Category: Events

MARK SALMAN IN CONCERT

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14TH @ 7PM

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Biography

Hailed as a “heroic virtuoso,”” and “a dazzling performer,” Mark Salman’s performances have been described as “powerful,” “astonishing, exacting and evocative,” “dramatic,” “wildly imaginative” and “touchingly lyrical.” Of his performance of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier sonata one authority stated, “there are probably only five or six pianists in the world who can play [it] as perfectly.” His performance of Liszt’s transcription of the Beethoven Seventh Symphony was named one of three “Performances of the Year” by the Seattle Weekly.

Mr. Salman’s performances have taken him to Europe, Asia, Canada and throughout the United States. He has performed in Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, has been the subject of profiles in The New York Times and has been featured in numerous radio and television broadcasts in the U.S., Europe and in China. His account of his meetings with and playing for Vladimir Horowitz appears in David Dubal’s book, Evenings with Horowitz. Mr. Salman was a co-founder of the Delmarva Piano Festival in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, which ran for seventeen seasons. 

His performances have included his debut at the Newport Music Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, an eight recital series devoted to the works of Franz Liszt in Seattle, three recitals featuring Schubert’s final three sonatas, a complete cycle of Beethoven’s five piano concertos and Choral Fantasy with Orchestra Seattle, A Chopin Celebration, a series of three recitals celebrating the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth, and five recitals in honor of Liszt’s 200th birthday. In 2016, he performed Busoni’s Fantasia Contrappuntistica in New York at the celebration of Busoni’s 150th birthday, sponsored by the Busoni society. Mr. Salman is regularly heard as a concerto soloist with northwest orchestras, having performed over 30 different concertos with orchestra. This season he gave the first Northwest performance of Busoni’s rarely heard Indian Fantasy for piano and orchestra in Seattle. As a chamber musician, he appears regularly with Simple Measures. Mr. Salman is a Steinway Artist. He is on the faculty of the Seattle Conservatory of Music.

Besides his wide–ranging repertoire, Mr. Salman is perhaps best known for his expertise on Beethoven, having performed the complete cycle of the thirty-two piano sonatas on both coasts as well as in 18 broadcasts on KING–FM in Seattle. Two volumes of Beethoven and his 32 Piano Sonatas — A Musical Universe, a video series featuring Mr. Salman’s performances of the sonatas, hosted by the noted author and commentator, David Dubal, have been released on the on the Great Composers label.

Mr. Salman’s recordings include his newest release, Schubert Late Sonatas, two all–Chopin CDs, including Chopin’s Intimate Art: The Mazurkas, Mozart’s Piano Concertos K. 488 and K. 503 with the Northwest Sinfonietta, The Transcendental Piano, featuring works by Alkan, Beethoven and Liszt, two DVDs in the series Beethoven and his 32 Piano Sonatas — A Musical Universe, as well as American Interweave, featuring contemporary American works for cello and piano. Also available in limited release are the first four live performances from his 2004–2005 Liszt Series and his Beethoven concerto performances with Orchestra Seattle.

Mr. Salman is a native of Connecticut, where he began his studies at the age of eight and made his recital debut at eleven. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he studied with Richard Fabre and Josef Raieff. He previously attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for two years, where he concentrated on chamber music and composition, studying with the noted composer, John Harbison.

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Friday, September 27th at 7:00PM

Biography

Louis Landon is a composer, Steinway artist, and Pianist for Peace. Formerly of New York and currently living in Sedona, Arizona, Louis has dedicated his life to music. His career has taken him around the world playing a variety of styles with some of the most recognized names in the entertainment industry. He toured nationally and internationally, playing classical music for Mikhail Baryshnikov; jazz fusion with The John Payne Band; Latin music with “Pucho and his Latin Soul Brothers”; pop music with Rupert “Pina Colada Song” Holmes; rock & roll with John Hall, opening for “Little Feat”.

Louis began playing the piano by ear at 4 years old and began lessons at 5. As a teenager, he played guitar and keyboard in bands and went on to study music at Stony Brook University, Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music.

For the past 30 years, through his production company, Landon Music Company, Louis has written and produced music for film, video, and commercials. He recorded his first original piano album, Love Songs & Jazz, in 1994 and has since released 32 Albums/CDs on the LCI Record label, his latest entitled Heartfelt Solo Piano was released on May 20, 2019. His music is licensed for television and motion pictures by Oovra Music.

Louis Landon mission:

To create a more compassionate world by writing, recording and performing music that inspires love, peace, joy and gratitude.

