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Piano Legend Gary Graffman and the Dover Quartet to Perform at Keneseth Israel

Gary Graffman and Dover Quartet at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, 8339 Old York Rd., Elkins Park, Dec. 6 at 7:45PM. 215.887.8700

Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel Music Arts Committee presents The Community Family Concert Series on Saturday evening, December 6 at KI, 8339 Old York Rd, Elkins Park at 7:45 PM. World class piano legend, Gary Graffman and the Dover String Quartet perform Korngold’s Suite for Two Violins, Cello and Piano Left Hand; the Dover Quartet will also perform Dvorak’s Quartet in C Major, Op. 61.

Mr. Graffman, who as a child prodigy entered The Curtis Institute of Music at age 7, and began his concert career at 11 at Carnegie Hall, was in the top tier of world class pianists, playing with the world’s greatest orchestras as featured soloist, with whom he recorded many Columbia Masterworks and RCA Victor best selling records. At age 50, at the height of his career, Mr. Graffman suffered an injury to his right hand which resulted in his inability to continue his career. During a year of intense work and study, Mr. Graffman wrote a best selling book (I Really Should Be Practicing), taught piano students at Curtis, and learned the entire recital and concerto repertoire for the piano left hand which had been commissioned by pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm during World War I. Among the composers who wrote for Wittgenstein were Ravel, Debussy, Prokofiev, Britten, Schmidt, and Korngold. Wittgenstein, complaining that they were too difficult to play, did not perform the works; Mr. Graffman continues to perform them all over the world.

In addition to performing, Mr. Graffman continues to teach at Curtis (where he was Director/President from 1986-2006). Among his celebrated students are: Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Ignat Sozhenitsyn, Di Wu, Haochen Zhang, and many more.

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The Dover Quartet, comprised of Bryan Lee violin, Joel Link violin Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt viola, and Camden Shaw cello, all Curtis alumni 25 years of age, have already won every major string quartet competition they have entered: they swept first prizes for all categories at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Fischoff International Competition, and the Wigmore Hall Competition. The Strad raved that the Quartet is “already pulling away from their peers with their exceptional interpretive maturity, tonal refinement and taut ensemble.”

The concert is preceded by a dinner, for which reservations are required by Dec. 3. Concert tickets are $45 for adults, students 23 and under are FREE. Dinner tickets are $15 each. More information: 215-887-8700 or www.kenesethisrael.org

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