BRATTLEBORO — On Sunday, Feb. 5, at 4 p.m., the Brattleboro Music Center will present pianists Anna Polonsky and Orion Weiss in a program of music for piano four hands at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St.
The program includes Variations on an Original Theme in Ab major, D.813, by Franz Schubert; Bilder aus Osten (Pictures from the East), Op. 66, by Robert Schumann; Sonata in D major, K. 381, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and Rapsodie Espagnole, by Maurice Ravel.
According to concert organizers, “Weiss is one of the most sought-after soloists and collaborators in his generation of young American musicians. His deeply felt and exceptionally crafted performances go far beyond his technical mastery and have won him acclaim from audiences, critics and colleagues in a wide range of repertoire and formats.”
Weiss, named the 2010 Classical Recording Foundation's Young Artist of the Year, will release a recital album of Dvorak, Prokofiev, and Bartok this year. He will also be featured in a recording project of the complete Gershwin works for piano and orchestra with the Buffalo Philharmonic and JoAnn Falletta.
During the 2011-12 season, he will perform with numerous orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Albany Symphony, and Mexico City Philharmonic. He will also make his recital debut in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center.
Weiss performs in this concert with his wife, Anna Polonsky, as he does regularly. This season. he will again work with the Pacifica Quartet and multiple recital partners.
Polonsky is widely in demand as a soloist and chamber musician and has performed at venues such as the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall's Stern, Weill, and Zankel Halls.
She has collaborated with the Guarneri, Orion, and Shanghai Quartets, and with such musicians as Mitsuko Uchida, David Shifrin, Richard Goode, Jaime Laredo, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Cho-Liang Lin, Arnold Steinhardt, Anton Kuerti, Gary Hoffman, and Fred Sherry.
Polonsky is regularly invited to perform chamber music at festivals and has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. In addition to performing, she serves on the piano faculty of Vassar College.
This concert is part of the Brattleboro Music Center's 2011-12 Chamber Music Series, which continues with the Windscape Woodwind Quintet on Sunday, Feb. 26, 4 p.m.; Sophie Shao and Friends on Friday, March 16, 7:30 p.m.; and Les Amies on Saturday, April 21, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets ($30, $20, $10) for Piano Four Hands are available by calling the Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523, or online.