'Keys to the Future' Piano Festival Plays 5/25-27

Following four seasons of sold-out concerts, KEYS TO THE FUTURE celebrates its fifth anniversary at a brand new venue and with an even deeper mix of styles and talent. This unique piano festival takes place Tuesday through Thursday, May 25, 26, and 27, at Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street between Sullivan and Thompson St. Each hour-long concert begins at 7:30pm; doors open at 6:30pm.

Founded and curated by pianist/composer Joseph Rubenstein, KEYS TO THE FUTURE offers a vivid survey of contemporary piano repertoire through three densely packed recitals. Each hour contains a kaleidoscopic array of solo piano pieces that explores the vast potential of the instrument. Rubenstein says: "After months of listening and research, I feel strongly that this season's program is the best so far in terms of stylistic range, artistic depth, and audience appeal. Our expanded roster of pianists features ten world-class artists with a strong commitment to the music of our time. We're excited to present our concerts at Le Poisson Rouge, which has quickly become the cutting edge of contemporary music."

The "posse of leading ivory merchants" (Time Out New York) featured in this season's Keys Festival are: Amy Briggs, Stephen Gosling, Karén Hakobyan (winner of the 3rd Annual Keys to the Future Young Artists Competition), Eric Huebner, Marina Lomazov, Blair McMillen, Lisa Moore, Molly Morkoski, Tatjana Rankovich, and Joseph Rubenstein.

The composers, in alphabetical order, include: Philippe Bodin, Don Byron, Chick Corea, Richard Danielpour, Annie Gosfield, Judd Greenstein, Philippe Hersant, Nikolai Kapustin, Vuk Kulenovic, Lowell Liebermann, György Ligeti, Magnus Lindberg, Marc Mellits, Kevin Oldham, Joseph Rubenstein, Rodion Shchedrin, Valentin Silvestrov, Bruce Stark, and Barbara White.

"There is a huge range of new piano music being written right now, and a huge range of new pianists to play it. I am very impressed with the Keys to the Future festival, which fills a giant hole in New York's musical life. This festival is an explosion of piano music of all types, played by a new generation of virtuosi." - composer David Lang, co-founder of Bang on a Can

Listings Information:
Le Poisson Rouge presents Keys to the Future, a 3-concert festival of recent music for solo piano
Featuring pianists Amy Briggs, Stephen Gosling, Karén Hakobyan, Eric Huebner, Marina Lomazov,
Blair McMillen, Lisa Moore, Molly Morkoski, Tatjana Rankovich, Joseph Rubenstein
158 Bleecker Street (between Sullivan and Thompson St.)
Tuesday, May 25, 2010, at 7:30pm (Huebner, Lomazov, Moore, Morkoski, Rubenstein)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at 7:30pm (Briggs, Lomazov, Moore, Rankovich)
Thursday, May 27, 2010, at 7:30pm (Gosling, Hakobyan, McMillen, Rubenstein)
Tickets: $20 general admission; call 212/505-3474 for information

KEYS TO THE FUTURE 2010 PROGRAMS:

"New works for solo piano, usually tucked into recitalists' standard-repertory programs, are the entire focus of this groundbreaking festival...a remarkable lineup of contemporary and late twentieth-century works."
- Russell Platt, The New Yorker

Tuesday, May 25, 7:30PM
Eric Huebner, Marina Lomazov, Lisa Moore, Molly Morkoski, Joseph Rubenstein, pianists

Hymne - 2001 (2001) (Rubenstein) Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937)
Romance No. 4 (celestial) (2009) (Rubenstein) Joseph Rubenstein (b. 1969)
Three Etudes (1985-94) (Morkoski) György Ligeti (1923-2006)
Inner Banners (2) (2002) (Huebner) Philippe Bodin (b. 1960)
Two Concert Etudes (1984) (Huebner) Nikolai Kapustin (b. 1937)
7 Etudes for Solo Piano (2008) (Moore) Don Byron (b. 1958)
Variations (1996) (Lomazov) Nikolai Kapustin (b. 1937)

Wednesday, May 26, 7:30PM
Amy Briggs, Marina Lomazov, Lisa Moore, Tatjana Rankovich, pianists

Variations on a French Noel (1986) (Rankovich) Kevin Oldham (1960-1993)
Gargoyles (1989) (Rankovich) Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961)
Bagatelle (2001) (Moore) Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937)
Brooklyn, October 5, 1941 (2000) (Moore) Marc Mellits (b. 1966)
Four Jubilees (2002) (Briggs) Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958)
Five Children's Songs (1971-82) (Briggs) Chick Corea (b. 1941)
Basso Ostinato (1993) (Lomazov) Rodion Shchedrin (b. 1932)
Variations (1994) (Lomazov) Nikolai Kapustin (b. 1937)