Reviews:

“While some pianists are virtuosos in their playing and others may not be as technically proficient, but have great emotional content in their music, Louis Landon brings it all together with impeccable style and grace. His work covers diverse compositional terrain, incorporating influences of classical, new age, jazz, pop, and more in a mellifluous spectrum of moods and musical colors.” Michaeldiamondmusic.com

“He has a gift for composition that is second to none.” Zone Music Reporter

“… indeed meditative and mellow, [he] sacrifices no musical rigor to achieve those ends. With backgrounds in jazz, Latin music, rock, pop, film composing, and classical piano, Louis brings his breadth and depth of experience to bear here. His playing and compositions are sensitive as they are complex and… a diverse range of influences is more than apparent.” Keyboard Magazine

Recognition:

Louis Landon’s music has had over 121 million streams on Pandora radio!

Louis Landon’s music has had over 18 million streams on Spotify!

Departure – Solo Piano was nominated for Album of the Year 2017 by Whisperings Radio.

Healing Hearts 2 – Solo Piano won 2016 “Contemporary and Modern” Album of the Year at solo piano.com and was nominated for Album of the Year at Enlightened Piano Radio, also in 2016.

Healing Hearts – Solo Piano was nominated for Album of the Year at Whisperings Radio 2015.

Solo Piano for Love, Peace & Mermaids was nominated for Album of the Year at Whisperings Radio 2010.

Solo Piano for Peace was nominated for the 2009 ZMR Music Awards in three categories: Album of the Year, Best Instrumental Album – piano, and Best Cover Art by Zone Music Reporter. Solo Piano for Peace was listed at #30 of the top 100 albums for airplay in 2009 by Zone Music Reporter.

Peace Revolution! was Louis Landon’s 7th CD and 2nd solo piano CD. It was #7 on the NAR top 100 charts and was played on over 50 stations worldwide.

unwind charted at #3 of the top 100 cds for the month of February, 2006 on Zone Music Reporter’s website, playing on over 121 stations internationally.

September 7th @ 7pm

A native of Ohio, Scott Kirby began his study of music at the age of
six, and continued formal piano instruction for seventeen years. He
worked under Robert Howat of Wittenberg University of Ohio, and
Sylvia Zaremba at the Ohio State University. After obtaining an
English degree from Ohio State University, Kirby moved to New
Orleans and began his professional music career, as a street
performer. In the following four years, he recorded the complete rags
of Scott Joplin, and made his debut at all of the major ragtime festivals
in the United States, as well as festivals in Belgium, France, Norway,
New Zealand, and Hungary.
Kirby has served as Musical Director of the “Scott Joplin Ragtime
Festival” in Sedalia, MO, and of the “Rocky Mountain Ragtime and
American Music Festival” in Boulder, CO, as well as director of the
“San Juan Islands Ragtime Institute.” His appearances include a
segment on CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood in
1998, and at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Kirby cofounded
a record company (Viridiana Productions, L.L.C.), has made
25 recordings, and has composed over 150 original works for piano
and other instruments. Admired by fellow pianists including George
Winston, and hailed by Time Magazine as an “ace pianist,” CBS
News’ Charles Osgood agreed that “…Critics call Scott Kirby one of
the best interpreters of ragtime music on the scene today.”
Kirby’s artistic passion grew to include to visual art, and in 2005, while
living in France, he completed 75 paintings and 28 piano
compositions, including “The Prairie Devotionals,” The paintings
(belonging to a set entitled “Visions of the Great Plains”) and the new
musical works set the groundwork for his new multi-media project
“Main Street Souvenirs.” Kirby now lives in Boulder, Colorado and
divides his time between composing, painting, performing and
teaching.

March 30th 7PM

GET TICKETS HERE

Jazz pianist and vocalist Kate Skinner maintains an active performing, composing, and teaching career in the western United States. A native of Ogden, Utah, Skinner pulls influences from the bluegrass and classical roots of her childhood into both her songwriting and performing as a jazz musician. In her teenage and college years, Kate delved into R&B, funk, and hip hop, genres that also continually find their way into her musical explorations helping to create her own unique voice. Part of this unique voice is an obsession with alternative keyboard instruments and a study of the great keyboardists of jazz, rock, and funk.

As a pianist, Dr. Skinner is in demand in a variety of performance styles and has performed with the Downbeat-award-winning jazz band from the University of Northern Colorado, Jazz Lab Band I among many other established large and small jazz ensembles. Her work as a vocalist has seen much success among a wide audience of listeners across genres. Kate’s compositions and playing have won multiple awards, including a Downbeat award for Outstanding Vocal Performance and a Jazz Education Network award for composition.

2014 saw the release of two new albums that Kate was highly involved in, one of which is a straight-ahead jazz quartet called Divergent featuring her writing and performing. The second is Born to Wander a bass-guitar-voice trio with Erik Applegate and Steve Kovalcheck. The group is founded in jazz and explores interpreting classic folk and rock tunes along with jazz standards. Kate believes that the pursuit of honest and creative projects is the lifeblood of any artist and she strives to continually push herself and widen her scope to new influences and excitements.

Skinner is currently a jazz lecturer at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, where she directs Jazz Band II and teaches multiple courses in jazz studies. She holds M.M. and D.A. degrees in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado.