Arts in the Village Presents Duo Stephanie & Saar in Concert

On Saturday, March 23, Arts in the Village welcomes Duo Stephanie & Saar, a piano duo based in New York City, which is performing for the first time in this concert series. The duo’s concerts are known for their excitement, elegance, and artistic vision. Recent performance highlights include NYC’s Lincoln Center, a collaboration with Philadelphia’s Orchestra 2001, and a complete performance of Bach’s “The Art of Fugue” at the Arizona Bach Festival. This concert will include Igor Stravinsky’s iconic “The Rite of Spring” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge,” both in the composers’ original piano four-hands transcriptions. Also not to be missed is Franz Schubert’s “Fantasie in F Minor,” perhaps the most beloved four-hand work in the repertoire.

The duo’s members, Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia, pursued graduate studies at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and are married to each other. Their 2017 recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Art of Fugue” has garnered tremendous praise, and their recording of Bach’s “Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit” (God’s Time is the Very Best of Times) was featured on the soundtrack of the 2017 documentary film Red Trees. Beethoven Dialogues, their 2014 album featuring Beethoven quartets in rarely heard four-hand arrangements, was chosen as “Album of the Week” on New York Public Radio WQXR.

Other peak performances include collaborations with New World Symphony’s Percussion Consort; multiple projects with Miami’s Dranoff Two Piano Foundation, including the world premiere of Fantasia de Très Mundos by Cuban-American jazz pianist Martin Bejerano; Sarajevo Chamber Music Festival; Washington DC’s Smithsonian Museum of American Art; and sold-out performances at New York City’s (le) poisson rouge.

This concert will take place on Saturday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m., at Goff Memorial Hall, 124 Bay State Road, in Rehoboth, MA 02769. Admission is $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, and $8 for students and children. The doors open at 7:00 p.m. for a wine bar, and tickets are available at the door. First-come, first-seated. Wheelchair accessible. Cash and checks only. Information: 508-463-5384; http://www.rehobothantiquarian.org/arts-in-the-village/.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Rehoboth Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a stage agency.