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Acclaimed pianist Kigawa next up Tuesday, Wednesday for Greencastle Music Festival
The internationally acclaimed pianist Taka Kigawa, called a "daredevil" who plays with "virtuosity and passionate flair" by The New York Times, will perform in two free events this week in Greencastle as the Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues its 10th season of "friends making music for friends."
On Tuesday, June 17 at 8:30 p.m. in the weekly "Classical Revolution" event at Starbucks (free drinks this week for the first 10 students with ID), Kigawa will play and talk about his busy international career, which has taken him from concert halls to nightclubs to street festivals.
Then on Wednesday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m. he'll be the featured performer at the Greencastle Summer Music Festival in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church, performing a J.S. Bach sonata with cellist Eric Edberg, a short piece by contemporary French composer Pierre Boulez (one of Kigawa's mentors), and the complete Preludes, Op. 28, by Frederic Chopin.
"It's a great program with Bach and Chopin and just a touch of complex modern music with the Boulez," says Edberg. "And Taka will talk about what to listen for in the Boulez on both nights."
Festival events are supported through donations from individuals and businesses, including the Inn at DePauw, hosting Kigawa this week.
Kigawa, whose Greencastle concert last summer drew the largest crowd in the festival's history, has one of the largest followings of any musician in New York City, added Edberg, festival director and DePauw music professor.
Kigawa has performed more times than any other classical artist at Poisson Rouge, the subterranean Greenwich Village multimedia arts cafe that has also presented Yoko Ono, Yo-Yo Ma and numerous jazz, rock and contemporary musicians.
This year Kigawa is performing the complete piano works of the legendary French composer Pierre Boulez in venues from New York to San Francisco to Buenos Aires. Several years ago, Boulez read a review of one of Kigawa's performances of his music and invited the pianist to come play for him in Paris.
"It's a great story," says Edberg. "Taka immediately booked a flight, played for Boulez, who loved the performance, and since then he has become an important mentor to Taka."
Kigawa has earned outstanding international recognition as a recitalist, soloist and chamber music artist since winning first prize in the prestigious 1990 Japan Music Foundation Piano Competition in Tokyo, and the Diploma Prize at the 1998 Concurs Internacional Maria Canals De Barcelona in Spain.
Kigawa's New York City recital in 2010 was chosen as one of the best concerts of the year by The New York Times, and his New York City recital in August 2011 was picked as one of the most notable concerts in the first half of the 2011-12 season by Musical America.
He has performed extensively as a recitalist and soloist in New York, Washington DC, Boston, Cleveland, Paris, Milan and Barcelona, with appearances in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kosciuszko Foundation, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Cité de la Musique, and Salle Gaveau in Paris, and Plau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
He frequently tours in his native Japan, appearing in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagano and Kyoto, both as a recitalist and a soloist with orchestra and in chamber music groups. He has been a featured artist on many TV and radio networks throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Kigawa grew up in Nagano, Japan, where he began piano studies at the age of three, winning his first competition at the age of seven. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Shinsyu University, and his Master of Arts degree from Tokyo Gakugei University, graduating with honors in piano performance. He furthered his studies at The Juilliard School in New York, where he earned his Master of Music degree. Kigawa currently lives in New York.
Now in its 10th season, the Greencastle Summer Music Festival presents free (non-religious) concerts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through late August in the sanctuary of Gobin Church. The festival also sponsors informal "Classical Revolution" events at the Greencastle Starbucks at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays.