Grand Piano Series returns for new season in Naples
Written by for The Naples Press
Milana Strezeva would respectfully like to put a tuck in your tush.
“It’s that being on the edge of your seat when you’re studying to listen to them,” declared the cofounder and artistic director of the Grand Piano Series. “I tend to really focus on that.
“I focus my attention on people who are not only exceptionally gifted but also have an interesting story to tell the audience and are able to communicate with the audience,” she said of her search for the artists for this series. “You can play fast and loud and great. But there are only a few who tell stories.”
Those are the ones who keep audiences at seat’s edge, she said. If that puts a notch in your lower backside the next day, it also creates the kind of memory Strezeva hopes this year’s concert series generates.
“Those kind keep coming back to your mind. I’ve had some interesting conversations with some of our donors where they’re talking about performances that they saw 50, 60 years ago,” Strezeva said. She feels she’s programmed that potential this year with an all-Chopin concert, a returning star who has made an international career since appearing in the Grand Piano Series’ first season — and a cello quartet.
The series absorbed the Classic Chamber Concerts organization during the COVID shutdown, and extended its musical mission to embrace performances with other instruments. This year, the Manhattan Piano Trio, Strezeva’s own, reunites for the closing concert.
But the Galvin Cello Quartet is something new, working with transcriptions to create works for a four-cello ensemble. The group plays everything from Mozart to Johann Strauss, emphasizing its impact in a deeper, richer tone. The coup de grace: its rendition of the Overture from The Barber of Seville.
The all-Chopin concert, she said, was a streak of luck that Canadian piano virtuoso Louis Lortie was to be touring the U.S. this season. He is a concert pianist who is a frequent guest artist with the BBC Proms concerts and is known here from his performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra. The program has four polonaises and two of Chopin’s mazurkas.
Although the Grand Piano Series is an independent organization, it’s collaborating with Artis—Naples, where it holds its concerts, for pianist Angel Stansilav Wang to perform Mozart with Naples Philharmonic members in their Feb. 16 and Feb. 21 chamber concerts.
Now in its 11th year, the Grand Piano Series has made its name not only in concert venues but in schools and senior centers, with an outreach program that Strezeva sees as a win-win.
With Konstantin Soukhovetski as its education director, the series also offers its Narrative Musicales series of the stories behind the music, this year including a Chopin Salon and some exploration of Beethoven as Ludwig, with references to the film version of his life, Immortal Beloved.
The series is as follows:
International Stars
All concerts are at 7 p.m. in the Daniels Pavilion of Artis—Naples. Subscriptions are $350 and on sale now at grandpianoseries.org; individual tickets will be sold beginning Sept. 15.
Nov. 4 — Kate Liu. The third prize winner at the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Competition, and guest artist with orchestras — from the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and the Warsaw Philharmonic to The Cleveland Orchestra — returns. Performing Chopin, Schumann and Brahms.
Dec. 9 — Vitaly Starikov. The silver medalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2025, Starikov has performed all over Europe and in the Vail and Sunriver music festivals. His program includes Bach, Shostakovich and Schumann.
Jan. 20 — Galvin Cello Quartet. Its young members hail from three countries and created their name from the recital hall at Northwestern University where they met. They were silver medalists at the 2022 Fischoff Competition and performed at music festivals from Ravinia to Newport Classical. Their program ranges from Massenet and Mozart to Johann Strauss and Rossini.
Feb. 17 — Angel Stanislav Wang. The silver medalist at the International Tchaikovsky Competition and guest artist with the Russian National Orchestra, the Aspen Music Festival and the American Liszt Society Festival, his program includes Liszt and Rachmaninoff.
March 3 — Ariel Lanyi. Third prize winner at the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition and a familiar guest at the Marlboro Festival and Vail, Lanyi performs Haydn, Berg and one of Beethoven’s most daunting piano works, the Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli.
March 31 — Louis Lortie. A guest artist for orchestras from the Gewandhaus to the National de France, as well as The Philadelphia Orchestra and the St. Louis Symphony, he brings an all-Chopin program that includes mazurkas and polonaises. The Canadian-born pianist has been honored as an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier of the Ordre National du Quebec.
April 21 — Manhattan Piano Trio. This trio, including GPS cofounder Milana Strezeva, has performed across the country in chamber series and won the Listener’s Choice Award at the Melbourne, Australia International Chamber Music Competition. Its program includes Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Ravel.
Narratives Musicales
All concerts are at 4 p.m. and hosted in the Ubben Signature Event Space at Artis—Naples by Konstantin Soukhovetski, Grand Piano Series director of education and community engagement. Subscriptions, $150, are on sale now at grandpianoseries.org; individual tickets are available beginning Sept. 15:
Nov. 19 — The Nutcracker Origins. Soukhovetski explores the spookier foundations of the original Tchaikovsky work, once deemed a critical failure until choreographer George Balanchine adopted it in 1954 and made it a beloved classic.
Feb. 4 — Chopin Salon. Featuring pianist Michael Davidman with Soukhovetski in an exploration of the personal life of the famous composer.
May 6 — Immortal Beloved. Soukhovetski offers a look into the life of Beethoven, its pain, its mysteries and the identity of the “Immortal Beloved,” whose name is referenced in his will and which became the title of a critically acclaimed film about his life.
Call Artis—Naples at 239-597-1900 for assistance.