Thursday, February 21, 12:05 – 1:00 PM

Landmark Center, Courtroom 317
651–292–3267


Julia and Irina Elkina, piano duo

Souvenirs, Ballet Suite, Op.28 -- Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
    Waltz
    Schottische
    Pas de deux
    Two-Step
    Hesitation-Tango
    Galop
 
Two Pianos -- Morton Gould (1913-1996)
    Chords
    Blues
    Waltzes
    Echos
    Triplets

Taschyag -- Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947)

“I Got Rhythm”, Variations for Piano and Orchestra -- George Gershwin (1898-1937)
(Transcribed for two pianos by the Composer)

“Simply dazzling” is the way the American Record Guide has described the Elkina Piano Duo.  
 
Having played together since the age of five, Russian-born identical twins Julia and Irina Elkina are praised for their “truly remarkable oneness” by critics who also recognize that “each is a formidable pianist in her own right.”
 
The Elkina twins won the top prize in the Fourth Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition. They have performed throughout the United States, making their New York debut in 1996 and playing return engagements there and in San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Miami and New Orleans, just to name a few.
 
The twins have appeared at numerous festivals including Ravinia, the Gilmore Keyboard Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival and the Minnesota Orchestra’s Sommerfest, and have performed with such conductors as Hugh Wolff and Bobby McFerrin.
 
The Elkinas have been heard on the National Public Radio and many public radio stations nationwide including the award-winning weekly series Saint Paul Sunday and A Prairie Home Companion.

Irina and Julia have been praised for their collaboration with the acclaimed puppet production Petrouchka, which is scheduled for a much-awaited return engagement at New York’s Lincoln Center in 2008.