GOLD-MEDAL-WINNING PIANISTS RALPH VOTAPEK AND JON NAKAMATSU PERFORM

Posted: Feb. 3, 2010

2009–10 Virginia G. Piper Concert Series:

Ralph Votapek
Feb. 21, 2010, Sunday @ 7:30 p.m.

Jon Nakamatsu
March 7, 2010, Sunday @ 7:30 p.m.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
The NEW Virginia G. Piper Theater

(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) – Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present pianists Ralph Votapek on Sunday, Feb. 21, and Jon Nakamatsu on Sunday, March 7, in its new, state-of-the-art Virginia G. Piper Theater. The concerts are made possible by the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust.

Tickets are available for $24 online at www.ScottsdalePerformingArts.org or through the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ patron services box office at (480) 994-ARTS (2787). A limited number of box seats also are available for $20.

The 2009–10 Virginia G. Piper Concert Series features a season of gold medalists from the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which takes place every four years in Fort Worth, Texas. Ralph Votapek won the gold medal at the first Cliburn Competition in 1962 and is a winner of the Naumberg International Piano Competition. His compelling keyboard style embodies the best in 20th-century piano traditions, combining the fire, poetry and tonal warmth of the grand-manner prewar era with the modern-day virtues of fastidious clarity and electrifying rhythmic flair.

Votapek will perform Scarlatti’s Sonata in E major, L. 257, and Sonata in D major, L. 461; Schubert’s Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960; Albeniz’ Iberia, Book I; and Ravel’s La Valse; Kapustin’s Variations, Op. 41.

One of the most sought-after pianists of his generation, Jon Nakamatsu is known for his deeply probing and illuminating musicality as well as a quietly charismatic performing style. The gold medalist at the 10th Cliburn Competition in 1997, he is a frequent concerto soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and solo recitalist throughout the United States, Europe and Japan.

Nakamatsu will perform Clementi’s Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 5; Schumann’s Papillons, Op. 2; Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor "Quasi una fantasia," Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight Sonata"); and Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58.

LOCATION AND PARKING
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is located at 7380 E. Second St. in downtown Scottsdale, four blocks south of Indian School Road and three blocks east of Scottsdale Road. Free parking is available in the public parking garage located to the west of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and directly behind Los Olivos restaurant on Wells Fargo Avenue. Additional free parking is available at the Old Town Parking Corral at East Second Street and Brown Avenue and at the Civic Center Library parking garage located on Drinkwater Boulevard at East Second Street.

ACCESSIBILITY
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts offers performance accommodations to enhance audience members’ experience, including: American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation or live-audio description with two weeks advance notice. Assisted-listening devices and wheelchair seating are always available. Visit the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Web site at www.ScottsdalePerformingArts.org or contact the patron services box office at (480) 994-ARTS ext. 2 [TDD: (480) 874-4694] for further details. Please inquire about services when ordering tickets.

GROUP AND STUDENT DISCOUNTS
Attend with family and friends, or bring a group from your business, civic or religious organization. Save $3 per ticket and at least $30 in handling fees when purchasing 15 or more tickets to the same event (subject to availability; some restrictions apply). Instead of $2.50 per single ticket, the handling fee is only $7.50 total for group orders. Full-time students may purchase half-price tickets one hour before events/performances (subject to availability; limit one single ticket per full-time student; some restrictions apply). Must present current valid student I.D. in person at the patron services box office. No phone orders.

SCOTTSDALE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Opened in 1975, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts presents a dynamic, culturally diverse season of dance, jazz, classical and world music, theater and satire. Approximately 2,000 performances, educational programs, festivals and other events are showcased annually serving more than 300,000 people and contributing substantially to Scottsdale’s high quality of life and vibrant arts scene. Performances take place in the Center’s newly renovated 848-seat Virginia G. Piper Theater and 137-seat Stage 2 as well as the 2,000-seat amphitheater on the grounds of the Scottsdale Civic Center. The Center’s youth education and outreach programs reach more than 50,000 school children each year, and its free events are available to the entire public. The Center also produces the award-winning Scottsdale Arts Festival every March; Sunday A’Fair, a series of free outdoor music festivals held on Sunday afternoons from January to April; and Native Trails, a collaboration with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau that features free demonstrations of Native American arts and culture from January to April. Open daily and during performances, The Store @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts offers hand-crafted jewelry, accessories for the home, imaginative toys, recordings, books, greeting cards and more.

The Scottsdale Cultural Council, a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is contracted by the City of Scottsdale, Ariz., to administer certain City arts and cultural projects and to manage the City-owned Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Scottsdale Public Art Program. The programs of the Scottsdale Cultural Council are made possible, in part, by the support of members and donors and grants received from the Arizona Commission on the Arts through appropriations from the Arizona State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

HOW TO REACH US
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
7380 E. Second St.
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Box Office: (480) 994-ARTS (2787) ext. 2
TDD: (480) 874-4694
Web: www.ScottsdalePerformingArts.org
E-mail: info@sccarts.org
Fax: (480) 874-4699

MEDIA CONTACT
Bill Thompson
Public Relations Manager
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Phone: (480) 874-4626
E-mail: billt@sccarts.org