Two new piano professors add their individual flair to CCM’s annual Pianopalooza XII concert Fresh Sounds, Fresh Faces at 7 p.m. on November 13 in Robert J. Werner Recital Hall.
In this annual display of stunning virtuosity, new faculty members Dror Biran and Ran Dank join the returning artists of CCM’s illustrious piano faculty on stage. Concert highlights include not one, but two Chopin Ballades — No. 3 in A-flat major and No. 4 in F minor —, an original work from CCM assistant professor of jazz students Stephen Allee and Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances for Piano Four-Hands.
Allee’s special appearance in this year’s program features his composition, Tippin’. In addition, Pianopalooza XII includes performances from piano faculty artists Michael Chertock, Soyeon Kate Lee, Awadagin Pratt and James Tocco as well as collaborative piano faculty member Sandra Rivers and visiting adjunct piano professor Andy Villemez.
Tickets for Pianopalooza XII are available through the CCM Box Office; UC students have free admission. View complete program information below.
About Dror Biran
Born in Israel, Biran is a graduate of the Givatayim Conservatory where he studied with Lily Dorfman, as well as the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel-Aviv University where he studied with Arie Vardi. Biran received his Doctoral degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Paul Schenly and Daniel Shapiro.
Biran has won top prizes at the M.K Ciurlionis International Piano Competition and the Cleveland International Piano Competition, where he also received a special prize for the best performance of works by Chopin. His honors include the first prize at the Pilar Bayona International Piano Competition (Zaragoza, Spain), first prize at the Israeli Rubin Academy Piano Competition and the Rafi Goralnik prize for pianists in the Aviv Competition. Biran has been a recipient of multiple scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation for distinguished musicians.
Biran has performed widely as a soloist with major orchestras including the Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTVE Symphony Orchestra of Spain, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played under the batons of Etinger, Rodan, Gueller, Gacia Asensio, Mester, Lane and others. His concert tours have taken him to the United States, Israel and South America, along with Eastern and Western Europe.
About Ran Dank
A graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University and the Juilliard School, Dank has worked extensively with Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, Joseph Kalichstein, Ursula Oppens and Robert McDonald.
Dank performs in New York City’s most notable venues to frequent critical acclaim by the New York Times. In recent seasons, he has been heard in recitals in Town Hall and Symphony Space. As a soloist, he has performed Prokofiev’s Second Concerto with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall and Tobias Picker’s Keys to the City at Columbia University. In September of 2013 he and fellow CCM faculty member Soyeon Kate Lee performed the world premiere of Fredric Rzewski’s Four Hands at (le) Poisson Rouge to a glowing review by the New York Times.
A recipient of numerous honors, Dank won a coveted place on the Young Concert Artists’ roster in 2009 and subsequently made his New York recital debut. He is a laureate of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, where he also won the Bach Prize, the Naumburg and Sydney International Piano Competitions, and was the First Prize winner of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.
Program
- CHOPIN: Ballade No. 3 in A-flat major, Op. 47
Featuring Sandra Rivers - DVOŘÁK: Slavonic Dances for Piano Four-Hands
Featuring Sandra Rivers and Soyeon Kate Lee - CHOPIN: Ballade No. 4 in F minor
Featuring Dror Biran - CHOPIN: Andante Spianato and Grand
Featuring James Tocco - DEBUSSY: Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin
DEBUSSY: L’isle Joyeuse
Featuring Soyeon Kate Lee - GAO PING: Dance Fury
Featuring Michael Chertock - NIKOLAI KAPUSTIN: Andante, Op. 58
Featuring Andy Villemez - FRANCK: Prelude, Fuge and Variation, Op. 18
Featuring Awadagin Pratt - STEPHEN ALLEE: Tippin’
Featuring Stephen Allee
Location
Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati
Purchasing Tickets
$15 general, $10 non-UC students, UC students FREE. Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice.html.
Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.
For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.
For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.
____
CCM Season Presenting Sponsor The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation
CCM is proud to be an All-Steinway School
____
Story by CCM graduate student Charlotte Kies