Thursday, May 27, 7:30PM
Stephen Gosling, Karén Hakobyan, Blair McMillen, Joseph Rubenstein, pianists

Yours (2002) (Rubenstein) Bruce Stark (b. 1956)
Romance No. 2 (aurora) (2007) (Rubenstein) Joseph Rubenstein (b. 1969)
Virginal (2000) (Hakobyan) Vuk Kulenovic (b. 1946)
Six Éphémeres (1998) (McMillen) Philippe Hersant (b. 1948)
First Ballade (2004) (McMillen) Judd Greenstein (b. 1979)
Mardi Gras (1989) (McMillen) Richard Danielpour (b. 1956)
"Mirage" from Reliquary (homage to Ravel) (2002) (Gosling) Barbara White (b. 1965)
Five Études in Different Intervals (1992) Nikolai Kapustin (b. 1937)

"Keys to the Future is one of the hippest festivals in the city!" - George Steel, General Manager and Artistic Director, New York City Opera

Amy Briggs (www.amybriggspiano.com) has established herself as a leading interpreter of the music of living composers, while also bringing a fresh perspective to music of the past. Based in Chicago, she is the pianist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW ensemble, where she has worked with composers such as Augusta Read Thomas, Pierre Boulez, Marc-Anthony Turnage, Oliver Knussen, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Osvaldo Golijov. The Chicago Tribune has called "extraordinary" her "mastery of what lay on the dense, printed page and beyond," and the Chicago Sun-Times called her a "ferociously talented pianist." The New York Times described her recent Lincoln Center performance of Luciano Berio's Sequenza IV as having "a live-wire intensity." Her recordings include two critically acclaimed discs of David Rakowski's Piano Etudes on Bridge Records (a third will be released shortly), solo and chamber music of Augusta Read Thomas for the ART label, chamber music of Conlon Nancarrow, Morton Feldman, Edgar Varese, and Erik Oña for Wergo Records, and a disc of solo piano tangos from the 20th and 21st centuries for upcoming release. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the United States, Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and Asia. Amy Briggs earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at Northwestern University, as a student of Ursula Oppens. She was recently appointed Director of Chamber Music and Lecturer in Music at the University of Chicago. Amy is a Steinway Artist.

Stephen Gosling's (http://www.keystothefuture.org/artist_gosling.html) playing has been hailed as "electric, luminous and poised" (The New York Times), projected with "utter clarity and conviction" (The Washington Post) through "extraordinary virtuosity" (The Houston Chronicle). A native of Sheffield, England, Stephen studied with Oxana Yablonskaya at the Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor's, Master's and Doctoral degrees. At Juilliard, he was awarded the Mennin Prize for Outstanding Excellence and Leadership in Music and the Sony Elevated Standards Fellowship. Energetically committed to the music of our time, Stephen Gosling is a member of the New York New Music Ensemble, Ensemble Sospeso and the Sinfonietta Moderna of Columbia University. He appears frequently as guest artist with such groups as Orpheus, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Continuum, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Speculum Musicae and Da Capo Chamber Players. He has recorded for the New World, Bridge, CRI, Innova, Albany and Centaur labels, among others.

The talented Armenian pianist and composer Karén Hakobyan (http://www.keystothefuture.org/artist_hakobyan.html) has been acclaimed for his individual style and depth of his interpretations. Hakobyan has received numerous awards, both for performance and composition. In 2004 Mr. Hakobyan won first prize in the Four Corners Piano Competition, and The Fite Piano Competition. In 2003 he won first prize in the Pinault International Audiotape/Videotape Piano Competition, first prize in the Tourgee DeBose National Piano Competition, and first prize in the SummerArts Piano Competition. He has also been a top prize winner in the Armenian Legacy Pianists International Piano Competition and the International Festival of Creative Pianists. He has presented solo recitals in Armenia, the United States, Germany and France. Some of his festival performance highlights include: the "Lille International Piano(s) Festival" in France in 2005 where he was featured with internationally renowned artists such as Boris Berezovsky, Nicholas Angelich, Piotr Anderszewski, and Philippe Bianconi: "The Pianist as Composer" Festival at Mannes College of Music in 2008 and "The Mendelssohn Salon Yearlong Festival" in 2009 in New York City. Hakobyan is currently pursuing Professional Studies Diploma at Mannes College of Music, studying with Dr. Arkady Aronov and is residing in New York City.