The Gershwin Piano Quartet sheds new light on the music of George Gershwin. It features four pianists on four grand pianos, playing, arranging and improvising on some of Gershwin’s most popular songs and orchestral works, such as Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, Porgy and Bess and I Got Rhythm. The originals are rescored for the unfamiliar combination of four pianos by the members of the quartet themselves and make for a novel and exciting listening and viewing experience.

 

 

In its new programme, the quartet does not limit itself solely to the music of Gershwin but also includes important works by some of Gershwin’s contemporaries, namely Ravel’s La Valse and Bernstein’s West Side Story. In this way, the many cross-references between the old world and the new, between classical music and jazz, classical ballet and Broadway theatre, become apparent, thus creating a lively and highly virtuosic concert evening.

 

 

The Gershwin Piano Quartet was founded by André Desponds in 1996 and has presented its programme in Europe, South America, China and the Middle East with great success and to broad critical acclaim. Some of the places where the Quartet has performed include the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Tonhalle Zurich, the Musikfest Stuttgart, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the National Palace of Culture Sofia, the Oriental Art Centre Shanghai, the NCPA Beijing and the Sala São Paulo.

 

Pianist: Mischa Cheung / Benjamin Engeli / André Desponds / Stefan Wirth