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If there’s one thing Pleasanton residents can count on it’s Mark Anderson and Tamriko Siprashivili. And tickets are still available for their concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Amador Theater, 1155 Santa Rita Rd.
The married couple who call Pleasanton home, and who both also happen to be world-renowned classical pianists, reliably commit to playing their annual two-piano concert every year to benefit the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council’s Art in the Schools program and this year is no different. This year’s show, happening Feb. 24 at the Amador Theater, will feature two Stravinsky pieces, “Tango” and the 1911 version of “Petrushka,” Vivaldi’s “Spring” and “Summer” from “The Four Seasons,” Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and “Bolero” by Ravel.
The concert started in 1991 when Anderson, a Tri-Valley native, was approached by PCAC to help raise money for the newly renovated Amador Theater. At the time, the theater just received a new, 7-foot Yamaha piano and it seemed appropriate for Anderson’s concert to raise money to off-set the piano’s cost.
Every musician loves to perform and what better circumstances to perform in than to actually be giving back to a cause that was going to be, by all accounts, doing much for the musical lives of the community,” Anderson said of the first concert.
From there the concert grew with Siprashvilli joining the show in 1994 and funds going to the PCAC, making the event what it is today. And even if Anderson and Siprashivili wanted to call it quits–which they don’t–they couldn’t since the annual concert has become a Pleasanton institution.
“Lots of people look forward to it every year, and we look forward to it as an opportunity to learn a new repertoire for two pianos,” Anderson said. “You can’t stagnate as an artist and this is one way that keeps up reaching as performers.”
The couple still enjoys doing the show, for the joy of performing, but also because it raises money for a good cause.
“It’s a great thing to do. We get so many people calling and thanking us and loving our concert, so if can do it, why not? It’s a great way to give good people good music,” Siprashvili said, adding, “I think children need good education and we can give that education to children…It makes me feel very good, especially since I have a child in school and I want to give her the best I can.”
Contributing to music education is so important to the couple that last year they started their own music academy in Pleasanton, the similarly titled Anderson Siprashvili Music Academy. Anderson said he began thinking about opening a music academy in the Tri-Valley about 15 years ago.
“I thought the area needed (an academy) more than anything and after moving back from the UK in ’97 and setting up a private teaching studio, I saw the best thing we could do is set up a curriculum and environment in which we could give kids a place to not only continue their education, but start out their education in the best way possible. Fundamental to creating decent musicians is a good beginning,” Anderson said.
Finishing its first year, the academy has about 100 students and recently added two new teachers in vocals and violin. But even with these recent successes, the couple has even larger plans for the academy in the future.
“I see it as a haven for various types of music,” Anderson said. “One of the most important aspects is ensemble performance between violinists, cellists, and woodwinds and we’re creating a haven for quality ensemble playing of the highest standard. You could call it a Julliard of the West. That’s where we want to take it.”
Between running the academy and raising their 7-year-old daughter Nina, the couple stays very busy and they are not able to perform as much outside of the area. But, Anderson said they are both happy with this new turn in their professional careers.
“Life changes and you change with it,” Anderson said. “It’s a rather logical progression and something that both Tamriko and I are at home with because we like what we have.”
The annual Mark Anderson/Tamriko Siprashvili classical piano concert benefiting the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council’s Arts in the Schools program is 8 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Amador Theater, 1155 Santa Rita Rd. Tickets are $15, $20 and $25 and can be purchased at www.civicartstickets.org or by calling 931-3444. Call 931-5361 for more information.
