Department of Music To Present Performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto In A Minor, Op.16 By Guest Artist Eliran Avni

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.—Guest artist Eliran Avni will perform Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 Friday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. in East Stroudsburg University’s Cecilia S. Cohen Recital Hall at the university’s Fine and Performing Arts Center, Normal and Marguerite streets, East Stroudsburg.

Avni will be accompanied by pianist Theresa Kim. The performance, sponsored by the Department of Music, is open to the public at no cost. 

Written when Grieg was only 24, the concerto is one of his most important and most popular works. Grieg’s piece was influenced by Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto and by Norwegian folk music.

Eliran Avni is an emerging force in the contemporary classical music scene. The New York Times described him as possessing both “ironclad technique” and “ample suppleness.”

After his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta at 17, Avni has appeared as a soloist and chamber collaborator throughout Europe, North and South America, as well as in his native Israel and has made numerous recordings for the Naxos label and the Israeli and German broadcasting systems. 

Recent performances include a special appearance with the Israel Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta at Carnegie Hall in Dorman’s orchestrated piano work Azerbaijani Dance.  He made his debut performance with the Alabama Symphony and conductor Mey-Ann Chen in February, 2012 with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a piece he also performed last year at ESU.

Avni also is the creative director of Shuffle Concert, an original performance concept which allows the audience to select the music performed in a concert.  

Avni began his musical training at the TelAvivAcademy and soon developed a strong affinity for chamber music. At 16 Avni won first prize in both the Clairmont and Rachmaninoff Competitions and was an annual scholarship recipient from the Israel-America Cultural Foundation from 1989-2000. 

Avni earned both his B.M. and M.M. degrees while studying with Veda Kaplinsky at The Juilliard School and completed his D.M.A. degree as a student of both Veda Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal. He also worked with leading musicians such as Yo Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, and Yefim Bronfman.

A pianist of remarkable presence and command at the keyboard, Kim captivates audiences with the depth of her interpretations and charismatic grace on stage. Performances have taken her on tour throughout the United States and abroad to North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Hungary, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Israel and the CzechRepublic.

A charismatic lecturer and teacher, Avni has given master classes and lectures on the connection between music and the emotions in the U.S. and Israel and has taught at prestigious institutions such as The Juilliard School and the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival. Presently, he teaches at both The Lucy Moses School and The New York Chamber Music Program.

Hailed as a “stylish” artist by the New York Times, Theresa Kim’s Avery Fisher Hall debut at Lincoln Center was met with a rousing standing ovation. She has subsequently appeared at prominent venues in and around the Metropolitan area such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, The Staller Center, Alice Tully Hall, The John Harms Theatre, Morristown South Street Theatre, Count Basie and Crescent Theatres, the State Theatre of New Jersey, Newark Symphony Hall, and the Yamaha Salon, among others.

Kim made her debut with the Seoul National University Orchestra at Merkin Concert Hall at the age of ten. That year, she was admitted to the Pre-College Division at The Juilliard School. She later attained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School as a pupil of Yoheved Kaplinsky and Jerome Lowenthal. Fiercely dedicated to arts education, Theresa Kim also holds a master’s degree in music education from Teachers College at Columbia University. She is on the faculty of the 92Y MusicSchool and also maintains a private teaching studio in New York City.

For more information on the concert, contact the Fine and Performing Arts Events Line at 570-422-3483.

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