Six piano ensemble to perform at Oakton

The internationally acclaimed Oakton Six Piano Ensemble, conducted by Skokie resident Glenna Sprague, will perform selections from the classical, ragtime and popular repertoire at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 30, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 1, in the Footlik Theater at Oakton Community College, 1600 East Golf Road, Des Plaines.

Unique in the world of music, the Oakton Six Piano Ensemble has performed throughout the U.S. and has been invited to perform at the 2016 International Society for Music Education World Conference in the Royal Conservatoire of Glasgow, Scotland.

Founded and conducted by Sprague, Oakton professor and coordinator of music, the Oakton Six Piano Ensemble has delighted sold-out audiences for more than 20 years. Other members include Jeff Blaine, Chicago; Yukiko Fujimura, Chicago; Beatriz Levi, Skokie; Greg Luberda, Des Plaines; Marianne Pyster, Chicago; and Garfield Sallman, Des Plaines.

The group's rich layered sound is comparable to an orchestra, with each pianist playing a different part of a composition following a conductor. Critics from Honolulu to Vienna, hail the ensemble as "extraordinary," "innovative" and "technically superb."

Tickets are $19, $16 for seniors and students and $14 for groups at the Oakton Box Office, (847) 635-1900 or www.oakton.edu/tickets. A reception follows each concert.