Igor Levit Is Coming to Seattle
On Feb. 10th Igor Levit will play in Seattle at the Meany Hall for the Performing Arts, located on the University of Washington Seattle Campus. This will be his first showing in Seattle.
Igor Levit is a Russian-German pianist who is known as one of the best new generation artists. That means that he is one of the newest generation of classical pianists who have made a noticeable impact in the world of musical arts. Igor has performed across the world and has won multiple awards, spanning from second prize at the International Maria Callas to first prize at the International Piano Academy. The New York Times has described him as “a major new pianist.” And Lawrence K. Ho, from The Los Angeles Times has described him as a “born pianist with unlimited capacity.”
Igor began to play the piano at age three and had his first major concert in his home town of Nizhny Novgorod located in Russia. Since then he has studied piano and completed his piano studies at Hannover Academy of Music, Theater, and Media, located in Germany, in 2009 with the highest scores seen within the school. Igor has studied under professionals such as Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Matti Raekallio, Bernd Goetze, Lajos Rovatkay, and Hans Leygraf, all of which are talented artists, and some of whom have taught at the academy Igor studied at.
In 2005, Igor Levit participated in Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv as the youngest participant. He won the silver prize for Best Performer of Chamber Music, the Audience Favorite prize, and the prize for Best Performer of Contemporary Music.
The Classical age was such an important milestone in the history of music. Back in medieval times, music was primarily found in churches. As such, the use of music outside of the churches was limited. The invention of different instruments, primarily the piano, helped change that. With the ability to now enjoy music outside of churches, there was more creativity and music being used more publicly. This led to the creation of concert halls for the public’s enjoyment. This era also introduced historical figures in music such as Beethoven and Mozart who are famous for their roles in popularizing music. Sadly, as new forms of music began to be discovered, music from the Classical era were beginning to lose their popularity. It wasn’t until the introduction of genres such as jazz and the blues that classical music faded into obscurity.
Learning about history is an important factor in preparing for the future. Igor Levit is giving us a glimpse of that past with this concert, and the University of Washington is willing to help. This is important for us students, because music plays a huge role in all of our lives. It helps us with studying and just winding down from a stressful day.
During the program on Feb. 10th, Igor will be playing pieces from Bach, Schubert, Beethoven, and Prokofiev. There are limited number of seats so purchase them as soon as you can. Hope to see you there!
The Feb. 10th show begins at 7:30 pm
Purchase tickets at: artsuw.org
Ticket prices are $41-$46, depending on seating.
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