COMING SOON TO COMMON TONE RECORDS
FRENCH AND AMERICAN MUSIC FOR PIANO DUET
ASTA & DAINIUS VAIČEKONIS, piano
Asta and Dainius Vaičekonis lead an active concert life as piano duet, as well as solo pianists, collaborating and recording artists. As a piano duo they are celebrating their 25th anniversary. Asta and Dainius were the first pianists to perform in Benaroya's Nordstrom Recital Hall on Open House concert series in 1998. The Vaičekonises were soloists with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra. They presented recitals in University of Notre Dame - Indiana, Western Washington University, Seattle Pacific University, Music Works NW, Frey Museum, Seattle Asian Arts Museum, Bumbershoot Festival, Čiurlionis house-museum concerts series in Lithuania. Vaičekonis duo performed “Baltic Piano Music” and “Cultural Crossroads” recitals at the University of Washington, “French Piano Duet Music” in Shoreline CC Piano Series, “American Piano Duet Music” in Resonance Hall at Soma Towers, Bartok’s Sonata for Two pianos and Percussion at Music Works Northwest and Shoreline CC, “Triple Piano Espresso” for four and six hands at Seattle Public Library, “Keyboard Confections” in Twisp, WA, “Double the Icelandic Fun” at the Mostly Nordic series at the Nordic Heritage Museum, livestream recital “20th Century Popular Music for Two Pianos” during Covid pandemic. Their project “Music for Two Pianos by Living Composers of Israel, US and Lithuania” was presented in schools of Israel - Jerusalem Academy of Music, Beer Sheva Conservatory, and the Levinsky Pedagogical College in Tel Aviv. They also collaborated with Chamber Dance Company at the University of Washington.
FRENCH MUSIC PROGRAM
String Quartet in G minor Op.10 arranged for piano four hands by A. Benfeld, by Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
1. I. Animé et très décidé
2. II. Assez vif et bien rythmé
3. III. Andantino, doucement expressif
4. IV. Très modéré – En animant peu à peu – Très mouvementé et avec passion
Souvenirs de Munich (1887) by Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
Quadrille for piano four hands on the popular themes from “Tristan and Isolde”
5. Pantalon
6. Eté
7. Poule
8. Pastourelle
9. Galop
Sonata for Piano, Four Hands (1918) by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
10. I. Prélude. Modéré
11. II. Rustique. Naif et lent
12. III. Final. Très vite
Spanish Rhapsody (1908) by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
13. I. Prélude à la nuit. Très modéré
14. II. Malagueña. Assez vif
15. III. Habanera. Assez lent et d'un rythme las
16. IV. Feria. Assez animé
Asta and Dainius Vaičekonis, piano
Recorded in 2004 in Shoreline Community College, Seattle, WA
Mastered by Ron Haight
AMERICAN PIANO DUET PROGRAM
Three Poems Op. 20 (1885) for piano four hands by Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)
1. Night by the sea
2. A tale from knightly times
3. Ballad
Summer Dreams op. 47 (1901) for piano four hands by Amy Marcy Beach (1867-1944)
4. The Brownies
5. Robin Redbreast
6. Twilight
7. Katy-dids
8. Elfin Tarantelle
9. Good Night
A Suite from the Cloud Forest for Piano Duet (1996) Eric Ewazen (1954- )
10. The Resplendent Quetzel
11. Gumbo Limbo
12. Poor Man’s Umbrella
13. Kiskadee
Souvenirs op. 28, (1952) ballet suite for piano four hands by Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
14. Waltz
15. Schottische
16. Pas de deux
17. Two-Step
18. Hesitation-Tango
19. Galop
Bridal Suite (1960) by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
20. Part I: Prelude (on familiar tunes)
Three Variations on the Names Adolph Phyllis Green:
Love Song, Chaplinesque and Chaplinade
Part II: Interlude: Bell, Book and Rabbi
Three Wedding Dances: The First Waltz, Cha-Cha-Cha and Hora
Three Encores, Obligatory
Modern Music, An Argument,
Old Music, A Reconciliation
Magyar Lullaby
21. “Wizard of Oz Fantasy” for piano four hands by William Hirtz (1958-)
Asta and Dainius Vaičekonis, piano
Recorded in 2019 in Nickerson Studios, Seattle Pacific University
Mastered by Ron Haight