Piano virtuoso Marianna Prjevalskaya honors composer Claude Debussy in the 100th anniversary year of his death with a performance of his complete preludes on Sunday, March 4, 2018 at 3 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis (UUCA), 333 Dubois Road in Annapolis.
The program features Debussy’s piano preludes Books I and II, composed between 1909 and 1913. Inspired by nature, poetry, decorative objects, and art, each prelude has a descriptive title that is placed at the end of the piece as an apparent afterthought, giving way to free imagination. Even though Debussy preferred to play them in groups of three or four, he took meticulous care in the ordering of these short pieces for publication, creating a strong tonal and architectural unity.
Both cycles are authentic gems in the piano repertoire that are rarely heard in their entirety. Prjevalskaya’s performance, “Soundscape: Celebrating Debussy’s Complete Preludes,” is part of the UUCA monthly Arts in the Woods concert series. Tickets are $15 at the door. Visit www.tinyurl.com/UUCA-concerts or call 410-266-8044 for more information.
Marianna Prjevalskaya, praised as a “virtuoso, impetuous, passionate and mature pianist of great musicality” (Diario Segre, Spain), is making her Annapolis debut. She has appeared with such major orchestras as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Lithuanian Symphony Orchestra, and has performed as a recitalist at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome, Teatro Goldoni of Florence, Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, and Carnegie’s Weill Hall in New York. Her most recent CD album dedicated to Rachmaninoff is receiving critical acclaim. She is a gold medalist of the 2014 New Orleans International Piano Competition, the 2013 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati and European Piano Competition in Normandy; she won the 2011 Jaén Prize in Spain and was top prize winner of the 2010 Sendai International Piano Competition and the 2007 Paderewski International Piano Competition, among many others.
Born to a musical family, Prjevalskaya grew up in Russia and Spain and began studying piano at age 6. She made her first solo debut with orchestra at age nine and won her first piano competition at age 14. She has degrees and/or artist diplomas from the Royal College of Music in London, Yale School of Music, and Indiana University. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studies with Boris Slutsky.
The March 4 performance at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis is part of the monthly Arts in the Woods concert series. The next program in the series will be Sunday, April 15, 2018, at 3 p.m. and will feature Expressions Dance Company, Gospel Travelers, and other area musicians in the 2018 Black Lives Matter/Dismantling Racism Concert. For information, visit: www.tinyurl.com/UUCA-concerts or call 410-266-8044.