Tel Aviv Pianists to Perform in Varying Combinations

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The MultiPiano Ensemble -- a collective of some of Israel’s most talented young pianists and their teacher -- will perform multiplayer compositions at Northwestern University Nov. 17 and Nov. 19.

During their Evanston campus visit, the ensemble will perform on one or two pianos in ever-changing combinations of two, four, six and eight hands. Their repertoire includes original masterworks as well as transcriptions of masterpieces that were initially written for orchestra.

Launched in 2010 at Tel Aviv University’s Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, the MultiPiano Ensemble is comprised of students Daniel Borovitzky, Berenika Glixman and Nimrod Haftel-Meiri and their professor Tomer Lev, an international award-winning concert pianist, lecturer and educator.

MultiPiano has performed throughout Israel and toured Asia and Latin America. They have been praised for their “technical purity” and “polished, powerful and stylized interpretations.”

NOV. 17

The MultiPiano Ensemble will perform works by Israeli composers Aryeh Levanon and Paul Ben-Haim and a piece by Smetana, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, in Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place. MultiPiano’s performance is part of the opening session of the Nov. 17 to 19 Inaugural Israel Studies Conference, “The Zionist Ideal in Israeli Culture: Dream and Reality,” presented by Northwestern’s Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies.

Their appearance will follow a keynote speech by Yael Zerubavel, professor of Jewish studies and history at Rutgers University, on “Memory and Identity in Israeli Culture: Historical Reflections.” Following an introduction by Toni-Marie Montgomery, dean of Northwestern University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, the ensemble will perform Levanon’s “Land of Four Languages,” Ben-Haim’s “Pastorala and Toccato” and Smetana’s Rondo in C. Admission is free and open to the public.

NOV. 18 -19

The conference’s Monday, Nov. 18 and Tuesday, Nov. 19 morning and afternoon sessions will take place at Hardin Hall, 633 Clark Street, Evanston campus. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit Northwestern News or The Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies.

NOV. 19

MultiPiano: A Keyboard Celebration, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, at Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place, Evanston campus. The ensemble will perform arrangements for two pianos using two to eight hands. The program includes Bach’s translation of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Keyboards in A Minor, BWV 1065; Mozart’s Larghetto and Allegro for 2 Pianos; Rachmaninoff’s “Romance and Waltz” and Smetana’s Sonata in E Minor and Rondo in C. Ravel’s “Frontispice,” Poulenc’s Concerto in D Minor for 2 Pianos, Krug’s arrangement of Rossini’s Fantasy on “The Barber of Seville” and Levanon’s “Land of Four Languages” are also on the program. The concert is presented by the Bienen School of Music. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for full-time students with IDs. Northwestern faculty and staff with a valid WildCARD receive a 15 percent discount off the general public ticket price.

For more information, call the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall office at (847) 491-5441. To order tickets for the Nov. 19 concert, call (847) 467-4000 or visit www.pickstaiger.org.