Historical piano concert series kicks off fall season Sunday

ASHBURNHAM — Historical Piano Concerts’ 36th Fall Season presents pianist Ivan Gusev in a program of works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 12, in Ashburnham Community Church, 84 Main St.

Gusev will perform a program of Rachmaninoff’s Etudes-Tableaux and Preludes on a piano by Bluthner, made in Leipzig, Germany in 1907, from The Frederick Piano Collection.

Like many pianist-composers — Debussy, Mahler, and Shostakovich, among others — Rachmaninoff loved Bluthner pianos; he once said, “In my exile to America, I brought with me only two things of importance; my wife, Natalia and my precious Bluthner.”

Gusev, from Kazakhstan/Russia, has performed extensively in Russia, Europe and the U.S. In November 2018, he performed a solo recital at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall to a sold-out audience. He has won numerous international music prizes including the Chopin International Piano Competition (Hartford, 2018).

“He is a profound, genuine musician who makes each note live and transports you to another existence”, the late musicologist Allan Evans said.

Admission is $15 for adult; children and students, free. No advance reservations. Vaccination certificates will be required, and noted, so attendees need show them just once. Face masks also required.

The concert series will continue, Sundays, Sept. 26, Oct. 3 and Oct. 10. All concerts to be recorded and posted on YouTube, accessible free of charge. For more information, visit www.FrederickCollection.org.