Anne Louise-Turgeon and Edward Turgeon
Born in Montreal and Toronto respectively, Canadian pianists Anne Louise-Turgeon and Edward Turgeon have been playing together since 1988, and performing professionally since 1996. Critically acclaimed as one of the top piano duos of our time, the Turgeons have given hundreds of performances, including a European debut at the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, and a New York debut at Weill Recital Hall. Festival appearances include Sanibel Chamber Music, San Francisco International Chamber Music, Montreal International Duo Piano, Duettissimo (Minsk), and Novosibirsk International Duo Piano, among others.
The Turgeons appear on seven compact discs, and they have been heard in numerous broadcasts on classical music stations throughout the world including National Public Radio's Performance Today, BBC, ABC, WNYC, WPR, MPR, WGBH, Dutch Public Radio, and numerous CBC programs.
The Turgeon’s prizes and awards include first prize in the Sixth International Schubert Competition for Piano Duos (Czech Republic, 1995) and first prize in the prestigious Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition (Miami, 1997).
The Turgeons are graduates of the University of Toronto and Yale University, where they earned doctorate degrees in the year 2000. They received the highest graduating awards and prizes from both institutions. Anne's teachers included Marietta Orlov, Boris Berman, Karl Heinz Kammerling, Marek Jablonski, Claude Frank and John O'Connor. Edward's teachers included James Anagnoson, Peter Frankl,Donald Currier and Claude Frank. Duo Turgeon received duo piano, and one piano, four-hand coaching from James Anagnoson, Karl Ulrich Schnabel and Peter Serkin.
The Turgeons have served on the faculties of Algoma University College, Algoma Conservatory, Mount Holyoke College, the HARID Conservatory and Florida Atlantic University. They currently serve as keyboard faculty and ensemble-in-residence at Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of the Arts, in Boca Raton.
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.