Four Hands at One Piano
The Methodist Church will echo with piano selections by Sullivan, Beethoven, O’Hearn, Lambert, and Busch during “An Evening with Music for Four Hands at One Piano,” performed by the Busch-Bawtree Duo on Monday, August 25, in the main sanctuary at 6:30 p.m.
Piano for Four Hands originated in the 18th century and has evolved from parlor entertainment into a genre of its own. “There is a great deal of visual appeal in Four Hand, with hands moving like mad,” said Richard Busch, a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. Busch is a composer, pianist, choral conductor, and teach. For eleven years he was director of music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Nantucket. It was during his tenure there that he first met Englishman Michael Bawtree, who was on tour with the St. Edmundsbury Cathedral Choir from Suffolk, England, where Bawtree was assistant organist.
As a result of that meeting, the Busch-Bawtree collaboration began, and since August of 2002, the duo has performed on numerous occasions throughout Europe and the United States.
Born in Devon, England in 1975, Bawtree was an organ scholar at Christ’s Church, Cambridge and a prizewinner in the exams for Fellowship at the Royal College of Organists. he has recently completed his post-graduate studies in orchestral conducting at the Royal Scottish Music Academy. Solo organ recital engagements have taken Michael ot more than 20 British cathedrals, as well as to Bermuda, California, and Denmark.
The program will include works by composers such as Sir Arthur Sullivan and Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as some lesser-known composers including America’s Arletta O’Hearn, Britain’s witty Constant Lambert, and the romantic York Bowen. The duo will also play some compositions by Richard Busch. “In preparing for this concert, we’ve tried to keep it serious and yet light.” The duo will perform on the Steinway living room grand piano, a prized possession of the Nantucket Methodist Church. Bawtree will also perform a selection on the newly restored 1937 Appleton organ, the centerpiece of the Methodist Church sanctuary.
Tickets, available at the door the evening of performance are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.
