Gala Opening Concert!
Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Eric Ewazen, and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
About Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem
Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem are among the most accomplished and acclaimed piano duos of their generation. Described as “consummate practitioners of pianism” (The Washington Post) they met in Italy in 1970 as young solo performers at a music festival in Umbria, were married in 1973 and have devoted themselves to the exclusive study of the duo repertoire since 1981. In 2020, Aebersold and Neiweem were awarded the inaugural career achievement award in Piano Duo by the Josef and Rosina Lhévinne Legacy Foundation. The duo are founders and directors of the NEA award-winning Chicago Duo Piano Festival, held annually at the Music Institute of Chicago.
They have also established and direct the Chicago International Duo Piano Competition, most recently held in June, 2016. The duo has commissioned significant new works for the piano duo, including Joseph Turrin’s Symmetries for Two Pianos; “Great Movements” Sonata for Piano, Four Hands by Patrick Byers, and Cries and Whispers by Robert Chumbley. Aebersold and Neiweem’s CDs on the Summit label include Four-Hand Reflections; the world premiere recording of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in the composer’s own arrangement for piano, four-hands, and volumes 1 and 2 of a complete traversal of Schubert’s four-hand music, praised by Gramophone Magazine as “utterly charming...warmly recommended.” Their editions of fourhand arrangements by Brahms and Mendelssohn have been published by Dover, International, and they have written award-winning articles for Clavier Magazine. Their most recent CD, Debussy Duo Piano Images, was released in July 2020 on Berto Records.
They are frequent guests on WFMT Radio in Chicago, where they performed a series of over thirty live broadcast concerts covering virtually the complete four-hand repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries.
They have been heard in recital in many cities throughout the USA and Europe. In Italy alone they have given over 200 recitals throughout Tuscany and Umbria. Performances in New York include a pair of all-Schubert recitals at the Goethe Institute, and a 25th anniversary celebration concert at Merkin Hall.
They are currently Artists-in-Residence at the Music Institute of Chicago.
About the Chicago Duo Piano Festival
Called a “duo piano mecca” by Pioneer Press, the world-renowned Chicago Duo Piano Festival was founded in 1988 by Music Institute of Chicago faculty members and Piano Duo in Residence Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem. Its mission is to foster a deeper interest in the repertoire, performance, and teaching of music for piano, four hands and two pianos, in a fun and supportive atmosphere. The Festival offers summer and winter events, which include coachings, master classes, concerts with special guest artists, and student recitals for students youth through adult. In addition, the festival organizes periodic duo piano competitions that draw young professionals from around the world.