Three previous Virginia Waring winners returned to the McCallum Theatre Nov. 14 to entertain the audience with arrangements that exhibited their award-winning skills while playing on two or three pianos simultaneously.
The unique performance featured 2013 Carnegie-Weill Hall Solo Winner Scott Cellular, 2011 Intermediate Bayless Prize winner Evan Lin, and 2007 2nd place Solo Winner Vijay Vanketesh. This one-of-a-kind presentation was conceived by concert pianist John Bayless and award-winning record producer Michael Rolland Davis, both members of the Board of The Virginia Waring International Piano Competition (also known as “The Waring”).
Mitch Gershenfeld, CEO/president of the McCallum; Sandra Woodson, newly installed president of The Waring; and CEO Peggy Cravens welcomed the guests to the special performance.
The evening’s selections included Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, arranged for three pianos; highlights from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, arranged for two pianos; and highlights from Mozart’s Magic Flute, arranged for three pianos. John Bayless opened the second act and debuted two new crossover pieces: “Somewhere” from West Side Story, in honor of what would have been his good friend Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday, and “Fascinating Rhythm” by George Gershwin.
The trio of Waring winners ended the evening with a series of holiday pieces that included works by Leroy Anderson, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and George Gershwin, arranged by John Bayliss for three pianos.
