PianoSummer at New Paltz returns for its 2019 season with three weeks of performances, master classes, talks and competitions featuring some of the world’s most celebrated classical pianists, July 8 – 26 at SUNY New Paltz.
PianoSummer at New Paltz is a premier educational program in classical music, bringing gifted young pianists from across the globe to study under the artistic direction of Vladimir Feltsman and a rotating cast of exceptional faculty.
It also connects Hudson Valley audiences with performing musicians at the height of their powers. This year, PianoSummer celebrates its 25th anniversary with three marquee concert events open to the public:
- Faculty Gala, 7 p.m. Saturday, July 13
Feltsman will be joined by longtime PianoSummer faculty Paul Ostrovsky, Robert Hamilton and Phillip Kawin, as well as new faculty HaeSun Paik and special guest faculty Alexandre Moutouzkine, for an evening of works by composers including Ludwig van Beethoven, Edvard Grieg and Igor Stravinsky. Reserved tickets $25/$30. - Vadym Kholodenko Recital, 7 p.m. Saturday, July 20
A Van Cliburn International Piano Competition winner described by The Guardian as “one of the most musically dynamic, gifted performers of the new generation of pianists,” Kholodenko will deliver a Hudson Valley performance including works by Beethoven, Wolfgang Mozart, Leopold Godowsky and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Reserved tickets $25/$30. - Flier Competition Gala, 7 p.m., Friday, July 26
The PianoSummer program concludes with a celebration of young musicians whose careers were propelled forward at last year’s Jacob Flier Piano Competition, as Takeshi Nagayasu of Japan, Rixiang Huang of China, and Hao Tian of China return to New Paltz to showcase their progression. Reserved tickets are $25/$30.
[Use this link for full PianoSummer 2019 ticketing information]
PianoSummer at New Paltz is governed first and foremost by its strong educational mission. Accepted students do not pay tuition and housing costs, “reconfirming our belief that the ability to play, and not the ability to pay, should be the only criteria for our students,” Feltsman said.
The capstone student event each year is the Jacob Flier Piano Competition, named after Feltsman’s teacher and mentor. The Flier Competition winner earns a debut recital at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in New York City, and the top three participants are invited to return to campus to perform in the College’s spring Department of Music Concert Series.
The first and final rounds of the 2019 Jacob Flier Piano Competition take place on July 15 and 17 and are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10.
Other notable events from this year’s PianoSummer program include a lecture on recording from Adrian Farmer, artistic director of Nimbus Records and an international touring pianist, on Tuesday, July 23, at 3 p.m., and two master classes offered by Alexandre Moutouzkine and Vadym Kholodenko at 3 p.m. on July 11 and July 19, respectively. Each of these events is free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10.
All PianoSummer events take place in Studley Theatre on the SUNY New Paltz campus.
Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at 845-257-3880, in person at the Parker Theatre Box Office from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 pm. Monday through Friday (closed July 4 and 5), or one hour prior to each ticketed event in the lobby of Studley Theatre.
For a full listing of PianoSummer 2019 programming, visit newpaltz.edu/piano.
