PianoForte Studios

Rob Clearfield, piano, and the Ben Lewis Trio (Ben Lewis, piano, Gregory Artry, drums, and Larry Kohut, bass) will perform as a part of the Chopin in the City Festival. The concert will be broadcast live on WDCB. This event is sponsored by WDCB. https://wdcb.org/

The waters in our country have been muddied with hate, fear, and division. What are we going to do about it? Can we do anything about it? Join Cynthia as she traces where we've been and how we got here, finding truth, compassion and humor along the way.

Program: Alessandro Rolla CONCERTANTE DUO in E-Flat Major for Violin and Viola, Op. 5 Sebastian Huydts Selected Movements from Delicias de Blancanieves (27 Spanish Fairy Tales) (2015) Justinian Tamusuza MU KKUBO ERY’OMUSAALABA for Clarinet Quartet (1993) (Arr. by Kathryne Pirtle and Florentina Ramniceanu) Antonin Dvorak PIANO QUARTET in E-Flat Major, Op. 87 About the Orion Ensmble: Florentina Ramniceanu, Violin Judy Stone, Cello Kathryne Pirtle, Clarinet Diana Schmück, Piano Recognized as one of Chicago’s finest chamber music groups, the ORION ENSEMBLE…

"I’ve heard her perform in public many times, and each time the audience reacted as I’ve not heard since Horowitz took the stage. Had Ketevan Kartvelishvili lived in any era, she would have been hailed as a keyboard giant.” — PAUL HARVEY, JR. Ketevan Kartvelishvili was born to a family of physicists in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her extraordinary talent was recognized at the age of five. When she was twelve, she made her debut performance with the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra. Ketevan…

The New York Times has hailed Daniel Baer as a pianist who plays with “fluidity, warmth, and sparkle” who “achieved the often elusive…goal of putting virtuosity at the service of bigger ideas.” He has performed across the United States and Europe, including in solo and collaborative recitals at the International Bergen Arts Festival, the Grieg Society of Oslo, Avery Fischer Hall, Kilbourn Hall, Nichols Hall, and Steinway Hall. Dr. Baer won first prize, the Marshall Prize, at the 2015 Grieg…

LING-JU LAI, a native of Taiwan, has garnered consistently favorable reviews for her creative interpretation of Baroque keyboard music, particularly the music of J.S. Bach. Sir András Schiff expresses, “Ms. Lai has a questing musical mind. Her approach is unusual and valuable, a very gifted musician and pianist.” The Baltimore Sun writes, “The depth of the sound sinks in with startling poignancy as Ling-Ju Lai lets the notes linger long in the air…a moment of musical insight to savor.”  Featured…

With his zany, heartfelt songbook of Broadway, the Great American Songbook, and specialty ditties, that ‘one-man parade of entertainment’ Scott Gryder, with the amazing Nick Sula on piano, brings a night of musical mayhem to PianoForte with SIMPLY SCOTTY!

Rising guitarist Tobias James “performs with great energy, musicality, technique and a genuine enthusiasm for the repertoire” (Jason Vieaux, Grammy-Award winning guitarist) and is bursting onto the musical scene with great passion. A native of the Chicago area, Tobias was born into a musical family where he started to play Suzuki classical guitar at age six and Suzuki cello at age eight. After studying guitar at the Northwestern High School Music Institute as a freshman in high school, he decided…

Jeremy Siskind is celebrating the release of a new book and CD of his Perpetual Motion Etudes by performing a special classical-meets-jazz crossover album with Grammy-winning pianist Angelin Chang. The two will exchange written-out performances and improvised explorations, showcasing their virtuosity while staring in the face of musical danger. Fans of Brad Mehldau, Chick Corea, Nikolai Kapustin, Herbie Hancock, Fred Hersch, Egberto Gismonti, and others will love this performance. MTNA teachers welcome! Pianist-composer JEREMY SISKIND is “a genuine visionary” (Indianapolis…

Singer Arlene Armstrong will perform as a part of Chicago Cabaret Week. Actor-Director-Musician. A multi-hyphenate before she was out of grade school. As a kid, she put on shows for the neighborhood in her basement; auditioning all the acts, writing the shows and building the sets. But, when she got the role of the goose that lay the golden egg in her elementary school musical production of Jack and the Beanstalk, her musical expedition really began. She credits Mahalia Jackson…

Dmitri Makhtin, violin and Julia Siciliano, piano will perform Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas 1, 2, 3, and 10. Dmitri Makhtin, violin Born in St Petersburg in 1975, Dmitri Makhtin started his musical education at the age of four with his parents, both professional violinists, and joined the Music School for gifted children in 1981. In 1989, he won the first prize at the Russian violonists competition. In 1990, he obtained a scholarship from the Young Musicians Foundation and of the Idyllwild…

Dmitri Makhtin, violin and Julia Siciliano, piano will perform Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas 6, 8, and 7. Dmitri Makhtin, violin Born in St Petersburg in 1975, Dmitri Makhtin started his musical education at the age of four with his parents, both professional violinists, and joined the Music School for gifted children in 1981. In 1989, he won the first prize at the Russian violonists competition. In 1990, he obtained a scholarship from the Young Musicians Foundation and of the Idyllwild Arts…

Dmitri Makhtin, violin and Julia Siciliano, piano will perform Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas 4, 5, and 9. Dmitri Makhtin, violin Born in St Petersburg in 1975, Dmitri Makhtin started his musical education at the age of four with his parents, both professional violinists, and joined the Music School for gifted children in 1981. In 1989, he won the first prize at the Russian violonists competition. In 1990, he obtained a scholarship from the Young Musicians Foundation and of the Idyllwild Arts…

Myra Hinrichs, Nicholas Jeffery, Kelly Quesada, and Christopher Narloch will perform Morton Feldman’s “Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello.” After graduating from Oberlin College and Conservatory in violin performance, Myra Hinrichs moved to Chicago, where she teaches at several community music schools. Myra is a founding member of Chartreuse and Houndstooth, and also is a member of a.periodic and Morton Feldman Chamber Players. She also performs with the Madison Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She has attended the Aspen Music Festival and…

Program: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart CLARINET QUINTET in A Major, K. 581 Alexander Borodin STRING QUARTET No. 2 in D Major Robert Schumann PIANO QUINTET in E-Flat Major, Op. 44 Florentina Ramniceanu, Violin Judy Stone, Cello Kathryne Pirtle, Clarinet Diana Schmück, Piano Recognized as one of Chicago’s finest chamber music groups, the ORION ENSEMBLE has been performing since 1992. John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune calls Orion “one of Chicago’s most vibrant, versatile and distinctive ensembles.” With the possibilities inherent…

Worldly recognized, renowned American critic Ted Gioia (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, etc) included Horacio Lavanderas ECM recording with music by Dino Saluzzi in the Top 20 Best Albums of the year in 2015. It was recorded in Oslo by one industry legend, the German producer Manfred Eicher. Award-winning pianist Horacio Lavandera presents at PianoForte a program including pieces for piano by Dino Saluzzi and classic masterpieces works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) 12…

French pianist Helene Papadopoulos will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Hélène Papadopoulos is a pianist with a complex and highly sensitive personality. She is a searching artist who seeks deep insight into the music and into the art of piano playing. For her there is no detail that is too small to be part of the global conception of a work. Never sacrificing details, never abandoning the big line to reveal musical subtleties in a natural manner. Hélène Papadopoulos was born…