Two grand pianos, eight accomplished musicians and a musical journey through 250 years of American history. Saturday night at Tuckerman Hall promises to be anything but an ordinary piano recital.
The Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra’s 18th annual Duo Piano Gala Concert returns Oct. 24 with a program devoted to American composers, bringing together classical masterworks, jazz, ragtime and contemporary music in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
And while the evening begins with two Steinway grand pianos, the number of hands playing them is considerably less predictable.
The concert features eight pianists performing in changing combinations of two, four, six and even all eight musicians, transforming a familiar instrument into something approaching a small orchestra.
Among the evening’s highlights is an original arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” by pianist and conductor Myron Romanul, written to bring all eight performers together for one of the concert’s concluding selections.
The program begins at 7:30 p.m. at Tuckerman Hall, 10 Tuckerman St.
For nearly two decades, the gala has offered audiences a different way to experience the piano, moving beyond the traditional solo recital to explore the possibilities of multiple performers sharing the same musical space.
This year’s American theme provides particularly fertile ground, spanning composers whose work helped define the nation’s musical identity while blurring the boundaries between concert halls, jazz clubs and popular entertainment.
Leonard Bernstein’s exuberant “Candide Overture” will be performed in an arrangement for four pianists, while Aaron Copland’s music appears twice, with “Danza de Jalisco” and an arrangement of “Hoe Down,” also featuring four performers.
The program also includes Florence Price’s “Coreopsis” and Amy Beach’s “Suite for Two Pianos,” bringing attention to two pioneering American women composers whose contributions have gained renewed recognition in recent years.
The music takes a more contemporary turn with the fourth movement of Philip Glass’ “Four Movements for Two Pianos,” while Louis Moreau Gottschalk, a 19th-century American composer celebrated for incorporating popular and regional musical traditions into his work, is represented by “The Union” and his arrangement of the “William Tell Overture.”
Jazz, too, has a prominent place in the evening.
Two movements from Dave Brubeck’s “Points on Jazz” are on the program, along with an improvisational selection drawing on the music of Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, whose centennial birthdays are being commemorated this year.
Fats Waller’s “Handful of Keys,” arranged by pianist Kallin Johnson, adds another distinctly American voice, as does “Rag Rhapsody” by Olson.
Johnson has also arranged “My America,” featuring music by Cary and Smith, for the occasion.
The repertoire reflects the remarkable range of American keyboard music, from the concert stage to the improvisational freedom of jazz, with eight musicians bringing their own interpretations and backgrounds to the performance.
“This is always such a fun concert, with a huge variety of styles and genres showing the incredible range of keyboard repertoire,” Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Paul Levenson said in the concert announcement.
Levenson also noted the longevity of the event, which began in 2007 and has become a recurring part of the orchestra’s programming.
The eight performers bring an array of international experience and strong ties to Worcester’s musical community.
Leslie Amper, a faculty member at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, New England Conservatory and Wheaton College, has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Pops and Pittsburgh Symphony, among other ensembles.
Malcolm Halliday, a familiar figure in Central Massachusetts music circles, previously served as artistic director of the Master Singers of Worcester and minister of music at First Congregational Church in Shrewsbury. He is now artistic director of Chorale San Miguel in Mexico.
Johnson, the Massachusetts Symphony’s principal pianist and a former director of music at Worcester’s Notre Dame Academy, is among the region’s most active keyboard performers.
Sima Kustanovich, formerly on the piano faculties of Clark University and Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts, is a past recipient of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Visions Cultural Enrichment Award.
Olga Rogach, music director at First Parish Church of Northborough, accompanies Greater Worcester Opera and teaches piano in the Worcester area and at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Romanul, principal conductor of the Massachusetts Symphony, has performed with the Boston Pops and was an original pianist with the Grammy-winning New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble. His arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue” will bring the evening’s musicians together in a particularly ambitious collaboration.
Ian Watson, associate conductor of Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society and artistic director of the Connecticut Early Music Festival, has performed with major orchestras in Europe and contributed to film soundtracks including “Amadeus” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus.”
Rounding out the group is Andrew Wilcox, a jazz pianist who has performed with Jason Marsalis and the Glenn Miller Orchestra, as well as at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Together, the performers represent a mix of classical training, conducting experience, jazz improvisation and longstanding connections to the region’s musical institutions.
The setting adds another dimension. Tuckerman Hall, one of Worcester’s architectural and cultural landmarks, has long been associated with classical music and live performance. Its intimate auditorium provides a setting in which audiences can watch the interplay among the pianists as the music passes from one keyboard, and one set of hands, to another.
Following the performance, audience members are invited to a complimentary dessert reception in the hall’s Dean Hall auditorium, where they can meet the musicians.
The Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra’s 18th annual Duo Piano Gala Concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Tuckerman Hall, 10 Tuckerman St., Worcester.
Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 on the day of the concert, with seating available on the main floor and balcony. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra at 508-754-1234 or visiting masymphony.org.
