Andreas Kern and Paul Cibis' PIANO BATTLE makes Chicago-area debut at Prairie Center

Created by internationally acclaimed pianists Andreas Kern and Paul Cibis, PIANO BATTLE sees the duo go head-to-head at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, for five rounds in their first Chicago-area bout, performing pieces by composers such as Chopin, Liszt, and Debussy, as well as improvisations based on audience requests. The audience is the judge, voting on the pianists' performances and eventually crowning the evening's winner. Deftly balancing serious recital performance with tongue-in-cheek show business panache, PIANO BATTLE is a unique concert experience that upends the conventions of classical music.

Originally developed for the Hong Kong City Festival, PIANO BATTLE (www.pianobattle.com) has been performed for sold-out audiences in Europe, the United States and Asia - including the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Seoul Arts Center and an open air spectacle before 6,000 fans in Taiwan. The show has also been well-received in the pianists' home country, where Andreas Kern and Paul Cibis have performed for enthusiastic audiences in concert halls and at festivals all over Germany - including the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Rheingau Musik Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Prinzregententheater Munich and the Philharmonie Berlin.

During the program's intermission, the Prairie Center Arts Foundation will recognize a generous charitable donation recently made by longtime Prairie Center patron and former Schaumburg Mayor, Al Larson.

Tickets for PIANO BATTLE, $30-$40 / $25-$35 (students and seniors), can be ordered at www.prairiecenter.org or by calling 847.895.3600. The Prairie Center is located at 201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg, IL and is owned and operated by the Village of Schaumburg.