In celebration of Juneteenth, EXTENSITY presents: Beethoven X Walker: Piano Sonatas. EXTENSITY Concert Series Benefit.
This special benefit concert pairs the monumental, late piano sonatas No. 30 Op. 109 and No. 31 Op. 110 by L. van Beethoven, with the masterful, yet rarely heard piano sonatas No. 2 and No. 4 by pioneering 20th century Black American composer George Walker. Co-founders Francesca Khalifa and Chelsea Randall will perform.
Proceeds will go toward funding Analogs, the inaugural season of EXTENSITY Concert Series, taking place June 12-July 31, 2021, at Uncommonly Studio. Help EXTENSITY support and platform the work of underrepresented artists and art!
The concert will be followed by a festive reception and meet and greet with the artists.
Check out our special VIP packages for some fantastic perks!
PROGRAM
L. van Beethoven
Sonata No. 30 Op. 109 in E Major (1820)
-Vivace, ma non troppo -Adagio espressivo
-Prestissimo
-Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung. Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo
L. van Beethoven
Sonata No. 31 Op. 110 in A Flat Major (1821)
-Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
-Allegro molto
-Adagio ma non troppo
Francesca Khalifa, piano
George Walker
Sonata No. 2 (1956)
-I. Adagio non troppo
-II. Presto
-III. Adagio
-IV. Allegretto tranquillo
George Walker
Sonata No. 4 (1984)
-I. Maestoso
-II. Tranquillo
Chelsea Randall, piano
The Italian-Egyptian pianist Francesca Khalifa was the winner of the Ferrara International Piano Festival in 2014, awarded by renowned pianist and musicologist Paul Badura-Skoda. Highlights of her recent concertizing activity include solo concerts in China, Cuba, Colombia and in the United States, as well as performances as soloist with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra (Egypt) and the Orchestra Filarmonica E. Pozzoli (Italy), the Guido d’Arezzo Symphonic Orchestra (Italy), the Oosterkerk Festival Chamber Orchestra (The Netherlands) and the MET Opera Orchestra string quartet in the realization of Mozart piano concertos (New York City). In May 2020, the artist was awarded a sponsorship by recording label Orpheus Classical for the production and distribution of her first album A Legacy, which will be released in Summer 2021.
Francesca is the founder and artistic director of the Beethoven Fest New York City, a fiscally sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her mentors are the Cuban pianist and pedagogue German Diez (1924-2014) and pianist Ena Bronstein-Barton, both former pupils of Claudio Arrau. Her research on German Diez is at the base of the documentary Piano Lessons, directed by Antongiulio Panizzi and produced by Moving Garden. The project has obtained the official endorsement of the American Liszt Society and will be released in August 2021.
Chelsea Randall is a pianist and collaborator based in New York City. A dedicated advocate of underrepresented composers and new music, she seeks to create dialogues between the old, new and undiscovered as a performer. Chelsea has concertized at venues including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Steinway Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, The Kaufmann Center, The Princeton Club, Yamaha Piano Salon, Mannes School of Music, Saint Peters Church, Hammersmith in London, Clare College at Cambridge University, and Théâtre Adyar in Paris. She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at the Pacific, Colby, Orvieto and Salluzo festivals, among others. Chelsea is the recipient of performance and research grants from Scuola Alto Perfezionamento Musicale in Italy, the Allegro Festival, Conservatoire de Paris, and recently, Live From Our Living Rooms in partnership with Music Talks, which culminated in a livestream performance.
Chelsea received her musical education from New York University, the Royal College of Music in London and The Juilliard School. She also holds a degree in English from The Gallatin School of Individualized Study, NYU. Her teachers and mentors included Neil Immelman, Herbert Stessin and Anthony di Bonaventura.