"Two by Two by Gershwin"
Duo Piano Extravaganza
St. Alban's and St. Patrick's Episcopal Churches Host
Pianists Sophia Vastek and Eric Gustafson
in a fundraising performance at St. Patrick's Church
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Ms. Vastek and Mr. Gustafson will be performing a benefit concert for
Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington
in the Great Nave of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church
(4700 Whitehaven Parkway NW).
The program will include some of George Gershwin's most well-known and beloved compositions:
Cuban Overture
Rhapsody in Blue
Concerto in F
The church is located at 4700 Whitehaven Parkway NW (view map), and is wheelchair-accessible.
Click below to listen to a clip of the orchestral version of
Cuban Overture:
MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Vastek and Gustafson Duo was formed just for this special benefit performance.Sophia Vastek is an accomplished concert pianist and a recent graduate from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. While at IU, she performed in master classes for guest pedagogues such as Frederic Chiu and also performed regularly with school orchestras during her final year under such conductors as Kevin Noe of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. She is known for her eclectic recital programs and is highly interested in music of the twentieth century.
A native Washingtonian, Sophia has been performing around the D.C. metro area for many years. An avid collaborator, she has performed chamber music at various venues, including engagements with a flute, cello, and piano trio at the Canadian Embassy and John F. Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Along with a regular performance schedule, she is currently an accompanist for the choral program at the Washington National Cathedral Schools, where she also taught middle school music this past spring, and has a piano studio in Washington, DC. Sophia studied piano with Rosanne Conway and Naoko Takao at the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC and with Emile Naoumoff, a pupil of Nadia Boulanger, at Indiana University.
Eric Gustafson's link to Gershwin goes all the way back to 1974, when he was the featured piano soloist in a critically acclaimed 6-week run of an all-Gershwin Revue outside of Chicago. He received his education at the University of Illinois (Bachelor of Arts in Music History), the University of Vienna (Austria) studying musicology and conducting on a Fulbright Fellowship, and the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, earning a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting. Mr. Gustafson is also a performing pianist and has presented numerous recitals in DC, New York, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio and Illinois. He has notably competed in piano competitions in Ft. Worth (Cliburn Amateur), Paris (Concours), and most recently Washington (WIPAC) – where he placed third among a large international field.
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