Archive | Portland Piano Events

Carnegie Hall Preview Concert on March 3rd, 2018


“…an exceptional, gifted  young artist.”
Robert Mann, Founding Member Juilliard String Quartet

A pianist of extraordinary sensitivity, intelligence, and breadth of dramatic expression, Jeffrey LaDeur makes his solo debut at Carnegie Hall with this recital commemorating the life and works of Claude Debussy on the centenary of his death. Inspired by Couperin and Chopin, Debussy’s Études of 1915 are the summation of the composer’s mature genius in writing for solo piano. The three composers are presented in musical dialogue, tracing the unbroken line of tradition through centuries of French music.
 

“Awe-inspiring” and “ear-opening.”
Stephen Smoliar, San Francisco Examiner 

Sharing the stage with (his good friend) LaDeur—and celebrating his return to Portland audiences following his education at The Eastman School of Music (which began at age 15)—pianist and pedagogue, Johnandrew Slominski will perform a selection of Chopin Mazurkas and Barcarolle. In 2017, Slominski joined the faculty of Linfield College as an artist-in-residence and music theorist.

More information

Melody Bober Alfred Clinician Thursday August 7th

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In partnership with Portland Music Company and the leading music publisher in the world, Michelle’s Piano Company is pleased to welcome popular and insightful clinician Melody Bober to our recital hall this coming Thursday August 7th from 9-12pm.

Melody graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana with a bachelor’s degree in music education. She later received her master of arts degree in piano performance from Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Melody credits much of her success to her influential teachers who include Joel Shapiro and Andrew Froelich (piano), Mary Hoffman (music education) and Tony Carmia (jazz).

As an active church pianist and accompanist, Melody has held the position of church music director. In addition to teaching piano in her private studio, Melody’s music experience includes twenty years of public education and two years of college instruction.

A dynamic clinician and innovative composer, Melody is in great demand at convention and workshops for piano teachers across North America. She resides in Minnesota with her husband Jeff.

Melody’s workshop will be concentrating on these components:
– Develop technic and reading skills by performing pieces in various keys.
– Develop practice strategies for enhancing rhythm,articulation, dynamics and velocity.
– Plan repertoire for your students with a fast paced review of new music.

Again, this workshop if free and open to the public from 9-12pm Light refreshments, Melody’s music will available for purchase, as well as check out the best selection of new and used Steinways in the Pacific Northwest.

Toshiko Akiyoshi in Concert & Other Jazz Greats Here @ Michelle’s Recital Hall

Cropped, Toshiko LIVE 2 This Friday June 17th Michelle’s Pianos welcomes Toshiko Akiyoshi to the stage in our recital hall. We are partnering with the Bravo Northwest Concert Series in bringing this wonderful Jazz Legend and GRAMMY Nominated artist. But in fact, Michelle’s Piano is fast becoming a well liked venue for jazz, classical, piano studio recitals and other music performances.

Michelle’s recital room is becoming a well known room due to its wonderful acoustic, low rental costs, and the ability to socialize afterwards. In fact, we have hosted some great performers of international and national fame. But the main reason that performers love to do their concerts here is due to the fact that they have a brand new 9′ Steinway on the stage. Randy Porter , Portland native & Steinway Artist, remarked that a lot of the jazz musicians really love the room but more importantly appreciate the beneficial relationship which builds greater community.

Most venues have subpar instrument for their performance space. When you have the best piano in the world on your stage, the audience then gets to enjoy the best performance in the world. The other factor which makes Michelle’s desirable is the fact that their isn’t a restaurant and immense amount of background noise. Not to say, that the concert goer can participate in some nibbles and refreshments it is the best of both worlds- food, folks and fun so to speak. Check our website often for upcoming events, Costs are relatively low and the interaction between performer and audience is warm and inviting!

Native NW’erner Pianist to Present Beethoven Recitals at the Old Church

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Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas

“One of the most significant facts for the understanding of Beethoven is that his work shows an organic development up till the very end. The older Beethoven lived, the more and more profound was what he had to say. Such sustained development in the case of an artist who reaches years of maturity is a rare and important phenomenon.”

—J.W.N. Sullivan, Beethoven: His Spiritual Development

“Gregory Partain is a gifted pianist, and every item is intelligently and sympathetically played.” —BBC Music Magazine

PROGRAM ONE

Tuesday, May 5; 7:30

A fresh, compelling voice: Vienna conquered (1795)

Sonatas Op. 2, nos. 1, 2, 3

PROGRAM TWO

Thursday, May 7; 7:30

Early mastery: The virtuoso spreads his wings (1795-1798)

Sonatas Op. 7; Op. 10, nos. 1, 3

PROGRAM THREE

Friday, May 8; 7:30

Beethoven’s “New Way”: High drama, moonlight, and countryside (1798-1801)

Sonatas Op. 10, no. 2; Op. 13 (Pathétique); Op. 27, no. 2 (Moonlight); Op. 28 (Pastoral)

PROGRAM FOUR

Tuesday, May 12; 7:30

Expanding horizons: Broken boundaries and novel sonorities (1802-1804)

Sonatas Op. 31, no. 2 (Tempest); Op. 31, no. 3; Op. 53 (Waldstein)

PROGRAM FIVE

Wednesday, May 13; 7:30

Uncharted territory: “Beethoven–Hero” (1804-1814)

Sonatas Op. 57 (Appassionata); Op. 78; Op. 81a (Les adieux); Op. 90

PROGRAM SIX

Wednesday, May 20; 7:30

The final phase: Romantic yearning and epic struggle (1816-1818)

Opus 90; Op. 106 Hammerklavier ( iii Adagio sostenuto ); Opus 101

PROGRAM SEVEN

Thursday, May 21; 7:30

Apotheosis: Revelations, strange landscapes, and a last ascension (1821-1822)

Sonatas Op. 109; Op. 110; Op. 111

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) wrote 32 piano sonatas over the course of his adult life–the first when he was 25, the last at age 52, just five years before his death. Sometimes called the “New Testament” of the piano repertoire, collectively they represent one of the most significant achievements in the history of western music. Spanning nearly three decades, these masterworks chart the artistic and spiritual evolution of a man some see as the greatest composer of all time.

