In a programme of Chopin: Barcarolle in F Sharp Major, Op. 60, Michael Dalmau Colina: Sestina Mutations (India Premiere), Debussy: Estampes, Pierce Emata: Romance in C Major for the Left Hand (India Premiere), Felix Blumenfeld: Etude in A Major for the Left Hand and Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (1925 solo transcription)
Pierce Kagari Emata received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Piano Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he coached with notable concert artists such as Alfonso Montecino, Gyorgy Sebok, and John Ogdon. He presents master classes and private lessons as part of the summer piano faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, an international summer school that draws 2700 students across the arts from 50 countries each year. In 2018 he received the ‘Top Teacher Award’ from Steinway & Sons in New York in recognition of his excellence and leadership in piano teaching. In addition to his private teaching practice in Las Vegas and an online teaching roster from coast to coast, Mr. Emata has an active judging and performing career throughout the United States, also presenting master classes for both teachers and students. He has served on the juries of many competitions across the U.S., and was invited to serve on the jury of the India Musiquest National Piano Competition, where he also performed and lectured about best practices in teaching.
Mr. Emata is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships from various state arts commissions across the United States in recognition of his accomplishments in performing, recording, teaching and composing. He is presently working on his next CD, titled “Healing Vibrations,” following his well-received CD titled “From the Hands to the Heart.” Both are recorded on a Blüthner Model 1 concert grand.
The programmes that Mr. Emata presents, trademarked and titled Concerts & Conversation, bring a refreshing dimension to the solo piano concert by incorporating an informal and engaging commentary about the music, composers, and the artist’s own personal experiences, into a first-rate concert. The engaging way that these performances are presented at once stimulates and enhances the interest of the infrequent concertgoer, yet also contains the level of sophistication for the connoisseur’s enjoyment.
This evening’s programme will see the India premiere of two works; one by the artist, and one by the Grammy Award winning composer and producer Michael Dalmau Colina.
