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Winter 2009
Performing Arts at CAM
Performing Arts at CAM is a highly acclaimed program curated by Nina Colosi, featuring internationally renowned, as well as emerging, artists. In the spirit of Jean Miotte’s commitment to cultural exchange, Performing Arts at CAM presents a diverse range of genres and cultural traditions -- classical and contemporary music concerts, sound art installations, dance and physical theater works by artists from around the world.
Breakthrough concert - November 11 at 7 pm
TAKA KIGAWA
Pianist
Photo courtesy of Kenji Mori
As part of the exhibition "Breakthrough" by Edwina Sandys, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Performing Arts at Chelsea Art Museum will present pianist Taka Kigawa performing Beethoven’s: “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, arranged by Liszt, commemorating the historic performance by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein in East Berlin on December 25, 1989. Also on the program are "L’Isle Joyeuse" by Debussy and "Trois Mouvements de Petrouchka” by Stravinsky who like Beethoven, are 'breakthrough" composers and opened the door for contemporary music.
ARTIST BIO
Critically acclaimed pianist TAKA KIGAWA has earned outstanding international recognition as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber music artist since winning First Prize in the prestigious 1990 Japan Music Foundation Piano Competition in Tokyo, and the Diploma Prize at the 1990 Concurs Internacional Maria Canals De Barcelona in Spain, with such accolades from The New York Times as “Mr. Kigawa’s feat deserves the highest praise, especially since it was combined with such alacrity and sensitivity to the musical material ... brilliantly done … a careful and serious-minded musician, quietly poetic and considerate” and from The New Yorker “Unbelievably challenging program. Kigawa is a young artist of stature.”
He has performed extensively as a recitalist and soloist in New York, Boston, Cleveland, Washington D.C., Paris, Milan and Barcelona, with appearances in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Kosciuszko Foundation, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Salle Gaveau in Paris, and Plau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. He frequently tours in his native Japan, appearing in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagano and Kyoto, both as a recitalist and a soloist with orchestra and in chamber music groups. He has been a featured artist on many television and radio networks throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.
His repertoire is extremely large and varied, ranging from the baroque to avant-garde compositions of today. Mr. Kigawa is well known for his recitals devoted to the works of a single composer, including J.S. Bach’s complete The Art of the Fugue and Goldberg Variations, Chopin’s 24 Etudes and 28 Preludes, and the complete piano music of Debussy, György Ligeti, and Pierre Boulez. He has collaborated closely with such renowned musicians as Pierre Boulez, Myung-Whun Chung and Jonathan Nott.
Mr. Kigawa grew up in Nagano, Japan, where he began piano studies at the age of three, winning his first competition at the age of seven. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Shinsyu University, and his Master of Arts degree from Tokyo Gakugei (Liberal Arts) University, graduating with honors in Piano Performance. During both his undergraduate and graduate years, he also studied composition and conducting, receiving high honors in both disciplines. He furthered his studies in the United States at The Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with Josef Raieff, was recipient of the distinguished Alexander Siloti Award, and earned his Master of Music degree. Mr. Kigawa lives in New York.
For more information about Taka Kigawa, visit: www.takakigawa.com
 
"Breakthrough" is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
The Yamaha Disklavier is the official piano of Performing Arts at CAM.
Tickets are $15 / $10 students and seniors / Free for CAM Members and are only available at the door
For more information please contact programs@chelseaartmuseum.org, 212.255.0719 ext 112
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