Michelle Cann, Grammy Award-winning pianist and educator, makes Portland Piano International debut with solo recitals in Portland and Beaverton, February 4 & 6
Michelle Cann
PORTLAND, OR — American pianist Michelle Cann, one of the most sought-after musicians of her generation, makes her Portland debut in a pair of solo recitals presented by Portland Piano International (PPI). As part of PPI's 2023 / 2024 Main Recital Series, she will perform on February 4 at Portland State University's Lincoln Performance Hall, followed by a recital at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton on February 6.
Lauded as a "pianist of sterling artistry" (Gramophone) who is "capable of transmitting in every note a surprising calm and beauty" (Ear Relevant), Cann has received acclaim from critics and audiences alike for her dynamic and sensitively nuanced performances. She has performed as a featured soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, and Cincinnati.
Cann has maintained an unwavering commitment to performing the music of underrepresented composers throughout her career. Recognized as a leading interpreter of the piano music of Florence Price, she performed the New York City premiere of the composer's Piano Concerto with The Dream Unfinished Orchestra in 2016, and her recording of the concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a Grammy Award in 2023. Her debut solo album, Revival, surveys works by Price and Margaret Bonds, and she has recorded two Price piano quintets with the Catalyst Quartet.
Embracing a dual role as performer and pedagogue, Cann is frequently invited to teach master classes, give lecture-demonstrations, and lead teaching residencies. She is currently the Curtis Institute of Music's inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies — a role she's held since 2020 — and a member of the piano faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.
Cann's programs for Portland Piano International are as follows.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, AT 4 PM
Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, AT 7:30 PM
The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, Beaverton
Grammy Award-winner Michelle Cann makes her PPI debut with a program exploring Chicago's Black Renaissance, a prolific period of artistic experimentation and community building that blossomed in the city's South Side during the Great Migration.
Focusing on six of the movement's women composers, Cann explores how each of these artists merged the romanticism of Brahms, Liszt, and the Schumanns with elements of Black musical idioms — including jazz, urban blues, gospel, and spirituals — to forge compelling musical worlds steeped in European tradition but quintessentially American in character.
FLORENCE PRICE
Fantasie nègre Nos. 1, 2, 4
MARGARET BONDS
Spiritual Suite
BETTY JACKSON KING
Four Seasonal Sketches
IRENE BRITTON SMITH
Variations on a Theme by MacDowell
NORA HOLT
Negro Dance, op. 25, no. 1
HAZEL SCOTT
Improvisation on Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-sharp Minor; Improvisation on Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
The 2023 / 2024 Main Recital Series
Curated by Boris Giltburg, PPI's 2023 / 2024 season of intimate piano recitals brings today's finest pianists to Portland for inspiring performances of treasured works and adventuresome new music.
Upcoming concerts this season include the following:
Filippo Gorini (January 7 & 9)
Michelle Cann (February 4 & 6)*
Eric Lu (May 5 & 7)*
* Denotes PPI debut
On curating PPI's new season, Mr. Giltburg commented:
"There are cities, venues, and concert series which stay in your heart long after your visit as a performer. Even when exact memories become flashbacks, a sense of great warmth remains, and a smile comes easily at the thought of eventually going back. Such for me is the Portland Piano International series. You can then imagine my excitement when I was approached and asked not just to return to the series, but to serve as your Guest Artistic Curator for the 2023 / 2024 season!
"Two traits unite all the pianists in our series this year: they are all poets of the keyboard in their unique way, and they all possess a wonderfully rich imagination. Brilliant or lyrical, their playing is always luminous and nuanced, clearly concerned with capturing shades of human emotions and sharing them with the audience."
Tickets and more information
Tickets for Michelle Cann's Portland and Beaverton recitals are available now at portlandpiano.org, where other details may be found — including the complete Main Recital Series season and program notes.
###
MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Eifert, 347.741.1913
jonathan.eifert@goldsoundmedia.com
HIGH-RES PHOTOS [DOWNLOAD]
PORTLAND PIANO INTERNATIONAL has presented more than 220 artists in recital and through outreach activities. Some of the greatest pianists in the world of music have played for Portland audiences because of this organization. While pianists have many opportunities to play the concerto repertoire, this is one of only a handful of recital series that remains devoted to the solo piano recital. Portland Piano International is a vital part of Portland's quality cultural life and it has consistently garnered praise from both the local and national media, heralded a "consistently brilliant Piano Recital Series" (Willamette Week) and "one of this city's musical treasures" (The Oregonian).