Oh, Summer Rhapsody! Two Grand Pianos, Two Grand Pianists: Mary Jane Austin & Alison Cerutti
Enjoy an exciting two-piano concert featuring a pair of Vermont's preeminent pianists. Mary Jane Austin and Alison Cerutti have been friends and colleagues for years, but never have they come together on the same stage--each on her own grand piano. This, lively, not to be missed performance will benefit the Mad River Chorale.
THE PROGRAM:
MOZART: Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448
This brilliant work, in three movements, stands as one of the masterpieces of the two-piano repertoire and showcases Mozart's genius for combining technical virtuosity with profound musical expression. This is Mozart's most famous composition for two pianos; it was written in 1781.
RAVEL: Mother Goose Suite
Ravel's "Ma mère l'Oye" (Mother Goose Suite) is a charming collection of five miniature pieces originally composed for piano in 1908-1910. Each of the five pieces lasts 1.5-4 minutes.
- Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty
- Little Tom Thumb
- Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas
- Conversations of Beauty and the Beast
- The Fairy Garden
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue
Rhapsody in Blue was groundbreaking as one of the first successful fusions of jazz and classical music. Rhapsody in Blue wasn't originally composed for two pianos, but the two-piano version adapts the orchestral parts for the second piano, allowing the piece to be performed without an orchestra while preserving much of its rich harmonic and rhythmic complexity.
MRC conductor Mary Jane Austin is enjoying a rich musical life in Vermont and abroad, where her interests range from recital work and full scale opera productions to teaching and choral conducting. She has been the conductor of the Mad River Chorale since 2018 after a long tenure as a collaborative pianist for the organization. Discovering a love for opera while studying with opera legends Claudia Pinza, Maurizio Arena, Enza Ferrari, and Warren Jones, she worked at the summer Italian opera program EPCASO as a repetiteur and coach from 1994-2016. Currently the principal keyboardist of the Vermont Symphony, in 2016 she was awarded the title of "Honorary Conductor" of that organization in recognition of her contribution to the Vermont musical scene. For over a decade she acted as assistant conductor, rehearsal pianist and chorus master for the Opera Company of Middlebury (OCM), and has collaborated with TURNmusic and Craftsbury Chamber Players. She co-founded Vermont Italian Opera with bass Erik Kroncke, and together they direct opera and operettas at the Unadilla Theatre every summer. She currently teaches at the University of Vermont, is the music director of the Vermont Youth Opera of OCM, has worked as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach at Dartmouth College and has conducted musicals at Middlebury College. She is the organist at the Waterbury Congregational Church, and serves as rehearsal pianist for the Vermont Symphony Chorus and South Burlington Community Chorus.
Alison Bruce Cerutti is a pianist based in Northfield, Vermont, who frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Vermont and Canada. She studied with Louis Moyse for eight years and accompanied his flute master classes in Vermont and France. Alison has appeared as a soloist with the Norwich University Band Company, the Burlington Civic Symphony Orchestra, and with the Vermont Philharmonic previously as a soloist and with her brother Daniel Bruce. Since 2004, Alison has performed with her friend and colleague, violist Elizabeth Reid as the Cerutti-Reid Duo. She can be heard on Elizabeth Reid’s new album of viola works by David Jaeger, titled Conjuring. Cerutti and Reid are also founding members of Arioso and the Northern Third Piano Quartet.
As one of Vermont’s busy collaborative pianists, Alison has also performed with the Mad River Chorale, the Winooski Valley Festival, All-State Music Festival, the Unadilla Theatre, Music-COMP, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Counterpoint, and TURNmusic, for Women of Aeronautics and in the 2015 production of A Fleeting Animal. In addition to the album Conjuring she appears in the soundtrack of Bess O’Brien’s documentary “All of Me,” playing the music of Erik Nielsen. She teaches students of all ages at her home in Northfield, where she lives with her musical family and two very critical cats.
