Pianists Bonnie Choi, Gary Fisher, and Kevin Nitsch present Some Enchanting Piano Duets, featuring four-hand piano music of J.S. Bach, Clara Schumann, Chaminade, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and Tal Zilber. We will be taken through the journey of an eclectic collection of works which, taken together, strive to truly engage the listener, each in its own way. The duet arrangements of Bach’s spiritual music touch our souls. The transcription of the deeply moving third movement of Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony touches our hearts. The Chaminade pieces remind us of our connection to the simplicities of nature coupled with a craving for the exotic. Finally some Brahms reimagined in salsa rhythm goes directly to our innate capacity to respond to sound through dance, no matter how unexpected the source.

Bonnie Choi has concertized widely in North America and Asia, appearing as a soloist with the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and as keyboardist with Symphoria and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta. Her baroque ensemble, Air de Cour, has performed in the United States and in Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post proclaims that she “displays dazzling technique and draws new colours from her instrument.”

An expert in piano pedagogy, Dr. Choi has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences, including those held regionally by the New York State Music Teachers Association and others by the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and National Conference on Piano Pedagogy (NCKP) and the World Piano Conference. She has adjudicated at numerous piano competition events and many of her students have been accepted into music programs at major institutions in the United States and have won prizes in statewide and national competitions.

Dr. Choi has given lectures and masterclasses in performance practice at the National Harpsichord Competition in Kansas, the Hanoi Conservatory of Music in Vietnam, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Academy of Performing Arts in Hong Kong. In 2016 and 2017, she was a visiting faculty member at Shandong Normal University (China). She recently has given concerts and masterclasses at the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts in 2018. In 2019, she was a visiting scholar at West Anqui University in China. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Nazareth College and is also on the faculty at Syracuse University.

Gary Fisher has been awarded academic honors at each of the institutions from which he received his degrees. His principal teachers at these schools have included Stephen Manes, Maria Clodes Jaguaribe, and David Burge. Further work with the eminent American pianist and pedagogue, Leonard Shure, for whom he served as teaching assistant at The New England Conservatory, is of central significance to his pianistic and musical training.

While living in the Boston area for many years, Dr. Fisher was Chair of the Faculty at the South Shore Conservatory; he also served as Dean of the Music Division at the Performing Arts School of Worcester. Between 1991 and 2001, he was a member of the faculty of the Community Education Division of the Eastman School of Music. Dr. Fisher is an active adjudicator and is currently Secretary of the New York State Music Teachers Association.

Kevin Nitsch is a pianist, collaborator, and teacher in the Rochester area. Kevin performs regularly with Rochester Oratorio Society, Finger Lakes Opera, Lyric Opera and Madrigalia.

Kevin is a collaborative pianist at Nazareth College and Suny College at Geneseo. Kevin holds a B.M. in Piano Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, and a M.M. and a D.M.A. in Performance and Literature in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music. Kevin lives in Penfield with his wife, Brenda and enjoys hiking, biking, and kayaking.

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If you are a CMM member, this concert will be discounted as part of your membership package!

CMM (Civic Morning Musicals) exists to support classically trained musicians and their audiences throughout the Central New York region. It is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization, which produces more than 30 concerts a year and sponsors activities for young musicians.