Piano Day: Ivan Ilić + Maria Grapsa- Postponed Date TBC
| March 21, 2021 | |
| 12:00 pm | |
| London, UK | |
| Union Chapel | |
| Google Map |
EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19, NEW DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
An event for all ages, produced by Arctic Circle
For our Piano Day event this year Ivan Ilić presents The Book of Sounds, a rare performance of Hans Otte’s minimalist masterpiece with kind support from Kawai pianos.
Written between 1979 and 1982 after a multi-day retrospective of his entire opus, The Book of Sounds is Hans Otte’s attempt to wipe out his own history. The result is 70-minute long piece of a “luminous, magical quality”, full of floating harmonies and arching structures; a moment of pure meditation made hauntingly beautiful by the unresolved union of major and minor chords. The piece retains Cage’s influence on Otte, but “the initial impression is like a moment of Debussy snatched from the air and extended, or a fragment of Erik Satie, compressed or filtered to create something new.” (Musicweb International).
Serbian-American pianist Ivan Ilić enjoys a unique place in today’s musical landscape thanks to his unconventional repertoire and multifaceted approach. Defined by The New Yorker as “a pianist of penetrating intelligence and pellucid technique”, he combines performing with writing, producing, and drawing upon interdisciplinary experiences. His eclecticism is reflected in his musical projects, which range from the notoriously difficult Chopin/Godowsky studies, to the delicate abstraction of Morton Feldman, to his most recent enterprise: the rediscovery of music by Beethoven’s Czech friend and contemporary, Antoine Reicha. Ilić’s rendition of Otte has been described as “smooth as flowing water, with a great evenness of tone and rhythm—his playing rang, and it also shined with a warm, penetrating light.” (New York Classical Review)
Tomorrow’s Warriors present Maria Grapsa. Following her studies in Classical Piano and Environmental Engineering, pianist, composer and music educator Maria Grapsa developed a keen interest in jazz, latin, hip-hop, funk and electronic music. Based in London since 2014, she has devoted herself in creating and performing music of all kinds. She has been participating actively in UK’s music scene while passing her love for music and improvisation to young people through imaginative music workshops. She’s now creating more music across UK following a scholarship offer for a Jazz Masters at Royal Conservatoire of Birmingham.
Some of her music projects include Tomorrow’s Warriors Female Frontline, hip-hop artist Shunaji and the electronic duo Supermodels. Maria co-founded a Jazz Duo with guitarist Ashley Blasse and leads her own Jazz Quintet. Her current focus is on her original compositions and the upcoming release of her first EP. You will be seeing her in the next few months presenting her own music alongside the talented musicians that combine her Jazz Quintet.