American Piano Masters brings top musicians to Occasions in New Hope, Pa.
By: Matt Smith
When New York City transplants Jim Luce and Genevieve Kaye discovered the joys of Pennsylvania and moved to Easton, Pa., the couple decided to bring some of the world’s top jazz and classical pianists with them.
Earlier this year, Mr. Luce, a veteran music presenter and a broadcaster at all-jazz WBGO-FM in Newark, and Ms. Kaye, a marketing specialist, opened the Easton Piano Loft.
"We have an 1857 row house that we rehabbed," says Ms. Kaye, "and we took the upper two floors for our own, and the first-floor parlor holds 40 people in an intimate setting with a grand piano. You can see the finger work and practically touch the artists."
The first series at the Easton Piano Loft ran April through June, and featured the likes of John Hicks, Jenny Lin and Joel Fan. That success quickly translated into a second piano series, Piano Masters at Moravian, which kicks off at the Bethlehem, Pa., college next month. With the 2005-2006 seasons lined up for both Lehigh Valley venues, Mr. Luce and Ms. Kaye set their sights a little farther down the Delaware River.
"We always had our eyes on the Bucks County/New Hope (Pa.) area," says Mr. Luce. "We definitely think of Princeton, Lambertville and New Hope as an area that will take to the idea of elite contemporary pianists from the worlds of jazz and classical music, performing on a brand-new Schimmel 7-foot concert grand piano in an intimate, sophisticated setting with limited seating."
American Piano Masters kicks off Oct. 21 at a 150-seat space in Occasions catering in New Hope’s Union Square. Jazz pianists Arturo O’Farrill and Hilton Ruiz headline the initial concert, and the series continues with 10 more Friday-night performances through April.
"Arturo O’Farrill is head of the Afro-Cuban (Jazz Orchestra) at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York," Mr. Luce notes, "and Hilton Ruiz is certainly one of the top solo jazz piano players in the world." Other highlights include respected jazz players such as Cyrus Chesnut (Jan. 13) and Benny Green (March 24), as well as classical performers Juan Jose Chuquisengo (Nov. 11) and Vassily Primakov (Feb. 24).
That fancy new Schimmel piano is being provided by Bucks County Piano in Levittown, Pa. Schimmel is a German company in its fourth generation of one-at-a-time piano making. "There’s no substitution for the sound of a hand-built piano," says Mr. Luce. "We listened to dozens of brands and we felt like this was a fit for them and they felt like this was a fit for us… We have a 7-foot Nikolaus Schimmel special concert grand piano. It’s 7 feet but it sounds more like a 9-footer."
With Mr. Luce’s jazz background, American Piano Masters and the other two series tip slightly toward the great American art form but the lines often blur between jazz and classical music. For example, Mr. Luce says, "The jazz players have a fantastic appreciation of Chopin in a real, elemental way. When you look at a concert we’re doing at Moravian College with Helio Alves and Joshua Pierce (Oct. 13), Telio played with Yo-Yo Ma but he’s also played with Gato Barbieri and Joe Henderson and he’s Brazilian. There’s no distinction for him. And Joshua Pierce is not a jazz player; he plays Beethoven but he also plays John Cage and (Toru) Takemitsu.
"The thing that we want people to know when they come to hear us," continues Mr. Luce, "is that no matter what style of type of music it is, it will be spellbinding and fabulous. We’ve learned you’re only as good as your last concert, so we try to have a great concert every time."
The American Piano Masters series will take place at Occasions, 560 Union Square, New Hope, Pa., Oct. 21-April 28. Concerts include: Arturo O’Farrill and Hilton Ruiz, Oct. 21; Juan Jose Chuquisengo, Nov. 11; Yung Wook, Dec. 2; Cyrus Chestnut, Jan. 13; Jung Lin, Jan. 27; John Hicks, Feb. 17; Vassily Primakov, Feb. 24; Joel Fan, March 17; Benny Green, March 24; Steve Kuhn, April 21, and Emmanuele Arciuli, April 28. Tickets cost $39 (and include a free beverage); $35 for James A. Michener Art Museum members; subscriptions cost $175 for any five concerts. For information, call (610) 515-1025. On the Web: www.pianoculture.com