Pleasanton: World-class pianists to perform with youth orchestra

What happens when a 10-year-old violinist is paired up with virtuoso pianists?

Find out at this year’s third annual classical benefit concert for Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council — “Four Hands and a Baton.”

World-renowned pianists Temirzhan Yerzhanov and his wife Klara Frei will perform Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn in the opening half of the concert. The two met at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and have performed throughout Europe and the United States.

Yerzhanov has appeared in the classical fundraiser for PCAC with Pleasanton pianist Tamriko Siprashvili for the past two years.

The second half of the concert will open with Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito Overture, performed by Orchestra Gradus ad Parnassum, children 10-18 years old who regularly practice and perform with professional musicians. Yerzhanov will conduct the piece, then music director Imant Airea will take the baton as Yerzhanov, Frei and the orchestra perform the Pleasanton premiere of Leopold Kozeluch’s Concerto in B flat major, one of only three concertos in the world written for piano four hands.

Yerzhanov is artistic director for Gradus ad Parnassum; Airea is music director. Students audition each February or March for the orchestra, which practices in Dublin and performs on big concert stages. Students come from Fremont to Walnut Creek as well as the Tri-Valley.

“Four Hands and a Baton” will take place at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Amador Theater, 1155 Santa Rita Road. Tickets are $35 for adults; $30 for seniors 62 and older; $20 for children 18 and under. Purchase tickets at www.firehousearts.org, call 931-4848 or go to the Firehouse box office, 4444 Railroad Ave.

The concert benefits arts in the Pleasanton schools. For more information about the orchestra season and auditions, visit pleasantonarts.org.