Midweek Musical Matinee: Musical Excursions on Piano

Midweek Musical Matinee: Musical Excursions on Piano
* Wednesday, November 8, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Pianist Ian Scarfe is as well known for his engaging speaking as he is for his performances at the piano – in fact the two are deeply linked, as Scarfe embodies a kind of “musical tour guide” on stage.

Journey with Scarfe through his program, fitting this theme, and take a Musical Excursions featuring works of the same title by Samuel Barber, as well as others by Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, and more.

Ian Scarfe enjoys a wide ranging career as a concert pianist, an organizer of large-scale musical happenings, and as an advocate for the arts. He is the founder and director of the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival, founded in 2011, and balances his dedicated regional work in Northern California with an international career.

He holds degrees in musical performance from Willamette University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and has done years of postgraduate work at both institutions.

As a performer he is equally comfortable as a soloist, recital partner, or in the mix of small or large ensembles. He consistently appears in more than 100 concerts per year, which take him across the United States and Europe.

He collaborates regularly with a cast of dozens of professional string players, woodwind players, singers, and orchestras. He is a founding member of several ensembles, including Nonsemble Six, the Vinifera Trio, and the Zurich Beethoven Trio.

Though he enjoys fantastic musical technique and command at the piano, he is perhaps better known for his thoughtful, humorous, and charismatic stage presence.

His presentation from the stage ranges from sharing the history of the music being performed, giving specific listening guides about great masterpieces of music, and inviting his audience “behind the scenes” with anecdotes and snapshots of how professional musicians manage the challenges of the works being performed.