Quattro Mani
"Quattro Mani proved itself fearless and equal to every challenge."
—The Boston Globe, November 2017
UPCOMING CONCERTS
September 12 - Colorado College – Packard Hall – 7:00pm
September 21 – UMass, Amherst – Bezanson Recital Hall – 7:30pm
September 22 - Brandeis University – Slosberg Recital Hall – 7:30pm
Concert includes En blanc et noir, Debussy; Otherworldly Resonances, Crumb; Sonata, Walker; Figures de Resonances, Dutilleux;
Tango; The Journey (CC only), Ben-Amots; Rounding the Keys (UMass & Brandeis), Chasalow; Seven Pieces from Mikrokosmos, Bartok
September 23 – Lehigh University, Baker Hall at Zoellner Center – 7:30pm
Pop Quizzes, Paul Salerni
Quattro Mani sample programs and repertoire
Quattro Mani Recordings on Bridge
QUATTRO MANI BIO
Susan Grace and Steven Beck form one of the most dynamic piano duos before today’s concert-going public. Giorgio Koukl’s EarRelevant review of their latest CD, Hallelujah Junction says “..their incredible array of capacities is strong enough to place them precisely on the top of the piano duos of today.” Fanfare’s Robert Carl writes that “Quattro Mani is one of the most enduring and leading keyboard duos anywhere” and the Boston Globe printed “Quattro Mani proved itself fearless and equal to every challenge.” The duos performances and recordings, as well as their collaborations with important composers of our time has led to numerous dedications and premieres of new repertoire, including works by George Crumb, Paul Lansky, Tod Machover, Poul Ruders, Tania León, Paul Moravec, Michael Daugherty, Ofer Ben-Amots and Fred Lerdahl. QM’s recent CDs, Hallelujah Junction, featuring new works by American and European composers, and Inner Life dedicated to Quattro Mani by Fred Lerdahl, have been released to widespread critical acclaim. Other discs include Lounge Lizards, featuring composer Michael Daugherty, Restructures featuring Tod Machover, and a CD of Stefan Wolpe’s works for two pianos among others.
Following Quattro Mani’s premiere of Paul Lansky's double concerto, Shapeshifters and Fitkin’s Circuit with the Austin Symphony, the Austin Chronicle cited their orchestra's performance with Quattro Mani as one of the Top 10 Classical Treasures. Recent QM performances include the Alabama Symphony, Colorado College Intermezzo Series and Summer Music Festival, Colorado Symphony Drum Show, as well as Subculture, Bargemusic, National Sawdust, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall, all in NY, La Labortoire Cambridge, and Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. This fall you can hear them at Brandeis University, University of Massachusetts – Amherst and Lehigh University. Quattro Mani records for and is managed by Bridge Records.
Grammy nominated pianist and Steinway Artist, SUSAN GRACE has performed solo and chamber recitals in the United States, Europe, the former Soviet Union, Korea, India and China. She has also performed in the Aspekte Festival in Salzburg, St Paul Chamber Orchestra’s new-music series Engine 408, Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Grand Teton Festival, the Cape Cod MusicFestival, Festival Mozaic, Concordia Chamber Players, Music at Oxford, and the Helmsley Festival in England.
Grace’s recording on the Bridge label of Stefan Wolpe’s violin and piano music was listed in the London Sunday Times as one of the top 10 contemporary recordings and was also included on the Fanfare “Critics Want List”. Other recordings can be found on Albany, Klavier and Nova.
Grace is associate chair, artist-in-residence, and senior lecturer in music at Colorado College. She is also music director of the renowned Colorado College Summer Music Festival, now in its 40th season. She was awarded the Christine S. Johnson Professorship of Music at Colorado College and the city of Colorado Springs presented Grace with the Spirit of the Springs award for her work with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. Colorado College Alumni Association awarded her the Gresham Riley Award in 2020 for her contribution to the life of the college and in 2023 she received the Colorado College President’s Leadership award.
A New York concert by pianist STEVEN BECK was described as “exemplary” and “deeply satisfying” by Anthony Tommasini in the New York Times. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where his teachers were Seymour Lipkin, Peter Serkin and Bruce Brubaker.
Beck made his concerto debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, and has toured Japan as soloist with the New York Symphonic Ensemble. His annual Christmas Eve performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Bargemusic has become a New York institution. He has also performed as soloist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, and Miller Theater, as well as on WNYC; summer appearances have been at the Aspen Music Festival and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. He has performed as a musician with the New York City Ballet and the Mark Morris Dance Group, and as an orchestral musician he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and Orpheus.
Beck is an experienced performer of new music, having worked with Elliott Carter, Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, Charles Wuorinen, George Crumb, George Perle, and Fred Lerdahl. He is a member of the Knights, the Talea Ensemble, Quattro Mani, and the Da Capo Chamber Players. His discography includes George Walker’s piano sonatas, for Bridge Records, and Elliott Carter’s “Double Concerto” on Albany Records. He is a Steinway Artist, and is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as well as the Colorado College Summer Music Festival and the Sewanee Music Center.
More information about Steven Beck can be found at his website, stevenbeckpiano.com.
