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Press Releases
CD Launch Party: American Pianist Grace Nikae Releases Her Second Recording
TORONTO, ONTARIO – American pianist Grace Nikae (“nee-kah-eh”, as in “egg”) is a tour-de-force and a brilliant communicator. With accolades such as “…expansively heartfelt…a musician able to summon a wonderful modicum of harmonic tension, musical lyricism, and architectural coherence” (New York Concert Review, Carnegie Hall debut); “Five out of five stars…piano playing of the highest standard!” (Music OMH, Wigmore Hall debut) and “A clear demonstration of her virtuosity and powers of persuasion,” (Pianowereld Magazine, Concertgebouw debut) there’s no doubt continued success will be hers. With a powerhouse technique, passionate virtuosity, a strong desire to reach all music lovers, and an elegant presence on-camera, she is on her way to leaving her mark as not only a classical pianist but as a musical ambassador as well. She will perform at the Canadian launch of her next recording “Chopin | Schumann: Sonatas” on Thursday, August 6 from 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM at Atelier Rosemarie Umetsu (r.u.), at 96 Avenue Road (Museum subway stop; north of Bloor, across from Whole Foods and a touch north). The media and special guests are invited to enjoy a glass of wine, listen to Grace play, and meet her afterwards.
It’s been a decade since her last visit to Toronto. Grace Nikae was a student at a chamber music festival, and fondly remembers working with esteemed musicians such as the great piano pedagogue Ronald Turini, and members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Grace looks forward to returning as part of her North American tour to promote her second CD, “Chopin | Schumann: Sonatas”. Her début recording, “Fantasies” (Tempora Records) was a collection of works by several composers, ideal for Ms. Nikae to reveal her wide range as an artist. With her second offing on the same label, she is going in a different direction, to reflect her maturity as a musician, with repertoire that reflects her experience in life, and as an artist. Why Chopin and Schumann? “I learned a lot of Chopin as a student, but wanted to explore other composers in recitals. An audience member who’d followed my career for a few years asked me if I had an aversion to Chopin as I’d never programmed his repertoire. And at the time, I was learning the Schumann sonata. Then I started thinking about the connection between the two.” Grace continues, “I was performing the Schumann sonata, and thought about his music – the restlessness, duality, a yearning for some deeper illumination - an almost psychopathic emotional turmoil and struggle. Then I remembered Chopin’s third sonata, which I first learned at sixteen. Suddenly they seemed connected – Schumann’s darkness and beauty (especially in the second movement)…you react immediately to it. Whereas with the Chopin, the enigma and mystery is hidden – the restlessness and dark sense of loss is contained with the inner pulse of the work. It’s like the two sides of the same coin.” A portion of the proceeds from this recording will go towards UNICEF Spain, an organization with which Grace just began a collaboration. Also, several tracks from the recording will also be available for purchase directly from UNICEF Spain's website, www.unicef.es, with all revenues directly benefiting the organisation's variety of projects on behalf of children worldwide.
Grace Nikae exemplifies the contemporary attitude required in the new generation of young artists: she is either practicing, performing, recording, emailing her manager, blogging, MySpace-ing, Facebooking, Tweeting, or updating her website, www.gracenikae.com. She has a strong interest in attracting as many people of all ages to classical music and will explore any means of doing so. Of her strong online presence, Grace explains, “I use social media to provide an easy way to connect with me and my music. Hopefully I bring new audiences to classical music. The whole point from the beginning was through my online efforts, someone who may not attend a classical music concert will be less intimidated and will check it out. I also like a cool, intimate, ‘non-threatening’ venue to play in, and yet still have audiences enjoy a culturally and educationally rich atmosphere.”
Another big part of Ms. Nikae’s life as a musician is her humanitarian work. She works with international organizations to use western classical music to teach and reach out to impoverished regions – she recently returned from an amazing artistic outreach mission in India and Nepal that was life altering. Also, she performs one or two benefit concerts a year that help various major charities such as Save the Children or World Wildlife Fund. Grace is also the co-founder and artistic director of The Renaissance Academy in Hawaii (her home state), a non-profit educational organization dedicated to providing academic and artistic enrichment, and to expanding the educational and cultural possibilities of the Hawaii community. Formed in 1999, Grace designed the curriculum and all students can apply for an annual scholarship in her name. These humanitarian activities are a huge part of her artistic philosophy.
