There’s a reason world-renowned concert pianist, Vyacheslav Gryaznov, better known as “Slava,” will return to Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA) this July for PianoFête, a new piano series.
Slava could be playing at Carnegie Hall, as he does, but it is the island’s community and the intimacy of performing in Katherine L. White Hall that draws him back again and again.
But this time, when he returns to headline PianoFête, he’ll bring not only his singular talent but also the talents of two other accomplished pianists for a week-long residency on Vashon that will offer opportunities for island youth musicians and others to immerse themselves in a display of artistry and inspiration.
The residency will be showcased in a four-night concert series, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, July 6–9.
VCA has arranged to have not one, but two Steinway & Sons concert grands on stage. Over these four nights, the three pianists will perform four concerts, each with a different program and featuring solo performances, piano duos, four hands, and, for the grand finale, members of the Vashon Maury Chamber Orchestra (VMCO) will join them on stage for a surprise program.
The two artists joining Slava, Katya Kramer-Lapin and Konstantin Soukhovetski, each have had brilliant careers.
Kramer-Lapin recently debuted her solo album, “Luminescence,” and performs concerts around the globe. As an interpreter and educator, she has a passion for the genre of piano-transcriptions.
Soukhovetski brings his diverse artistic voice to multidisciplinary projects involving dance and film. A soloist who performs in Europe and the United States, he also is a composer and professor at his alma mater, The Juilliard School. His first symphonic work will premiere this fall along with a premiere of his compositions for a new ballet by the MorDance Company.
When Slava first proposed his idea of curating a seven-day residency that involved other acclaimed pianists and local musical talent, open rehearsals, workshops and pre-show discussions, it fit seamlessly into Executive Director Allison Reid’s vision for Vashon Center for the Arts (VCA).
“We want to build greater experiences that engage and involve our island community, especially our island youth, while creating an immersive experience for visiting artists like Slava,” she said. “Establishing deeper connections and engagement through free performances, workshops, discussions or even inviting islanders to sit in on open rehearsals enriches everyone involved, not just for audiences but for our island’s own musical talents!”
If this is to be Slava’s first annual residency, then it will also be VCA’s first time with two concert grand pianos gracing the stage to accommodate four hands and duets playing compositions by Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Faure, Medtner and Scriabin, among other arrangements for piano. Slava will conclude the four-night concert series at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 9, with a surprise grand finale that brings more than a dozen musicians from VMCO to the stage to join him, Lapin and Soukhovetski.
The three Russian-born musicians, together with VCA, will donate a portion of the series’ proceeds to benefit RAZOM for Ukraine, a non-profit organization providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainians.
Vashon Maury Chamber Orchestra musicians participating in PianoFête include Danielle McCutcheon, Mary Walker, Jon Knudson, John Strader, Sarah Perlman, Gaye Detzer, Pamela Godt, Emily Harrington, Oscar Lopez, Phyllis Kaiden, Stephanie Johnson Blomgren, Elizabeth Whitman, Janeen Bramwell, Annie Roberts, Carrie VanBuren, Kim Farrell, Ursa Medeiros and Frank Hosick.
The entire concert series is free to those younger than 18. Tickets for others are available as a four-concert package or as individual performances.
To find out more, reserve free youth tickets or purchase other tickets, visit vashoncenterforthearts.org.
