Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

The Gary Graffman Celebration, Featuring Musical Performances by Lang Lang, Christoph Eschenbach, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank and More, Marks the Legacy of a Renowned Pianist, Teacher and Administrator in Verizon Hall on Sunday, September 24
August 30, 2006


Gary Graffman
As a gifted pupil, revered teacher, and inspiring administrator, Gary Graffman’s long association with Philadelphia and The Curtis Institute of Music will receive special recognition at a unique concert, the Gary Graffman Celebration, Sunday, September 24 at 7:30pm in Verizon Hall. This concert, part of Kimmel Center Presents Master Musicians Piano Series and in conjunction with the Curtis Institute, will celebrate Mr. Graffman’s legacy with performances by a star-studded array of guest artists, including past and present students Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Lang Lang, and Yuja Wang; his colleagues Christoph Eschenbach, Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, the new President of the Curtis Institute, Roberto Díaz, as well as Mr. Graffman. Included on the program will be music of Brahms, Schumann, Korngold, Bach and Prokofiev.

Deeply rooted to the Philadelphia region, Gary Graffman entered the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music at age 7 as a student of Isabelle Vengerova. He graduated 10 years later, in 1946, and returned in 1980 to join the piano faculty. In 1986, he began a 20-year career as Curtis’s director. Having performed with orchestras around the world — in North, Central, and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia — he is hailed as one of the greatest pianists of our time according to Newsweek.

Gary Graffman retired as president/director of The Curtis Institute of Music in May 2006. He remains on its piano faculty. The Kimmel Center and The Curtis Institute of Music join to celebrate his legacy with the Gary Graffman Celebration, one in which teacher plays on a night with his previous students of The Curtis Institute. The concert will also include a pre-concert “Artist Chat.”

Tickets for the Gary Graffman Celebration are $69, $60, $52, $45, $40, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-893-5883.

A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2½ hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.

Celebrated pianist Gary Graffman is a major figure in the music world, and has performed the most demanding works in the piano literature both in recital and with the world's great orchestras. He has made a series of highly acclaimed recordings with the orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago and Boston, and with such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Eugene Ormandy and George Szell.

In 1979, however, Mr. Graffman's performing career was curtailed by an injury to his right hand. The reduction in Mr. Graffman's concert activity provided him with a remarkable opportunity to expand his horizons beyond the stage. Most notable has been his leadership of the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He first joined its piano faculty in 1980 and became Director of the all-scholarship conservatory in 1986. Appointed president of The Curtis Institute in 1995, he now remains active as a teacher and coach of piano and chamber music students.

Gary Graffman is the author of a highly praised memoir, I Really Should Be Practicing, and has also written popular articles on non-musical subjects while also finding time to pursue a scholarly interest in Asian Art and photography. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Pennsylvania and The Juilliard School, among others. He has been honored by the City of New York with its Handel Medallion, by the City of Philadelphia on its Walk of Fame, and by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as recipient of the Governor's Arts Award, recognizing him for his varied accomplishments, including his "leadership of Curtis."

Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, ARC Properties, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The William Penn Foundation. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News, and Philly.com are media sponsors for the Great Orchestras on Tour series.

KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
September 24, 2006 | 7:30pm
Verizon Hall

Gary Graffman Celebration

With special guests:

Gary Graffman, piano
Lang Lang, piano
Leon Fleisher, piano
Christoph Eschenbach, piano
Yuja Wang, piano
Roberto Díaz, viola
Claude Frank, piano
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, piano
Juliette Kang, violin
Soovin Kim, violin

Other Members of the Philadelphia Orchestra tba

Program:

Yuja Wang
SCHUBERT-LISZT: Two Songs: Gretchen am Spinnrade, Erlkönig

Lang Lang
tba

Ignat Solzhenitsyn
PROKOFIEV: Piano Sonata No. 4 in C minor

Gary Graffman with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra
KORNGOLD: Suite, Op. 23, for 2 violins, cello and piano left hand, Walzer and Grotesk

Intermission

Christoph Eschenbach, Roberto Diaz and members of the Philadelphia Orchestra
SCHUMANN: Piano Quartet, Adagio

Claude Frank
MOZART: Rondo in A minor

Leon Fleisher
BACH: Capriccio in B-flat,On the departure of my beloved brother, BWV992

Gary Graffman
BACH-BRAHMS: Chaconne (from D minor Suite for solo violin)

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