Program Descriptions:

Extreme Latin!
De Falla
Scarlatti
Ravel
Granados
Lopez Gavilan
Piazzolla
(Percussion accompaniment on selected works)
What is it about those hypnotic Latin rhythms? Listeners will be transported to a world of flamenco, tango and Afro-Cuban sounds -- music that evokes exoticism and mystery. Extreme Latin! frames classical fare such as Scarlatti and Bach with traditional Latin dance rhythms, presenting a fresh new look at the Spanish idiom. Street-wise, nostalgic, alluring, prophetic.

I've Got Romance! Chopin
Impromptu No. 1 in A flat Major
Fantasie Impromptu
Etudes, Op.10, Nos. 3, 5, 9, and 12
pause
Ballade in F minor, Op.52
intermission
Gershwin
Three Preludes
Song transcriptions: Fascinatin' Rhythm, The Man I Love, Lady Be
Good, S'Wonderful, I've Got Rhythm
A romantic rendezvous? Let's begin in Chopin's Paris salon where chic cultured women swoon to romantic, inspired melodies. Then on to America to a fabulous Gatsby-era party, where snappy flapper girls gather ‘round Gershwin's piano as he improvises on the lush melodies of his own tongue-in-cheek songs. Both composers knew how to win their audiences, and they'll win you over, too.

Tripping the Piano Fantastic!
This program showcases various kinds of piano virtuosity from the standard repertoir, from fleet fingers for Haydn to the subtle control and romanticism of Chopin to the drilling rhythms of 1920s American jazz to the super-human demands of Carl Vine's Sonata – the latter which invariably leaves audiences in stunned disbelief.