The Newton Piano Summit is back. Although it was not held last year, this is the sixth year Waban resident/producer Chris Pitts has produced this event. According to Pitts, it all started when the late Linda Plaut worked with Maria Arvelo to launch the Artful Piano Project in Newton, in which painted pianos were placed throughout the city for everyone to enjoy. When the project was launched the Waban Improvement Society jumped at the opportunity to host one at the Waban library, and Pitts thought it would be great to bring in an A-list of local piano players to perform, thus launching the Piano Summit.
Pitts credits the success of the Summit to early and ongoing support from the Waban Improvement Society, strong support from the Village Bank, particularly Ken Brennan and Susan Paley, as well as grants received from the Newton Cultural Council. According to Pitts, “This is the first year we also received a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant, a Newton Community Pride Grant, and money from the City’s recovery fund.” He added that “Honda Village and Advance Auto have been steady corporate funders,” and that the Summit has received generous donations from individuals through their website, newtonpianosummit.org. Funds and donations go directly to the artists and craftsmen, except for $1000, which is spent on social media marketing and lawn signs.
The first concert of 2022 featured Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations. When asked why this was chosen to kick off the Summit, Pitts said: “Summit Performances have included global, gospel, jazz, ragtime, Latin, pop, and blues, but we had not yet had a pure classical performance. ” While producing last year’s Festival of the Arts, Pitts met pianist Andrus Madsen, the founding director of Newton Baroque; through their discussions, they concluded that two pianos performing the extremely challenging Goldberg variations “would be great for the summit.” Pianists Andrus Madsen and April Sun kicked off the Summit on Saturday, May 7. On May 14, pianist Harold Charon will explore Latin music with trumpeter Richard Stanmeyer, Chilean drummer Cristián Tamblay, Ernan D. Ramos Ortiz “Ed Rox” on congas and cajon, and bassist Michael Doughty. On May 21, pianist Helen Sung brought her trio to present PUSH – Celebrating Women in Jazz.
More information about the Newton Piano Summit can be found here.
