Two accomplished pianists are taking the stage this Saturday in a duo piano concert.
Internationally acclaimed Argentine pianist Dario Ntaca will perform with BYU-Idaho faculty member Dr. Stephen Thomas. Ntaca is coming to campus from his home in Switzerland.
“Last time I was here, we played a tremendous program and people were very receptive,” Ntaca said. “Also in general, life in Rexburg and around campus feels very harmonious. It's a very pleasant state.”
Thomas and Ntaca will perform pieces written for two pianos, and pieces played together on one piano.
“There's a forehand version, and that will be the opening piece of the concert,” Thomas said. “That's the two of us on one piano, which is a whole separate kind of a challenge because you're not only dealing with all the musical decisions, but you're dealing with the logistics of trying to keep four hands from colliding.”
“When you find a pianist with which you agree on many, many levels, then it's fun to do two pianos,” Ntaca said. “You need to have pianists like in the case of Stephen. We have so many things in common and our views are so similar, yet each one has its personality.”
The concert will also feature pieces by Mozart and Rachmaninoff along with a special never-before-heard piece written specifically for the duo.
“We will actually do the world premiere of a piece written for us by a composer in California named Deborah Kavasch,” Thomas said. “It's called the Fantasy Suite for Two Pianos, and this piece has never been performed anywhere before. It was written for us and we're excited to present it.”
The free concert is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Snow Recital Hall.
“I think the audience will have so much variety of material in one evening, and it will be an extraordinarily unheard-of program,” Ntaca said.
The duo will also perform in Utah and California. For more information visit ibelong.byui.edu.