Hear 500 piano players at ECC
The pianos will be readied again for an afternoon and evening of performances by more than 500 pianists of all ages and levels during American Grands XVI Saturday, Jan. 29 at Elgin Community College.
The massive piano event of the year will be at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. at the ECC Arts Center's Blizzard Theatre, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin.
Previously a mainstay of the former St. Charles Music Festival, this ECC production is sponsored by Cordogan's Pianoland, Geneva, the event sponsor since its inception. Cordogan's has provided and maintained all the Yamaha grand pianos for this huge annual undertaking.
In commemoration of Cordogan's involvement in American Grands, audiences will hear the premiere of “Piano Land,” a commissioned piece penned by Utah composer Kevin Olson. The work was commissioned by four longtime American Grands participants, Larry Dieffenbach, Mary Hooper, Jill Dickens and Stu Ainsworth.
“This is an event unlike any other,” Music Director Larry Dieffenbach says of American Grands. “It's a must-see concert for fans of music, especially the piano. We're particularly excited to premiere a work this year and support the creation of new music for the piano.”
This will be Dieffenbach's 15th concert. He is on the music faculty at ECC, teaches privately in Geneva, is on the faculty of Kindermusik of St. Charles and is the organist/music director at the Little Home Church by the Wayside in Wayne. He also is founder/director of the St. Charles International Piano Competition.
Dieffenbach made his orchestral debut under the baton of New York conductor Broch Macelherin.
Colin Holman returns as conductor, a role he has held for 15 of the 16 American Grands concerts. He maintains an active career as conductor and musicologist in the Chicagoland area as music director of the Fox Valley Concert Band, Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Brass Band and the St. Louis Brass Band. He also teaches undergraduate and graduate music history at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.
Jon Mortensen again serves as percussionist, percussion arranger and assistant conductor, having been with American Grands since its first year.
Mortensen, a music educator for the past 25 years, has a broad theater background, and is principal timpanist for the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and the Woodstock Mozart Festival Orchestra since 1986.
Tickets to American Grands XVI are $22 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and younger. Tickets for all performances in the ECC Arts Center are available online at http://tickets.elgin.edu or at the ECC box office located in the arts center. Box office hours are noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
To purchase tickets by phone, call (847) 622-0300. All major credit cards are accepted.
For more information about the ECC Arts Center, visit elgin.edu/arts. Video clips of upcoming artists and events can be found at www.youtube.com/ECCArtsCenter. Connect and talk to the arts center on Standing Room Only, a blog at eccartscenter.com.
The arts center also can be followed on Twitter at twitter.com/ECCArtsCenter. Become a fan of the arts center on Facebook at facebook.com/ECCArtsCenter.