Jeffrey Siegel’s Keyboard Conversations® Series Returns to the Kimmel Center 2006/07 Season
October 26, 2006
American pianist and music educator Jeffrey Siegel returns to the Kimmel Center with three new captivating concert-plus-commentary programs. Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/07 Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel begins with From Russia with Love in Perelman Theater on Monday, November 6, 2006 at 7:30pm. The program will feature the works of two of the most popular Russian composers of all time, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. Siegel's innovative program format will also explore with the audience how such rapturous, lyrical gems came to fruition, including Tchaikovsky's Concert Polonaise in E-flat, Op. 72, No. 7 and Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2, as well as a full performance of each work.
This concert is the first of three Mondays at the Merck Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel scheduled for the 2006/2007 season. The next concerts in the series will be An American Salute! on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 7:30pm and The Romantic World of Robert Schumann on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 7:30pm.
Tickets for Keyboard Conversations® are $30, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10pm to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply). For group sales call 215-893-5883.
An ongoing series for more than twenty-five years in numerous U.S. cities, Jeffrey Siegel's Keyboard Conversations® consistently attract avid classical music lovers who wish to increase their understanding and enjoyment of familiar works, and also reaches out to newcomers to classical music. Siegel presents an informal, accessible and highly entertaining introduction to the vast repertoire of the piano and classical music in his shows. Primarily a concert, Siegel’s shows offer provoking questions behind why, how, where and about what or whom the music was written. "My hope is that the remarks I share will make the music more accessible, the listening experience more focused and meaningful," says Siegel.
Most recently, Random House Audio Publishing Group released an audio book series with four CD recordings of Siegel's Keyboard Conversations®: Mozart and Friends, The Power and Passion of Beethoven, The Romanticism of the Russian Soul and The Romance of the Piano. Twin Cities Public Television, in conjunction with The Schubert Club, also recently produced and broadcast two half-hour Keyboard Conversations® - Mozart & Chopin - available on DVD exclusively at Siegel's concerts. Siegel's recording of Gershwin's complete works for piano and orchestra with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony continues to be a best-seller.
In addition to entertaining and enriching concert-goers with his Keyboard Conversations®, Siegel has been a soloist with the world's great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Moscow State Symphony, London Symphony, Philharmonic and Philharmonia, Moscow State Symphony, Bayerischer Rundfunk, The Hague Residentie Orkest, Oslo Philharmonic, Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestra of La Scala and NHK Symphony of Japan. In the United States, engagements include the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Siegel has collaborated with celebrated conductors and has directed several orchestras, both nationally and internationally. He is equally at home in the dual role of conductor/pianist, directing the orchestra from the keyboard.
Kimmel Center Presents also offers more than fifty Free at the Kimmel community performances during the 2006/07 5th Anniversary season. These include Free in the Plaza with local artists performing classical, jazz, pop, country, world, dance and family fun on the Commonwealth Plaza stage, as well as Artist Chats with Kimmel Center Presents performers, education events and Organ Postludes in Verizon Hall. On November 1 at 6pm, the Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Ensemble will precede the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra ticketed performance, and immediately after the concert there will be a free organ postlude performed on the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ. On November 5 at 1pm Tribe 1 will perform on the Commonwealth Plaza Stage. Please check online for additional information and a performance schedule.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, ARC Wheeler, The William Penn Foundation, The Presser Foundation, Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. 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 Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com are media sponsors for the Great Orchestras on Tour series.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
November 6, 2006 | 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel
From Russia with Love
TCHAIKOVSKY
Humoresque in G, Op. 10, No. 2
Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 19, No. 4
The Seasons, Op. 37, February
Dumka: Russian Rustic Scene, Op. 59
Concert Polonaise in E-flat, Op. 72, No. 7
-Intermission-
RACHMANINOFF
Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2
Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5
Liebesleid (Kreisler)
Etude Tableau in E-flat, Op. 33, No. 7
Questions and Answers
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FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENTS
Wednesday, November 1, 2006 | 6pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Ensemble
Prior to Great Orchestras on Tour Series ticketed performance with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Verizon Hall.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006 | Post-show
Verizon Hall
Organ Postlude
Hear organist Gordon Turk perform on The Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ immediately following the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra ticketed performance in Verizon Hall. No ticket required for the postlude.
Sunday, November 5, 2006 | 1pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Tribe 1
Ensemble of singers, poets and drummers stir audience participation through songs of transformation, poetry and movement. Prior to Sweet Honey in the Rock® ticketed performance in Verizon Hall.
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