Encore!

After a serendipitous meeting at her 50 year high school reunion, SJCT volunteer Lori Stokes brought her former classmate, Peter Basquin, a master pianist, to Friday Harbor. His performance last year at the Community Theatre impressed so many islanders he will return for a second concert! Jan Bollwinkel-Smith has more:

Peter Basquin is sure to delight musicians and music enthusiasts at his concert on Saturday…

This Saturday, August 11, at 8 p.m., Peter Basquin will make an encore appearance on the Whittier stage. Moonlight & Serenades will feature Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, as well as keyboard masterpieces that reflect that theme, including recital pieces by Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Liszt.

“Peter is an amazing performer,” said Lori. “Last year, he played his heart out for us …many patrons came up to me in the lobby to thank me for bringing such a wonderful gift to Friday Harbor and others sent me emails or stopped me at the Market to tell me how much they had enjoyed the concert.” One of those audience members, pianist Farhad Ghatan, said it was “easily the most enjoyable piano recital I have ever seen.”  

Basquin has performed in concert throughout the United States — including appearances at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. He has performed as soloist with the Montreal, Quebec and Boston symphonies; and is a past winner of the Montreal International Piano Competition. In addition to his live performances, Basquin has recorded music for several labels and appears on the soundtrack of Ken Burns’ films Baseball, Mark Twain and Brooklyn Bridge.

Ticket are available online; they’ll be going pretty quickly! A special opportunity– watch the performance for $5 if you tell the box office you’re a piano student.

That’s not all!

Everyone is invited to watch Peter teaching a master class on Friday, August 10 at 7 pm in the Whittier. We’ve invited five of the island’s most accomplished pianists to play a short piece for Peter, after which he will work with each pianist, suggesting ways they can enhance their technique and/or their interpretation of the piece. Those participating will be Grisha Krivchenia, Farhad Ghatan, Stella Joh, Robin Lohrey, and Grace Willows.

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