Music

The Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre is preparing for piano spectacular of rarely seen magnitude. On 18 August the majestic Concert Hall stage will hold not one, not two or three – but EIGHT - grand pianos.

‘Eight Grands’ is helmed by some of Australia’s most acclaimed musicians, this is a rare treat, and a marvellous opportunity to showcase part of The Joan’s impressive collection of 33 pianos. The collection includes eight grands of various sizes - the showpiece being the “Rolls Royce of pianos”, the Imperial Bösendorfer, handcrafted in Austria, and the largest of all concert grand pianos, favoured by artists world-wide, both classical and contemporary, including musicians such as Tori Amos.

Musical Director and ARIA award-winning pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska brings together some of Australia’s most acclaimed pianists- Ian Munro, Michael Kieran Harvey, Stephanie McCallum, Neal Peres da Costa, Gabriella Smart, and Valerie Forbes-Mavridis and Elena Kats-Chernin - for this thrilling once-in-a-lifetime event, with music by Bach, Mozart, Liszt, Elena Kats-Chernin and Andrew Ford.

The Joan’s Music Producer, Valda Silvy, has been building toward this moment, after programming the sell-out Six Grands concert in 2015; as well as commissioning La Stupenda, an operatic event in Dame Joan Sutherland’s memory, created by Elena Kats-Chernin and performed by a host of national and international talent.

The team at The Joan will be working around the clock in the lead-up to the performance, ensuring the monumental list of logistics are checked off, including hours of painstaking tuning once the pianos are in place. The stage has been triple-checked to ensure it can take the combined weight of eight grand pianos – a total of over 3200 kilograms. The eight pianos are worth a grand total of over half a million dollars - but they will create a priceless experience for ticket holders, with a program that reads like classical music’s greatest hits for a passionate – and lucky - audience.

Eight Grands: an orchestra of pianos

@ The Joan on Saturday 18 August, 7.30pm

Tickets: standard $75, Concession $70, Under 30s $30 - available from thejoan.com.au in person at the Box Office or call 4723 7600.

http://thejoan.com.au/whats-on/eight-grands/

Pic: Eight Grand will be treating listeners to some of the finest pianists from around Australia. Including the acclaimed, Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Ian Munro, Michael Kieran Harvey, Stephanie McCallum, Neal Peres da Costa, Gabriella Smart, and Valerie Forbes-Mavridis and Elena Kats-Chernin.