The MMF marks Rachmaninov’s 150th birthday with an afternoon of concerts spotlighting three young piano virtuosos. Serene plays works by Russian composer/pianist Scriabin with her computer-generated projections based on Scriabin’s color system. Derek Wang offers transcriptions from pianist-composers paying tribute to their idols and forebearers and Claire Huangci finishes with Rachmaninov Preludes from her acclaimed recording.

4:30 PM
This program celebrates Scriabin, examining the intersection of performance and composition, the influence of audio-visual synesthesia, and uncovering the generator functions behind these disciplines in the context of being a concert pianist without formal training while having another career as a technologist.

6:00 PM
This program celebrates the piano as the chameleon of instruments, which, under skilled hands, can trick us into hearing a singer, an organ, or even a whole orchestra. The first half explores the legacy of J.S. Bach, himself a great transcriber, through musical homages of Mendelssohn and Busoni; the second half presents a series of musical postcards from Vienna, with iconic works of Schubert, Mozart, and Johann Strauss II creatively rearranged for piano.

7:30 PM
For pianists in particular, Rachmaninov composed some of the best evergreen repertoire of all time; music that transcends the classical boundaries and enters the pop and film industries. In this program, Claire chose works that span from Rachmaninov’s university times to his final years in his chosen home, the US.