Piano all day and night

The two-day program opens on Thursday at 5 p.m. with a confluence of the worlds of jazz and classical material

By BARRY DAVIS
Piano (photo credit: INGIMAGE / ASAP)
Piano
(photo credit: INGIMAGE / ASAP)
The Jerusalem Theater will host an extraordinary musical event on September 11-12. The program is called 24 Hours Pianos and comprises a jam-packed schedule of concerts with a stellar lineup.
The repertoire covers wide ground, from jazz to classical music to works that feed off ethnic baggage, and the majority of the slots feature intriguing synergies based on seemingly disparate disciplines.
The two-day program opens on Thursday at 5 p.m. with a confluence of the worlds of jazz and classical material, presented by pianists Dror Shavid, who hails from the classical sphere, and his jazz-oriented counterpart Yoel Shemesh. The concert is labeled as something of a throwback to the Jerusalem music scene of the 1930s, when refugee musicians from eastern and central Europe found their way to Palestine and brought with them sounds that were then all the rage in Berlin, Warsaw, Prague and Vienna, and were very popular with members of the British army and Mandate authorities.
Later on Thursday, veteran pop icon Shlomo Gronich will entertain his audience with a string of some of his best known numbers, with young American pianist Claire Huangci adding some classical endeavor, with works by Tchaikovsky and Scarlatti.
Other fascinating twinnings include the Piano from all Directions slot of classically-trained jazz-Andalusian music pianist Omri Mor and similarly eclectically-minded ivory-tickler Yaron Rosenthal.
Stellar pianist-vocalist Yoni Rechter will later be joined by 82-year-old Israel Prize-winning composer-pianist Andre Hajdu, and jazz pianist Avi Adrian will follow them with a 1 a.m. slot of jazz and liturgical works.
Elsewhere on the 24 Hours Pianos roster you can find Shlomi Shaban and Amit Dolberg’s collaboration with the Israel Camerata, and the star-studded piano-based shebang will close at noon on Friday with the Tribute to Arik concert which will salute the long career of preeminent Israeli conductor, pianist and educator Aryeh Vardi.
The festival’s artistic director, Dr. Michael Wolpe, will address the audience, after which the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, together with Vardi and his student Claire Huangci will play works by Bach, Mozart and Prokofiev.
There will also be screenings of music-themed movies over the two days, in the Jerusalem Theater’s small auditorium.
24 Hours Pianos’ official sponsor, The Inbal Hotel, is offering two extra-special couples’ packages in honor of this special event: Dine at the Inbal’s BBQ restaurant, attend a piano show of your choice, and enjoy a luxuriously comfortable night’s sleep and a gourmet breakfast – from NIS 1,400 per couple. Show and overnight stay with gourmet breakfast – from NIS 1,100 per couple.
For more information: (02) 560- 5755 and www.jerusalem-theatre.co.il; www.inbalhotel.com