Piano Mania to include 12 Pianos,
22 Pianists and 44 hands at the 13th
Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival
Ottawa (June 19, 2006) – To celebrate the 13th
Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival,
the Ottawa Chamber Music Society’s Artistic
Director Julian Armour has programmed a Piano
Gala that will feature 12 grand pianos, all Steinways – the official
piano of the Festival – and twenty-two musicians
on one stage. Presented in association with the National
Arts Centre, the Piano Gala will be presented
on Saturday, July 29, 8
p.m. in Southam Hall
and is sponsored by The Ottawa Citizen.
“We
are thrilled to present this Gala, which will delight
audiences of all ages and musical tastes,” states
Armour. Seventeen of Canada’s
top pianists will be joined by special guests The
5 Browns, an extraordinary group of pianists
who have been at the top of classical recording
sales charts for the past two years.
“This is a remarkable gathering
of musicians and they are absolutely delighted to
be performing together,” explains Armour, “As an
artistic director, I am thrilled with the calibre
of the programme!” Canada’s
celebrated pianists include: Jimmy Brière,
Claudia Cashin-Mack, Naida Cole, Valerie Dueck,
Judith Ginsburg, Evelyn Greenberg, Kyoko Hashimoto,
David Jalbert, Stéphane Lemelin, Peter Longworth,
Dina Namer, James Parker, Richard Raymond, Paul
Stewart, Lynn Stodola, Alexander Tselyakov and Andrew
Tunis.
This
concert will feature a wide variety of music involving
different combinations of pianos, ranging from 2
to 12, and compositions by Gershwin, Rossini, Rachmaninoff,
Brahms, Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov, Liszt, Stravinsky
and others!
Finding
12 Steinway grand pianos is a daunting logistical
challenge. With the help of Lauzon Music Centre,
a major Festival sponsor, pianos were located in
Ottawa,
Montreal
and Toronto.
“We wanted to make sure that only superb 9-foot
Steinways are used at this special event,” says
Armour.
Tickets are
available only at the following outlets:
