When Aviram Reichert won a medal in the 10th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997, ranking the young Israeli among the world's best pianists, his life became a whirlwind of international concert tours.
The concert he played at Grand Valley State University, however, stands out in his memory. This semester, Reichert returns to GVSU to again take the stage ¿ and to begin his new role as a member of the GVSU Music faculty.
A Cliburn winning year is extremely hectic ¿ we're talking about 100 concerts a year ¿ but this place I remember very, very well, said Reichert, sitting in his office in GVSU's Performing Arts Center in Allendale. It was a very good audience, very appreciative and warm.
Reichert moved from Tel Aviv to Grand Rapids to begin a full schedule of teaching this fall. He will open the semester with a performance on Thursday, September 13 , in the Louis Armstrong Theatre of the Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus. His recital begins at 8 p.m. and includes music by Schubert, Chopin, Scarlatti and Scriabin. It is open to the public free of charge.
As GVSU's emissary for the Van Cliburn event, Reichert will also introduce the winners of this year's Van Cliburn Competition, who will be featured in upcoming concerts at GVSU beginning in October (see below).
Van Cliburn Piano Competition featured on PBS in October
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, held every four years, is considered one of the most important music competitions in the world. This year's 11th Competition, held in June, stepped outside its usual categories by announcing two gold and two silver medalists. The four winners will be featured in concerts at GVSU beginning in October and continuing through 2002.
Audiences can sample the performances on television in a PBS
documentary on the 11th Van Cliburn Competition, directed by Emmy
Award-winner Peter Rosen and premiering across the nation in October.
The Cliburn: Playing on the Edge explores the personal lives
of the young pianists selected to go to Fort Worth, Texas, to perform
in the world's preeminent piano competition. It will be broadcast on
Michigan PBS stations on the following dates:
- WGVU-TV (Grand Rapids area) on Sunday, October 21, from 3:30-5 p.m.;
- WKAR-TV (East Lansing) on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 9:30 -11 p.m.;
- WTVS-TV (Detroit) on Sunday, October 21, from 4:30-6 p.m.
Van Cliburn Medalist Concert Series brings top performers to GVSU
Kicking off the 11th Van Cliburn Medalist Series at GVSU is Antonio Pompa-Baldi, 26-year-old silver medalist from Italy. Pompa-Baldi has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe and has recently joined the faculty at Oberlin Conservatory. He will give a performance at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30 , in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center.
Pompa-Baldi's performance will be followed by the other silver medalist in this year's competition: Moscow-born Maxim Philippov, performing on February 12, 2002 . Gold medal winners Stanislav Ioudenitch, from Uzbekistan, and Olga Kern, from Russia, will perform in concerts in Fall 2002. (Dates TBA.)
Tickets for the concerts are $30; $10 for students. For more information call (616) 895-3484.
Bronze medalist Reichert joins the faculty at GVSU
Reichert, who turns 30 in October, is well versed in the rigors of intense piano competition and concert touring. Only months before competing in the Van Cliburn event, Reichert was awarded the top prize at the first Dong-A International Piano Competition in Seoul, Korea. That, and earlier top awards at competitions in Japan and France led to extensive concert, recital and master class engagements in the Far East and Europe, as well as in his native country.
Winning a bronze medal at the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition, however, opened the door to tremendous opportunities, including performances throughout the United States.
The Van Cliburn is like no other competition in so many ways, Reichert said. You really are treated like a star. It's fantastic in that sense.
Reichert, the oldest of four children, began playing piano at the age of 5, but was not pushed to be a child prodigy. He said he had a pretty normal childhood, and I'm grateful for that.
I did my one hour [of practice] a day and then went downstairs to play basketball or soccer with my friends, he says. [The piano] was more of a serious hobby than anything else.
His musical skills were bolstered in an arts-oriented high school. At 18, however, he was faced with a life-changing choice. Like all Israeli youths, he prepared to serve his tour of duty in the Israel Defense Force ¿ three years without practice that would surely be a death sentence for any musical career, especially for piano, he said.
His talent was recognized, however, and Reichert was invited to audition for a special program that allows exceptional young musicians to continue their studies while serving in the army. He was one of only eight per year accepted into the program.
I felt that I was given an opportunity that a lot of my fellow musicians did not receive, he said. I think, subconsciously, it was the sign that I was looking for.
Reichert entered the Tel-Aviv Rubin Academy of Music, where he studied with Arie Vardi, a professor whose outstanding musicianship and deep involvement with his students serve as Reichert's role model for his new role at GVSU.
He said his connection to Michigan was strengthened through music engagements throughout the region, including Interlochen Arts Academy in 2000, the Chicago and Traverse City symphonies, and recitals in Grand Rapids, Flint and Kalamazoo. The offer to audition at GVSU last winter came at the right time, and meeting the Music Department faculty, many of whom are performing artists themselves, clinched the decision to join the university.
Reichert's performances can be heard on a Harmondia Mundi CD featuring highlights of his prize-winning solo performance at the Van Cliburn Competition, and on a self-titled Jerusalem Music Center CD featuring two Schubert sonatas. More information can be obtained from his Web site at www.aviramreichert.com.
