The Adams Family Piano Recital featuring renowned pianist Frederic Chiu takes place in Whitley Auditorium on Tuesday evening.
Tuesday, March 13
Frederic Chiu, “Classical Smackdown: Debussy/Prokofiev”
Whitley Auditorium, 7:30 p.m.
Adams Foundation Piano Recital sponsored by the Times-News and Elon University
Admission is $15 or Elon ID. Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts Box office. On the evening of the performance, tickets will be available at Whitley Auditorium beginning at 6:30 p.m.
After twelve years in France and frequent guest appearances in venues across Europe, Frederic Chiu recently returned to the United States and joined the Adams Foundation Series to perform chamber piano recitals in America’s smaller communities.
Devoted to enhancing the live concert experience for diverse audiences, Chiu has created many innovative programs often showcasing transcriptions and rarely programmed repertoire. He is currently performing a multi-year project that combines a solo recital of noted works combined with an audience participation element.
Classical Smackdown No. 1
When was the last time you argued over which European classical composer was better than another? In Classical Smackdown at Elon, Frederic Chiu performs “rounds” or alternating selections (Claude Debussy v. Sergei Prokofiev) before he’ll invite the audiences to vote for their favorite. The pieces have been selected carefully and Chiu’s masterful performances make a choice pleasantly though particularly difficult. Audience ballots will be collected at the end of the program; results will be tabulated and published on his website (www.classicalsmackdown.com) the following day.
Results from five 2011-12 recitals currently appear on the web site and the artists are in a dead heat. Will his Elon match-up tip the scales?
About Frederic Chiu
Chiu’s intriguing piano-playing and teaching developed from a diverse set of experiences and interests, his Asian/American/European background and musical training. Also a skilled collaborator, he has performed with many friends in classical music such as Joshua Bell, Pierre Amoyal, Gary Hoffman, the St Lawrence String Quartet; as well as with artists in other genres including the jazz pianist Bob James, writer/storyteller David Gonzalez, actor Brian Bedford, and the clown Buffo.
Through his Deeper Piano Studies – a philosophic and holistic training program – Chiu brings advanced concert pianists, promising students, high-level amateurs and piano teachers from around the world for workshops that develop an integrated approach to piano-playing and music-making. He has taught at the Juilliard School, Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the New England Conservatory and the Banff Centre, among others.