression on the piano. Scarlatti considered
each sonata to be “an ingenious jesting with art.” Horowitz frequently played selections from the sonatas, playing a significant role in popularizing the pieces for the concertgoing
public. Yoshikazu Nagai will bring his own “pianistic fire” to his performance of the sonatas. An international performer and faculty member at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, Nagai has won several awards, including first prize in the 2002 Washington International Piano Competition. Also on the program will be the surprisingly tart “Waltz” from Symphonic Dances, the last major work completed by Rachmaninov, written expressly for performance with Horowitz. Horowitz idolized Rachmaninov from a very young age. In the 1920’s the two met in America, played together frequently, andformed a unique musical bond. This bond will be brought to life for these Festival performances by Frank Weinstock and Gideon Rubin. Rubin, who appeared on the “Jim Lehrer News Hour” performing John Adams’ “Grand Pianola Music,” with Adams conducting, has played in diverse venues, from the Boston Symphony Hall to live radio broadcasts in Israel. Weinstock, featured in Benjamin Saver’s book, The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in the USA, is Professor of Piano at the prestigious University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and has toured throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Weinstock will team up with High Point native James Giles for the delightful “Sonata in D” for two pianos by Mozart. This piece, rarely performed because it requires two pianos, is “one of the best works by Mozart for two or more instruments,” according to James Giles, who notes that “Mozart was Horowitz’s favorite composer,” lending the performance added significance. Giles has earned a reputation as one of the most versatile and imaginative pianists of recital, orchestra, and chamber music. A faculty member at Northwestern University, Giles has performed in recent seasons with the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, the Kharkiv Philharmonic in Ukraine, and the Opera Orchestra of New York. He is the chair of the piano department at Eastern Music Festival.