A Bay Area non-profit with a mission to “promote excellence in piano performance and music education,” the Steinway Society of the Bay Area (SSBA) has a rich history of bringing top-notch artists and educators to the area to share their talents, insights and techniques. Featuring a star-studded concert series, community concerts, a young artists program, in-home salon concerts and more, the SSBA is dedicated to supporting talented pianists, both up-and-coming and well-established.
“There are so many amazing pianists that we want to showcase,” says SSBA president, Ligia Marcu. “Some of them are just making a name for themselves and some of them are legendary.”
Marcu explains that the SSBA schedules established artists 2-3 years ahead of time, and generally hire Van Cliburn gold or silver medal winners as soon as they win the competition, which is every four years. The society makes a point, however, of leaving room in its schedule for the unexpected rising star.
“There’s so much talent out there,” she says. “We like to leave ourselves a little open for one or two spots so that we can react to whatever comes up that’s very exciting and we want to book right away.”
As part of their piano series (tickets are available on an individual show basis or as a season subscription), the SSBA welcomes master pianist John Perry. An award-winning artist and a jury member at prestigious piano competitions around the world, Perry is a celebrated teacher with a reputation for excellence and a string of prize-winning pupils to his name.
“He’s a fabulous player with a great following in the community,” says Marcu. “This is a rare engagement in this area so we wanted to do something special.”
In addition to offering a master class on Saturday, September 17, Perry is performing on Sunday, September 18 at Le Petit Trianon Theatre, which Marcu says is the ideal venue for chamber music and piano recitals.
“The acoustics are really phenomenal,” she says. “There are no bad seats in the house.”
Explaining that the size and intimacy of the venue lends itself to more personal performances, Marcu says that it allows the artists to interact with their audiences in ways that are not possible in larger venues.
“We’re really trying to offer our audiences a different experience than what they get in a conventional, big concert hall,” she says. “Our artists are interactive with the audiences. They talk about what they’re going to play and how they feel about it and our subscribers feel like they’re coming to something that they’re very involved in.”
John Perry performs at Le Petit Trianon Theatre in San Jose on Sunday, September 18 at 2pm.
Get Tickets and More Info on John Perry at Le Petit Trianon Theatre