Although we remember Beethoven chiefly for his compositions, he earned early fame as an electrifying and unorthodox pianist. Upon arriving in Vienna, it was the young virtuoso’s eloquence at the piano that most impressed the musical king-makers of his adopted home. For the rest of his career, the piano remained his favorite vehicle for self-expression, and the piano sonata became his compositional laboratory as he challenged the limitations of the genre and stretched the boundaries of music itself. After two centuries, the brilliant sonatas of Beethoven’s early years continue to delight, his “heroic” works still stun and inspire, and his profound final statements offer rich rewards through their depth and transcendent mysticism.

The 22 sonatas chosen for this seven-recital series include those traditionally deemed the most satisfying and most historically significant. Hearing them performed chronologically allows listeners the unique experience of following Beethoven’s creative thought process as it unfolds through an illuminating, powerfully moving odyssey.

Gregory Partain, pianist

In his twenty-eight years on the concert stage, Camas, Washington native Gregory Partain has performed as piano recitalist, concerto soloist, and chamber music collaborator throughout the United States, as well as in Germany, Poland, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Russia, and Greece. He has garnered consistent critical acclaim in the U.S. and abroad for his live and CD recordings of a wide-ranging repertoire: “…some of the best Scarlatti I’ve ever heard…these approach the same level as Horowitz’s legendary recordings” (American Record Guide); “Gregory Partain is a gifted pianist, and every item is intelligently and sympathetically played” (BBC Music Magazine); “…brilliant clarity, crisp articulation, and a magnificent sense of pacing” (All Music Guide); “He is a sterling-silver player. He doesn’t glitter; he gleams. Suffice it to say that the thrill in the audience was very real” (Lexington Herald-Leader).

Also a serious composer, Partain has focused in recent years on compositions for voice that explore spiritual themes. Major works include Requiem (a large-scale concert piece for chorus and orchestra) and Stabat mater dolorosa for a cappella chorus–both with traditional Latin texts–and “Come to the Garden in Spring,” a song cycle for soprano and piano based on spiritual love poems of Jalaluddin Rumi, the 13th-century Islamic mystic.

Partain received his Bachelors degree in Piano Performance from the University of Washington and Masters and Doctoral degrees from The University of Texas at Austin as a Javits Fellowship recipient. Since 1991 he has taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where he holds a Bingham Award for Excellence in Teaching.

http://www.transy.edu/about/faculty_bio.htm?ID=0061544

Up Coming Concerts and More Here at Michelle’s Piano

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Legendary be bop sensation Bob Mover with pianist George Colligan will be performing this Saturday at 8pm in a concert. First, Bob will be presenting a vocal master class $10 for students to participate. Bob Mover’s Musicianship for Singers Clinic at 4:30pm

Master saxophonist/vocalist Bob Mover has been giving performances, lessons, and clinics world-wide for nearly fifty years and has performed with some of the biggest names in Jazz. His teaching method is transformative and provides students with the means to express themselves.

Among the topics discussed:
*Learn to find and develop a personal repertoire
*How to find the best key for you to sing a song in
*Eliminate vague pitches
*Achieve rhythmic free in phrasing
*Use method acting techniques in interpreting lyrics
*Understanding song forms- no more getting lost
*Harmonic movement and voice leading in tunes
*Identifying the colors of chordal upper structures

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to study with with this Jazz master.
$25 suggested donation/$10 for students

At 8:00 pm he then will be joined by George Colligan for an incredible concert. Incidnetally, George will be releasing his new CD, here at Michelle’s on April 11th at 8 pm.

A jazz musician with an international reputation who has been working with names like Cassandra Wilson and Jack DeJohnette, PSU professor George Colligan is presenting two of his bands for one night of music in Portland.

Theoretical Planets, a group in which Colligan plays drums, has released a CD on the Origin label entitled ” Risky Notion.” The CD has gotten rave reviews, including 4 stars in Downbeat Magazine. The group features Joe Manis and Nicole Glover on saxophones, and Jon Lakey on bass. It’s been described as one of Portland’s most exciting jazz groups.

Also on the bill for the evening will be Colligan performing on his main instrument, the piano. His regular Portland trio includes the great Chris Higgins on bass and the great Chris Brown on drums. Colligan was described by New York Times jazz critic Nate Chinen as “A pianist of deep harmonic and rhythmic assurance…”

New Web Site is Live

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Our new web site is live!  We worked with Azunga to create a new web site that was easy to find new products, allows us to add new functionality to the site over time, and is scalable for the future.  We’ve added a ton of new pianos (both new and pre-owned), updated many, many piano pictures, and updated our piano listings to now include piano videos!  Now you can see and hear your favorite pianos from the comfort of your computer.

In addition to the new piano listings and the new web site management system we have a new events management system in place.  Now you can see all the details about a new piano event in a list, on a calendar, or see a history of the previous events we’ve held.  Our new event management system even allows our visitors to export the dates to their favorite calendar so that they never forget about that next big piano recital at Michelles.  Keep a look out for new events in the future.

 

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