Sarah Davis Buechner and Raffi Besalyan Present Duo-Piano Tribute To Busoni and Rachmaninov November 21, 2006

Acclaimed pianists Sarah Davis Buechner and Raffi Besalyan will present a unique program of works by Ferruccio Busoni and Sergei Rachmaninoff at Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. The program will include:

Busoni: Improvisation on Bach's Chorale – “Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seele”
Busoni: Fantasia Contrappuntistica – Chorale Variations on “Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe” with completion to Bach's “Die Kunst der Fuge”
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances op. 45
Eugène Ysaÿe: Sonata no. 3 in D minor for Solo Violin, “Ballade”
Sara Davis Buechner has been celebrated as a pianist of noteworthy accomplishment, virtuosic mastery, artistic sensitivity and extraordinary versatility. A major prizewinner of many of the world's most prestigious international piano competitions - Reine Elisabeth of Belgium, Leeds, Salzburg, Sydney and Vienna – she established her early career by winning the Gold Medal of the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah, and as a Bronze Medalist of the 1986 Tschaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow.

With an active repertoire of nearly 100 piano concertos, she has appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Saint Louis and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras; and abroad with the Japan Philharmonic, City of Birmingham (U.K.) Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Philharmonic, among others.

The Armenian-born pianist Raffi Besalyan has been a top prizewinner in national and international piano competitions, including the MTNA National Piano Competition, the Josef Hofmann International Competition, and the New York Frinna Awerbuch International Competition. As a winner of the Artists International Competition he was presented in his New York debut in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 2003 receiving highest acclaim from the audience and the press. Mr. Besalyan was subsequently invited to perform at Merkin Concert Hall on the Artists International “Outstanding Alumni-Winners” series in April 2005.

Admission is free of charge.