Music For Food concert featuring Spektral Quartet at PianoForte Studios November 22

Sunday, November 22, 2015, 5 p.m.
PianoForte Studios
1335 S. Michigan Ave.

Admission: Monetary donation and/or non-perishable food items
Event Web site

Thanksgiving is synonymous with gatherings of family and celebrations of abundance, but it is also an opportunity to consider those for whom food is far from plentiful. This November, Spektral Quartet expresses its own gratitude by partnering with Music for Food to bring much-needed food to hungry people in Chicago with a rousing concert benefiting the South Loop Community Church Food Pantry.

Internationally renowned violist and program founder Kim Kashkashian launched Music for Food as a community-based initiative to transform talent into real world hunger relief for those in need. Music for Food has provided over 200,000 meals during its six-year tenure, with the goal of addressing the everyday, long-term effects of hunger on children and families. A 2012 USDA report found that 20% of Americans live in food-insecure households, and Music for Food aims to help lower that staggering number.

The Spektral Quartet will perform Schubert’s Quartettsatz, Cage’s Quartet in Four Parts, Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 1, and Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge for any attendee making a monetary or non-perishable food donatioin at the PianoForte Studios on November 22. While the admission process may be out of the ordinary, the program is characteristically diverse for Spektral, taking the audience from the Romantic melodrama of the Schubert to the Zen-like stillness of Cage, and from the lyrical twists of Prokofiev through the ecstatic counterpoint of the Beethoven.

The Spektral Quartet’s concert marks the second Music for Food event in Chicago, led by cellist Mira Luxion. For this event, concertgoers are offered incentives for giving beyond the suggested $20 donation. Donors at the $50-or-more level will be invited for drinks with the quartet following the concert, and gifts of $100 or more will provide a Thanksgiving basket to a South Loop Pantry client as well as an invitation to post-show cocktails. Donors are requested to make their contributions by November 18, to secure their seats.

For queries and interview requests, please contact doyle@spektralquartet.com. For Music for Food inquiries, please contact Mira Luxion at miracello@gmail.com.

Music For Food Concert On April 12 To Benefit South Loop Food Pantry

CHICAGO – On Sunday, April 12 at 5:00pm, a group of acclaimed young musicians from the Chicago area will present a concert at the PianoForte Foundation, 1335 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago to benefit the South Loop Community Church Food Pantry.

The Chicago musicians are presenting the concert under the auspices of Music for Food, a musician-led initiative for hunger relief. Mira Luxion, the organizer and one of the participating artists, comments: “I am thrilled to be presenting this Music for Food concert, hopefully the first of a lasting series in Chicago. From the moment I first heard of Music for Food, I was moved by its mission. As musicians, we are given the capacity to touch people in tangible as well as intangible ways. The performers are dear friends and colleagues and it is truly inspiring to be working with them towards this mission.”

The program offers works by Austrian composers Mozart, Schubert, and the lesser-known Carl
Frühling:

PROGRAM
Mozart: Duo for Violin and Viola in G Major, K.423
Lauren Lai, violin
Kim Uwate, viola

Mozart: Andante from Sonata No. 9 in D Major, K.311
Eugenia Jeong, piano

Schubert: Selection of Lieder
Anne Slovin, soprano
Eugenia Jeong, piano

(Intermission)

Carl Frühling: Clarinet Trio in A Minor, Op. 40
Steven Gooden, clarinet
Mira Luxion, cello
Andy Costello, piano

TICKETS AND QUESTIONS
Those attending are asked to bring a monetary donation (cash or check made out to Music for
Food) or non-perishable food items. Questions about the concert may be directed to Mira Luxion:
miracello@gmail.com, or 312-513-6422.

Free Concert Friday, February 5 at PianoForte

Matthew Hagle In a FREE Afternoon Recital This Friday! Where: PianoForte, 1335 S. Michigan Ave. This Friday at 12 PM, Chicago favorite Matthew Hagle plays on PianoForte's FREE Salon Series LIVE with 98.7 WFMT. Currently a faculty member at the Music Institute of Chicago, Hagle has dedicated his career to music performance and education. He has performed extensively throughout Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, The United States and England. He has been featured repeatedly on 98.7 WFMT, performing Ravel's Ondine, all of Beethoven's Sonatas, and more. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Quintet Attacca, the Parker Quartet, the Avalon Quartet, alongside Mio Isoda-Hagle at the Chicago Duo Piano Festival, and even before the the Supreme Court. Hagle has taught at the University of Notre Dame, Elmhurst College, and the International Institute for Young Musicians at the Universities of Kansas and California at Santa Barbara. Be sure to arrive on time to a get a good seat, you don't want to miss this performance! Enjoy a rich program of Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt and Debussy! Click here for more information! This program is sponsored in part by the American Chartered Bank.

PianoForte Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the art of the piano in Chicago and creating a vibrant piano community that closely connects audiences and artists. PianoForte Foundation is supported, in part, by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

GSLA’s February 20, 2014 Neighbor’s Night Out: Jazz at PianoForte

Greater South Loop Association’s Neighbor’s Night Out, February 20, 2014, will feature a jazz piano performance by Reginald Robinson. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the performance starts at 7 p.m. Reception includes wine and appetizers (contributed by Kroll’s South Loop). PianoForte is located at 1335 S. Michigan Ave. Tickers for this event at $10 per person and can be purchased online at the PianoForte Web Site.

About Reginald Robinson
20 years after Reginald Robinson’s emergence as a young, self-taught, against the grain pianist and composer, he has become an internationally recognized pianist, recording artist and educator.

His love for music started in 1984 with his brother Marlando playing Big band jazz records at home and then on to ragtime two years later in 7th grade when a city funded arts program (Urban Gateways) gave an assembly with a small jazz ensemble. The assembly was led by jazz trumpeter Orbert Davis and included in the band other jazz luminaries like Ari Brown. In the middle of the show the group played a sample of Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer” and after hearing it Reginald decided this was the kind of music he wanted to play. Later that year his parents purchased a small electronic keyboard and the following year a real piano. With his parents not being able to afford him a music education, he began to teach himself how to read and write music. This involved self-quizzing from music education books, creating his own piano exercises and studying published music scores and recordings.

In November of 2011 Reginald was featured in a theatrical production called Keep a Song in Your Soul.

Click here to enlarge and/or print flyer for posting.

About PianoForte Foundation
PianoForte Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the art of the piano in Chicago and creating a vibrant piano community that closely connects audiences and artists.  We bring excitement and appreciation for piano music to a diverse audience through high-quality concerts, festivals, competitions, education, outreach, and public broadcasts.

About the GSLA
The GSLA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit community association focused on the overarching mission to maintain and improve the South Loop as a vibrant and diverse, inclusive community. Social events generally located at area businesses to create an opportunity for residents to visit a new business and meet new South Loop neighbors. For more information, visit the GSLA Web site.

Family Concert at PianoForte Studio: Milk, Cookies & Jazz!

PianoForte Studio, 1335 S. Michigan Ave., 2nd floor, will host a family concert on January 26, 2014 at 3 p.m. Cost for this event is $5 per person.

This entertaining program focuses on jazz and its origins, using different interpretations of a popular children’s song! Local pianist Brad Macdonald cleverly demystifies jazz using a familiar context.

A milk and cookies reception will follow the concert.

Concert Saturday, November 9, 2013 at PianoForte Studios

Frank Catalano, saxophone and Scott Williams, piano
Old Skool is a series of duets with Catalano’s long time pianist, Scott Williams. A mix of standards and a
few originals, Frank dedicates this album to his friend and mentor Von Freeman who passed away shortly after he finished recording it.

Special Event: CD Release Concert

Location: PianoForte Studios, 1335 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago

Time: 7:30 pm

$10 General Admission

Grand Opening Today for PianoForte

PianoForte Studios will celebrate its grand opening at 1355 S. Michigan Ave. with a free day of music throughout the space on Saturday, October 26 from 2-10 p.m. Information about the grand opening, concert programming at PianoForte Studios, and the Pianoforte Foundation is available at their Web Site.

Open house from 2 -10 p.m.

PianoForte Studios Opens in the South Loop

PianoForte Studios will celebrate its grand opening at 1355 S. Michigan Ave. with a mid-October ribbon cutting and a free day of music throughout the space on Saturday, October 26. Full details for both events to be announced. More information about the grand opening, concert programming at PianoForte Studios and the Pianoforte Foundation is available at www.pianofortefoundation.org.

About PianoForte
Since opening its doors in 2004, PianoForte has grown to become Chicago’s premier boutique piano retailer. The original retail business was born from Thomas Zoell’s passion for the handmade Fazioli grand piano but quickly expanded to include an inventory of high quality pianos, new and used, in every category. As Zoells puts it, “Not every pocketbook accommodates a Fazioli, but everyone deserved the best piano they can afford.” In 2005, Zoell’s established the PianoForte Foundation which is a leader in presenting innovative and accessible concert programming focused on the piano, such as it’s monthly radio broadcast the PianoForte Salon Series LIVE on Chicago’ Fine Arts Station WFMT.

In addition, the PianoForte Foundation presents several large-scale events including the annual, free Schubertiade day of music and the biennial, Chicago Amateur Piano Competition which returns May 21-25, 2014. The Foundation also awards annual scholarships for piano lessons to deserving students ages 5-12 and connects community organizations with refurbished pianos through its signature Gift of Pianos program.

PianoForte Family Series: Animal Music Saturday, May 4 - 3:00 p.m.

Pianist Brenda Huang and her talented students have put together a narrated performance of “Animal Music”

featuring works by Scarlatti, Copland, Grieg, Ravel, Saint-Saens, and more. Perfect for audiences of all ages!

Approx. length: 45 minutes

Complete program and more information here.

PianoForte Salon
410 S. Michigan Ave., Studio 825, Chicago
Only $5 per person.
Stay after for a COOKIES AND MILK reception.

Note: The PianoForte Studios will be relocating to 1335 S. Michigan Ave. this summer. Check back for details. You can read an article on this new space by clicking here.