November 13, 7:00pm • Occidental Center for the Arts
Russian pianist Ilya Yakushev with many awards and honors to his credit, continues to astound and mesmerize audiences at major venues on three continents.
We hope you caught Yakushev’s extraordinary Redwood Arts Council performance, presented over Zoom on May 16, 2020. His energetic and lively interaction with our audience was warmly welcomed and especially appreciated given he was in St. Petersburg where it 3:00AM. Now, we are fortunate to have him perform live, in person, in Occidental – performer and audience together in the same room (and same time zone).
Yajyshev has performed worldwide at numerous well-known locations, including: Weill Recital Hall Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Victoria Hall (Singapore), Sejong Performing Arts Center (Seoul), etc … . His performances with orchestras include: the San Francisco Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra, Boston Pops, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and many others.
British label Nimbus Records published “Prokofiev Sonatas Vol. 1” CD, and American Record Guide wrote: “Yakushev is one of the very best young pianists before the public today, and it doesn’t seem to matter what repertoire he plays – it is all of the highest caliber”. Volume 2 was published, as well as an all-Russian repertoire CD to wide acclaim.
Winner of the 2005 World Piano Competition, Yakushev received his first award at age 12 as a prize winner of the Young Artists Concerto Competition in his native St. Petersburg. In 1997, he received the Mayor of St. Petersburg’s Young Talents Award. In both 1997 and 1998, he won First Prize at the Donostia Hiria International Piano Competition in San Sebastian, Spain. Most recently, Mr. Yakushev became a recipient of the prestigious Gawon International Music Society’s Award in Seoul.
Program
Haydn: Sonata in D major, Hob. XVI/37
Scriabin: Prelude for the Left Hand in C# minor, Op. 9, No. 1
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G minor, Op. 23, No. 5
Beethoven: Sonata, Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57
(the Appassionata)
Mr. Yakushev’s website:
http://www.ilyayakushev.com
About the Venue: Occidental Center for the Arts
OCA is located just west of Occidental on Bohemian Hwy. Two parking lots are adjacent to the center and an overflow lot is one driveway closer to town. Handicap parking is located next to the center. Refreshments are available before and during intermission. The OCA is housed in a former school that has been transformed into an outstanding performance space with a large stage, excellent sight lines, comfortable seating, and an acoustically tuned ceiling. It is a premier space for chamber music and is loved by both audiences and musicians.
All facilities are ADA compliant.
Doors are open at 6:30 pm for seating.
Seats are not reserved.
Masks are encouraged but not required.
Call (707) 874-1124 for questions.