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Acclaimed pianist Taka Kigawa to perform Beethoven and Chopin Wednesday at Gobin
Internationally renowned pianist Taka Kigawa -- called a “phenomenon” by the New York Times, who also picked one of his recitals as “‘best of the year” -- returns to the Greencastle Summer Music Festival Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. as the festival continues in the air-conditioned comfort of Gobin Church.
Kigawa’s program features music by Beethoven (the popular “Moonlight” sonata and a cello sonata for which he’ll be joined by the festival’s founding artistic director, Eric Edberg) and Chopin, including the virtuosic G minor Ballade and the Grand Polonaise in A-flat Major.
There’s no admission charge. Festival concerts are made possible by individual donors, an endowment at and grant from the Putnam County Community Foundation, the Putnam County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Inn at DePauw, and the “radical hospitality” of the festival’s host, Gobin Church. Wednesday’s concert has been underwritten by Bill and Lucy Wieland in celebration of Kigawa’s seventh visit to Greencastle to perform for the GSMF.
Steve Smith in the New York Times has written, “It’s hard to put your finger on just what it is that makes the pianist Taka Kigawa a phenomenon, but there’s no denying that he’s something special ... part of what makes him a magnetic attraction is awe: not only in the sense that his skill dazzles the listener, but also in his own evident humility and zeal.”
“Dazzling skill and humility sums it up,” says Edberg, who started the GSMF in 2005. “Taka and I met when we played a concert together in New York in 2011. He was one of the first out-of-town artists we were able to bring here, and he’s truly become part of our community. He and his wife, who will be joining him for this trip, have fallen in love with Putnam County, and it’s clear that at least as far as the GSMF audience goes, the feeling is mutual. I’m thrilled we are presenting him, and that he’s asked me to join him for part of the program.”
The critically acclaimed pianist Taka Kigawa has earned outstanding international recognition as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber music artist, performing extensively in New York City, Boston, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., Barcelona, Milan, Paris and Buenos Aires, in Ireland, as well as throughout his native Japan, including the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagano and Osaka. He has also been a featured artist on television and radio networks in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Kigawa was awarded first prize from the prestigious 1990 Japan Music Foundation Piano Competition in Tokyo and the Diploma Prize from Spain’s 1998 Concurs Internacional de Música Maria Canals Barcelona. His 2010 New York City recital was chosen by The New York Times as one of the best concerts of the year, while a subsequent 2011 recital was selected as one of the most notable concerts of the 2011-12 season by Musical America. His 2014 recital in Buenos Aires was named one of the best concerts of the year by Argentina’s leading newspaper, La Nación.
Kigawa grew up in Nagano, Japan, where he began piano studies at the age of three, and won his first competition at the age of seven. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Shinsyu University and his Master of Arts degree from Tokyo Gakugei (Liberal Arts) University, graduating with honors in Piano Performance. During both his undergraduate and graduate years, Kigawa also studied composition and conducting, receiving high honors in both disciplines. He furthered his studies at The Juilliard School in New York City, where he was awarded a Master of Music degree. Taka Kigawa is a Steinway Artist and resides in New York City.
The GSMF continues next week on July 28 with music of Brazil performed by the trio Toco Rio. The weekly concerts are video recorded and after being edited play on Channel 3 in Greencastle on Saturdays and Sundays at 3 and 8 p.m. and are also available via the GSMF website at www.greencastlemusic.org.