Virtuoso Pianists Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman to Perform Recital

(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) – Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present a recital by pianists Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale on Nov. 16. The performance is presented by Franca Oreffice with support from Linda and Alan Englander. The Steinway piano is provided through the generosity of Steinway of Phoenix.

Single tickets are available for $85 online at www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org or through the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts box office at (480) 994-ARTS (2787). Optional transportation between the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and the Pinnacle Presbyterian Church is also available for a modest fee.

Pianist Emanuel Ax is renowned not only for his poetic temperament and unsurpassed virtuosity but also for the exceptional breadth of his performing activity. Each season, his distinguished career includes appearances with major symphony orchestras worldwide, recitals in the most celebrated concert halls, a variety of chamber music collaborations, the commissioning and performance of new music and additions to his acclaimed discography on Sony Classical.

Yefim Bronfman is likewise regarded as one of the most talented virtuoso pianists performing today. His commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts have won him consistent critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences worldwide, whether for his solo recitals, his prestigious orchestral engagements or his rapidly growing catalogue of recordings.

Ax and Bronfman will perform Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn, William Bolcom’s Recuerdos (Three Traditional Latin-American Dances) for Two Pianos, Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K.448, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Emanuel Ax captured public attention in 1974 when, at age 25, he won the first Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv. In 1975, he won the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists and, four years later, took the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. Born in Lvov, Poland, Ax moved to Winnipeg, Canada, with his family when he was a young boy. His studies at The Juilliard School were greatly supported by the sponsorship of the Epstein Scholarship Program of the Boys Clubs of America, and he subsequently won the Young Concert Artists Award. His piano teacher was Mieczylaw Munz. Ax also attended Columbia University, where he majored in French. He holds an honorary doctorate of music from Yale University. Ax resides in New York City with his wife, pianist Yoko Nozaki.

Yefim Bronfman immigrated to Israel with his family in 1973, and made his international debut two years later with Zubin Mehta and the Montreal Symphony. He made his New York Philharmonic debut in l978, his Washington recital debut in l98l at the Kennedy Center and his New York recital debut in 1982 at the 92nd Street Y. Bronfman was born in 1958 in Tashkent in the Soviet Union. In Israel, he studied with pianist Arie Vardi, head of the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University. In the United States, he studied at The Juilliard School, Marlboro and the Curtis Institute, and with Rudolf Firkusny, Leon Fleisher and Rudolf Serkin. Bronfman became an American citizen in 1989.

PIANO TRADITIONS @ THE CENTER
The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present recitals by the following pianists as part of the 2008-09 season:

• Michael Kim* – October 26, 2008 @ Theater 4301, Scottsdale
• Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman – November 16, 2008 @ Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale
• Barry Douglas* – January 25, 2009 @ Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale
• Shai Wosner* – February 22, 2009 @ Theater 4301, Scottsdale
• Antonio Pompa-Baldi* – March 22, 2009 @ Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale

*Presented as part of the 2007-08 Virginia G. Piper Concert Series

A soloist with the world’s great orchestras, American pianist Jeffrey Siegel will return to Scottsdale in 2008-09 for his 29th season of Jeffrey Siegel’s Keyboard Conversations. In this unique “concert with commentary” series, Siegel discusses the music with the audience before each performance. The season will feature:

• Basking in Beethoven – November 6, 2008 @ Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale
• Haydn and Mozart: Humor and Heartache – January 15, 2009 @ Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale
• The Longevity of the Short Piece – March 12, 2009 @ Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale
• Musical Pictures – April 23, 2009 @ Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale

LOCATION AND PARKING
Pinnacle Presbyterian Church is located in Scottsdale at 25150 N. Pima Rd. at the East Happy Valley Road intersection. Free parking is available at the church.

ACCESSIBILITY
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts offers performance accommodations to enhance audience members’ experience, including: American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation or live audio description with two weeks advance notice. Assisted listening devices and wheelchair seating are always available. Visit the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Web site at www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org or contact the box office at (480) 994-ARTS [TDD: (480) 874-4694] for further details. Please inquire about services when ordering tickets.

GROUP DISCOUNTS
A $3 discount per ticket is available for groups of 15 or more (subject to restriction and limitation). Call (480) 874-4690 for more information.

STUDENT DISCOUNTS
Students with valid student identification may purchase half-price tickets (subject to availability; limit one per student) 72 hours before any performance at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts box office. Tickets must be purchased in-person; phone orders are not accepted.

SCOTTSDALE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Opened in 1975, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts presents a dynamic, culturally diverse season of dance, jazz, classical and world music, theater and satire. Approximately 1,000 performances, educational programs, festivals and other events are showcased annually serving more than 300,000 people and contributing substantially to Scottsdale’s high quality of life and vibrant arts scene. Performances take place in the Center’s 838-seat Virginia G. Piper Theater (closed for renovation during the 2008-09 season) and 136-seat Stage 2 as well as the 2,200-seat amphitheater on the grounds of the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall and the 326-seat Theater 4301 in the Galleria Corporate Centre. The Center’s youth education and outreach programs reach more than 40,000 school children each year, and its free programs are available to the entire public. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts also produces the popular Scottsdale Arts Festival every March; Sunday A’Fair, a series of free outdoor music festivals held on Sunday afternoons from January to April; and Native Trails, a collaboration with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau that features free demonstrations of Native American arts and culture from January to April. Open daily and during performances, The Store @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts offers hand-crafted jewelry, accessories for the home, toys for imaginative young minds, recordings, books, greeting cards and more.

The Scottsdale Cultural Council, a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is contracted by the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, to administer certain City arts and cultural projects and to manage the City-owned Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Scottsdale Public Art Program. The programs of the Scottsdale Cultural Council are made possible, in part, by the support of members and donors and grants received from the Arizona Commission on the Arts through appropriations from the Arizona State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

HOW TO REACH US
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
7380 East Second Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Box Office: (480) 994-ARTS (2787)
TDD: (480) 874-4694
Web: www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org
E-mail: info@sccarts.org
Fax: (480) 874-4699

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