A Baltic Voyage - August 7-10, 2014
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Presented at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) from August 7-10, 2014, the theme for the 5th Milton & Peggy Salkind International Piano Duo Festival was A Baltic Voyage, which showcased the rich musical heritage of the countries that border the Baltic Sea and returning to the region that inspired its creation more than a decade ago. A Baltic Voyage highlighted music of the countries that border the Baltic Sea: Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The program for the 2014 Salkind Festival featured a concert series presented in the Caroline Hume Concert Hall and a Salon Series in the Osher Salon at SFCM performed by renowned artists who are specialists in the repertoire of the Baltic region. Each concert took the audience on a musical voyage with a different itinerary for the departure city and the music of the countries featured on the voyage.
The 2014 Salkind Festival took audiences on a voyage of discovery with a showcase of musical treasures from the Baltic region highlighting some well known composers as well as some seldom-heard composers, and of course, there were several new discoveries. An important part of sfmf’s mission is to commission new works for presentation at the Salkind International Piano Duo Festivals. We premiered two new works to Bay Area audiences at the 2014 Festival. Sponsored by The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, the commission of a new work, Mirrors – Variations on a Traditional Swedish Dalecarlian Ballad for two pianos by the distinguished Swedish composer, Nils Lindberg premiered on Friday, August 8. A second commission of a new work for two pianos, Echoes of Tchaikovsky by German composer, Marcel Bergmann premiered on Saturday, August 9 in the Caroline Hume Concert Hall at SFCM.
The Baltic Voyage project inspired a new collaboration that brought to the stage a suite of Valery Gavrilin’s music from the Russian ballet, Anyuta. The ballet gained fame at the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre with such legendary artists as Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev. The ballet is renowned for its eloquent music and Anton Chekov’s short story, Anna Round the Neck. A special alliance was created between Tiit Helimets, San Francisco Ballet principal dancer/choreographer and guest artist/choreographer for the Estonian National Ballet, and Margaret Swarthout, Artistic Director of Marin Dance Theatre to present sketches from the Russian ballet Anyuta. Presented at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, the Anyuta collaborative project was an American premiere with choreography by Tiit Helimets and performed by Salkind Festival artists and dancers from Smuin Ballet, San Francisco Opera Ballet and Marin Dance Theatre.
The 2014 Salkind Festival showcased six distinguished American and international piano duos including: Duo Turgeon (Canada), The AR-RA Piano Duo (Latvia & Armenia), Duo Pianistico di Firenze (Italy), the Bergmann Piano Duo (Germany & Canada), the ZOFO Duet, (Switzerland & Japan) and The Angelo Piano Duo (Australia & USA). Guest artists: Pianists - Judy Sabin, Richard Stevens (The 20 Fingers Club); Libby Kardontchik, Carlos Feder (The Palo Alto Two Piano Club); The Kepska Duo (Kevin Goh & Edgar Woo); The Katarina & Matthew Lee Duo; Choreographer: Tiit Helimets (principal dancer San Francisco Ballet & guest artist/choreographer Estonia National Ballet); Margaret Swarthout (artistic director Marin Dance Theatre); Dancers: Jo-Ann Sundermeier, Joshua Reynolds (Smuin Ballet principal dancers); Bryan Ketron (San Francisco Opera Ballet); Julia Adams, Erica Bell, Max Bleeker, Lindsay Dekleva, Celeste Gaiera, Molly Gibbons, Pierre de Korsak, Mia Parelius, Hannah Pittman, Danielle Tirpack, Malina Wahl (Marin Dance Theatre).
For more information on the artists, please go to Festival Artists
