Pianists Donna Lee and Irwin Shung reunite on the concert stage to celebrate Spring 2023 with a colorful program featuring piano music written for one, two, three, and four hands. The duo will perform Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, highlighted by an ironic array of animal noises and caricatures, and Gershwin's Cuban Overture, inspired by a two-week vacation in Havana in 1932. Shung and Lee will also play Gregory Stone's dazzling duet arrangement of the ever-popular I've Got Rhythm, as well as rarely-heard gems scored cleverly for unusual hand combinations.
Less than Five Hands
Saturday, April 1, 2023 7:30PM
Artists
Irwin Shung
Dr. Irwin Shung, whose playing has been praised by State Magazine for its “ease, technique, and musicianship,” has performed in North America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Shung joined the faculty at the Cleveland Institute of Music in July, 2015, and also directs the Resonance Masters’ Series at Resonance at SOMA, situated in Bellevue, Washington. He currently serves as President of the Northeast Ohio Music Teachers' Association.
Shung received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music in January, 2015, where he studied with Dr. Daniel Shapiro. He has also received instruction on piano from various distinguished teachers including Marian Hahn (Peabody Conservatory), Leon Fleisher (Peabody Conservatory), Herbert Stessin (Julliard School), and Gabriel Chodos (New England Conservatory). Awards received include the Pauline Favin Memorial Award from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, prizes in the 2012 Darius Milhaud Competition, as well as the Young Artist International Piano Competition.
Shung currently serves as piano faculty at the Notre Dame College in Cleveland. Shung’s performances have been featured by KING FM in Seattle, as well as WCLV Ideastream in Cleveland. His complete recording of the first book of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier is available online, and a recording of the second book is forthcoming.
Donna Lee
Korean-Canadian pianist Donna Lee is a veteran performer and collaborator, playing in concerts, recitals and festivals all over North America and Europe. Born in Toronto, Donna started her studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in the Young Artists Performance Academy. Subsequently, she had the privilege of studying at the Musikhochschule in Hannover, Germany. During her time there, Donna won first prize at the San Sebastián International Piano Competition in Spain, special prize at the IBLA Grand Prize in Italy, and performed concerts and recitals at the Mozarteum Summer Festival in Salzburg, Austria. In Canada, Donna was the second-prize winner of the prestigious Canadian Chopin Competition. She also was on tour for Jeunesses Musicales du Canada Desjardins Series, with French Horn player, Louis Phillipe Marsolais. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Daniel Shapiro. She is currently on the piano faculty at Notre Dame College and performs as a staff pianist at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music and Kent State University.
Canonic Etudes, op. 56 Robert Schumann (3 hands)
I. Nicht zu schnell
II. Mit innigem Ausdruck
Prelude and Nocturne for Left Hand, op. 9 Alexander Scriabin (1 hand)
Cuban Overture George Gershwin, arr. George Gershwin (4 hands)
Intermission
Chorale Prelude: "Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ," BWV 639 Johann Sebastian Bach (3 hands)
Chorale Prelude: "Sheep May Safely Graze," from BWV 208 Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Irwin Shung (4 hands)
I've Got Rhythm Gershwin, arr. Gregory Stone (4 hands)
Embraceable You Gershwin, arr. Earl Wild (2 hands)
Carnival of the Animals Camille Saint-Saëns, arr. Lucian Garban (4 hands)