Nickle Family Foundation Piano Concert Series 2022

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PROARTS @NOON CONCERTS PRESENTS

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What: Nickle Family Foundation Piano Concert Series 2022
Where: Cathedral Church (corner of 7 Ave and 1 Street SE)
When:   Various Wednesdays – February 09 through to October 19, 2022
Tickets:  Free to the public

The ProArts@Noon Concert Series is pleased to announce a unique series of five piano concerts featuring diverse and emerging performing artists.

The Nickle Family Foundation awarded Calgary’s ProArts Society funding to undertake the Piano Concert series, which will feature a diverse selection of local pianists performing a variety of artistic genres.

This special series will be part of the ProArts@Noon weekly schedule of Wednesday concerts.

There’s nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself. – Johann Sebastian Bach

Now in its twentieth season, the ProArts@Noon Concert Series is a free, noon hour concert series presented by the ProArts Society, who rent the historic Cathedral Church in the heart of Calgary’s Cultural District for their weekly concerts.

The 2022 Nickle Family Foundation Piano Concert Series:

1. February 09 Jani Parsons, classical piano
2. May 18 Scott MacIsaac, classical piano
3. August 03 Chris Maric, contemporary piano
4. August 24 Mark Limacher, contemporary piano                      
5. October 19 Derek Chiu, classical piano

Artist Biographies

Jani Parsons, piano  February 09, 2022

Praised for her “combination of tenderness and vivacious energy” (San Francisco Chronical) and “sheer virtuosity” (LA Splash), Canadian pianist Jani Parsons has established herself as a musician of warmth, brilliance, versatility, and vivid expression. An active soloist and chamber musician, Jani is a founding member and executive director of Latitude 49, a mixed chamber ensemble recently in residence at Princeton University and the pianist of the Aurora Trio with violinist Timothy Steeves and cellist Max Geissler. Jani  joined the faculty at the University of Calgary as the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Piano and head of the piano program in 2021.

Scott MacIsaac, classical piano  May 18, 2022

Hailed as a pianist with “brio and imagination” (The New York Times), possessing “natural grace and refinement” (Calgary Herald) as well as “speed, clarity, breath and musicality” (La Presse, Montreal), Canadian pianist Scott MacIsaac has performed as a soloist throughout North America, Asia, and in much of Western Europe. Scott holds a Certificate in Performance and a Masters of Music degree from Yale University, where he studied under full scholarship with Boris Berman and Peter Frankl. While a student at Yale University, he won their Prokofiev Competition and made his Carnegie Hall debut performing in Weill Recital Hall.

Chris Maric, contemporary piano  August 03, 2022

Chris Maric is a multi-instrumentalist known for his unique and energetic musical style. As a performer, composer and producer, he has worked with a vast array of artists and organizations, spanning multiple genres. His music stylings persistently flirt with genius, yet somehow always recklessly stumble back into depths of unbridled passion. This piano performance will showcase some of Maric’s original classical and jazz compositions, which have rarely been performed live before.

Mark Limacher, contemporary piano  August 24, 2022

Mark Limacher is a composer, improviser, arranger, and genre-crossing pianist currently based in Calgary, Canada. He is a graduate of New School University in New York City, and has studied privately with composers Linda Catlin Smith (Toronto) and Laurence Crane (London, UK). In 2013 he served as apprentice to composer Bunita Marcus in Brooklyn, NY. His compositions focus on small gestures and contemplative textures, his work manifesting most frequently in the guise of solo instruments and chamber ensembles. In 2022 he was invited to be an Artist in Residence for the Festival of the Sound’s Music Scores 2022, featured by the National Arts Centre as part of their Music Alive program.

Derek Chiu, classical piano  October 19, 2022

Canadian pianist and piano pedagogue Derek Zhi Guang Chiu enjoys an active professional career.  A three-time recipient of Steinway & Sons Top Piano Teacher Award in Calgary (2016, 2018 & 2020) enjoys a successful international career as a performer, music educator, clinician, adjudicator and music consultant.  As a performer, Chiu has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. Most recently he has performed at Biola University, California State University – Northridge, Showcase Pianos in Vancouver, Bishop’s University, University of Lethbridge and the University of Regina.