PIANIST KIRILL GERSTEIN JOINS VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS
WITH CONDUCTOR MAURICE PERESS IN JAZZ BAND ARRANGEMENTS
OF GERSHWIN’S PIANO CONCERTO IN F AND RHAPSODY IN BLUE
TO OPEN THE 92ND STREET Y’S 2015-16 SEASON ON
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, AT 7:30 P.M.
Sold-out concert to be streamed live at 92YonDemand.org/livecast
(October 1, 2015)—Pianist Kirill Gerstein returns to the 92nd Street Y to launch its 2015-16 season on Tuesday, October 20, at 7:30 P.M., in Kaufmann Concert Hall. Mr. Gerstein will join Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks led by conductor Maurice Peress, for a performance of two Gershwin piano concertos that combine elements of classical music and jazz: Rhapsody in Blue in its original 1924 jazz band version and a rarely-heard jazz band version of the Piano Concerto in F, both arranged by Ferde Grofé for Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. With special permission from the Gershwin estate and Paul Whiteman Collection at Williams College Archives, Mr. Gerstein and the Nighthawks will perform the Piano Concerto in F from a score newly reconstructed by Vince Giordiano and Maurice Peress from the original Whiteman band parts. The all-Gershwin program will also include the Overture to Strike up the Band, arranged by Maurice Peress, and That Certain Feeling-I Got Rhythm, transcribed by Vince Giordano.
The sold-out performance will be streamed live at www.92YonDemand.org/livecast and available for viewing for 24 hours. To join a waitlist for tickets visit www.92y.org or call (212) 415-5500.
Though his focus remains centered on the classical repertoire, Mr. Gerstein is no stranger to the jazz style. His performances of Gershwin have been hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “Magnificent, with a sense of playfulness and stylistic flair seldom encountered.” Mr. Gerstein taught himself to play jazz piano after listening to his parents’ recordings as a child and, at the age of 14, became the youngest student to ever attend Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He offers his perspective on studying and performing both the classical and jazz genres: “I’ve grown up with a unified view of music. I purposefully didn’t particularly distinguish between jazz and classical music, and I still try not to outline this border too clearly. But I realized I had to make a choice between a lifetime spent in improvisation, experiencing the joy of creating music on the spot, or in studying the meaning and complexities of compositions produced by the greatest minds of western music—Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and others. I chose the path of classical music.”
Mr. Gerstein performs again at the 92nd Street Y on Wednesday, April 6, 2016. He returns with a solo recital program that has a dual focus on the exploration of the fantasia and the conversation between the music of Central Europe and that of his Russian heritage with works by Beethoven, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, and Balakirev. For more information about this recital, or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.92y.org or call (212) 415-5500.
Kirill Gerstein has proven to be one of today’s most intriguing and versatile musicians, with a masterful technique, discerning intelligence, and a musical curiosity that has led him to explore repertoire spanning centuries and numerous styles. He is the recipient of the 2010 Gilmore Artist Award and received the First Prize at the 2001 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. During the 2015-16 season, he performs as soloist with major North American orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as the Cincinnati, Colorado, Dallas, Oregon, Toronto, and Utah symphonies, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. A highlight of the past season was the release of Mr. Gerstein’s first orchestral CD: an ECHO Klassik Award-winning world premiere recording of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in the composer’s own 1879 version of the score, and Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by James Gaffigan and released by myrios classics. Mr. Gerstein performs this version of the concerto this season with the London Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony, and on a European tour with the Czech Philharmonic. For further information visit http://www.kirillgerstein.com.
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Tuesday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
92nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall (Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street)
Kirill Gerstein, piano
Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks
Maurice Peress, conductor
GERSHWIN Overture to “Strike Up the Band” (arr. by Maurice Peress)
GERSWHIN Piano Concerto in F (Ferde Grofé version, reconstructed and arr. by Vince Giordano and Maurice Peress)
GERSHWIN “That Certain Feeling” – “I Got Rhythm” (trans. by Vince Giordano)
GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue (arr. by Ferde Grofé)
Tickets are sold out, wait list available. Contact the 92nd Street Y at http://www.92y.org or by phone at (212) 415-5500, or in person at the box office.
