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Have you been practicing your scales and arpeggios? The annual Lancaster International Piano Festival (LIPF) will be held at Millersville’s Ware Center and the Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center July 18-27.
This 10-day program is designed for aspiring musicians, teachers, amateurs and lovers of music. This year, 60 participants from 12 countries will receive instruction and watch performances by world class pianists. The international artists this year are Santiago Rodriguez, Claire Huangci, Raffaele Terlizzi, John O’Conor and Andrey Kasparov. The public can purchase tickets to seven different performances.
“For international students visiting the U.S. for the first time, Lancaster is a wonderful “lens” through which they can view America. It’s filled with optimistic, hard-working, caring people who support the arts and have the sophistication to understand and love great music,” said Libby Sternberg, member of the LIPF Board of Directors. “Audiences are very appreciative of students and professionals alike who perform in the festival and the LIPF tries to show its gratitude for this support through a series of free programs at various sites in the region. Lancaster is also conveniently located for other touring opportunities, such as the trip to Washington D.C. the festival arranges for students.”
Throughout the festival, participants will be enjoying masterclasses by the international guest artists, lectures and one-on-one lessons from the world class pianists. Each night, they will watch a performance by their instructors at the Ware Center. The performances are open to the public.
In addition to the dynamic learning experience for the participants, there is also an in-house competition. The top three winners will get the opportunity to play a pre-concert at the opening concert of the Washington International Piano Festival at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. on July 26. The participants will also visit the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery of Art on the trip to Washington, D.C.
Millersville University is a sponsor of the festival, as the participants will be receiving instruction in the state-of-the-art Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center and performing and spectating in the Ware Center located in downtown Lancaster. Dr. Xun Pan, instructor of music at MU, is the artistic director of the festival and has worked to build the reputation of the festival in a short amount of time.
According to Boris Berman, the chairman of Yale University’s piano department, “The Lancaster International Piano Festival is destined to become one of the best piano festivals in America.”
The LIPF is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to the performance and teaching of classical music at the highest standard. For more information on the festival concerts, please visit www.lancasterpianofest.com. Tickets are available at https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?t=tix&w=c0f8a3a6c1ea41cdf4746ba5541981a5.
