Chamber Music Pittsburgh (CMP) is bringing celebrated pianist Garrick Ohlsson to Pittsburgh for a program featuring three centuries of masterpieces for piano and strings by Bach, Dvořák, and Shostakovich. The concert, part of CMP’s MainStage Live series, takes place on Mon., Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the acoustically vibrant Pittsburgh Playhouse in downtown Pittsburgh.
“Our MainStage series invites the world’s premiere musicians to Pittsburgh so our audience can experience their brilliance within the intimate setting of a chamber concert,” said Kristen Linfante, Executive Director of Chamber Music Pittsburgh. “We are so honored to welcome Garrick Ohlsson, whose technical skill and interpretive talents have earned him a global reputation as a virtuoso pianist, and the versatile and captivating Apollon Musagète Quartet.”
Justly acclaimed as ‘a titanic force at the keyboard’ by Cleveland.com, Ohlsson is a Grammy winner and soloist highly in demand, performing with the world’s premiere orchestras throughout his career. While Ohlsson has performed major orchestral works with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, local audiences rarely get the chance to see him perform chamber music. Ohlsson’s astonishing 60-year career was catapulted to international fame when he became the first (and remains the only) American to win the International Chopin Piano Competition in 1970.
Ohlsson is joined by the charismatic Apollon Musagète Quartet, a Polish string quartet that formed in Vienna, an historic site of string quartet composition and performance. Their vast repertoire spans many centuries and genres from Bach to Tori Amos. The Apollon Musagète Quartet won first prize at the ARD International Music Competition in 2008 and has rapidly become an established feature of the European musical scene. The quartet features Paweł Zalejski on violin, Bartosz Zachłod on violin, Piotr Szumieł on viola, and Piotr Skweres on cello.
Individual tickets for the 2022–23 MainStage Live concerts range from $35–53 and can be purchased online at www.chambermusicpittsburgh.org.