Grace Nikae likes to mix it up: from Bach to Ligeti or from Mozart to Carter, her variety of bold projects continue exploring our connection with music, and she is committed to constant evolution and development of her art. Her teachers included Martin Canin of The Juilliard School and the legendary Alexander Slobodyanik. Reflecting her multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary approach, she sought out a traditional liberal arts education and pursued her undergraduate degree in European history at Columbia University. She is now based in Madrid, Spain.
For more information, please visit www.gracenikae.com.
Special thanks to wine sponsor Scott Wilson of Terzetto Wine and fashion designer Rosemarie Umetsu for outfitting Ms. Nikae.
Media contact:
Liz Parker, Foundress
LIZPR / 416 544 1803 / liz@lizpr.com / www.lizpr.com
It’s been a decade since her last visit to Toronto. Grace Nikae was a student at a chamber music festival, and fondly remembers working with esteemed musicians such as the great piano pedagogue Ronald Turini, and members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Grace looks forward to returning as part of her North American tour to promote her second CD, “Chopin | Schumann: Sonatas”. Her début recording, “Fantasies” (Tempora Records) was a collection of works by several composers, ideal for Ms. Nikae to reveal her wide range as an artist. With her second offing on the same label, she is going in a different direction, to reflect her maturity as a musician, with repertoire that reflects her experience in life, and as an artist. Why Chopin and Schumann? “I learned a lot of Chopin as a student, but wanted to explore other composers in recitals. An audience member who’d followed my career for a few years asked me if I had an aversion to Chopin as I’d never programmed his repertoire. And at the time, I was learning the Schumann sonata. Then I started thinking about the connection between the two.” Grace continues, “I was performing the Schumann sonata, and thought about his music – the restlessness, duality, a yearning for some deeper illumination - an almost psychopathic emotional turmoil and struggle. Then I remembered Chopin’s third sonata, which I first learned at sixteen. Suddenly they seemed connected – Schumann’s darkness and beauty (especially in the second movement)…you react immediately to it. Whereas with the Chopin, the enigma and mystery is hidden – the restlessness and dark sense of loss is contained with the inner pulse of the work. It’s like the two sides of the same coin.” A portion of the proceeds from this recording will go towards UNICEF Spain, an organization with which Grace just began a collaboration. Also, several tracks from the recording will also be available for purchase directly from UNICEF Spain's website, www.unicef.es, with all revenues directly benefiting the organisation's variety of projects on behalf of children worldwide.
Grace Nikae exemplifies the contemporary attitude required in the new generation of young artists: she is either practicing, performing, recording, emailing her manager, blogging, MySpace-ing, Facebooking, Tweeting, or updating her website, www.gracenikae.com. She has a strong interest in attracting as many people of all ages to classical music and will explore any means of doing so. Of her strong online presence, Grace explains, “I use social media to provide an easy way to connect with me and my music. Hopefully I bring new audiences to classical music. The whole point from the beginning was through my online efforts, someone who may not attend a classical music concert will be less intimidated and will check it out. I also like a cool, intimate, ‘non-threatening’ venue to play in, and yet still have audiences enjoy a culturally and educationally rich atmosphere.”
Another big part of Ms. Nikae’s life as a musician is her humanitarian work. She works with international organizations to use western classical music to teach and reach out to impoverished regions – she recently returned from an amazing artistic outreach mission in India and Nepal that was life altering. Also, she performs one or two benefit concerts a year that help various major charities such as Save the Children or World Wildlife Fund. Grace is also the co-founder and artistic director of The Renaissance Academy in Hawaii (her home state), a non-profit educational organization dedicated to providing academic and artistic enrichment, and to expanding the educational and cultural possibilities of the Hawaii community. Formed in 1999, Grace designed the curriculum and all students can apply for an annual scholarship in her name. These humanitarian activities are a huge part of her artistic philosophy.
Grace Nikae likes to mix it up: from Bach to Ligeti or from Mozart to Carter, her variety of bold projects continue exploring our connection with music, and she is committed to constant evolution and development of her art. Her teachers included Martin Canin of The Juilliard School and the legendary Alexander Slobodyanik. Reflecting her multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary approach, she sought out a traditional liberal arts education and pursued her undergraduate degree in European history at Columbia University. She is now based in Madrid, Spain.
For more information, please visit www.gracenikae.com.
Special thanks to wine sponsor Scott Wilson of Terzetto Wine and fashion designer Rosemarie Umetsu for outfitting Ms. Nikae.
Media contact:
Liz Parker, Foundress
LIZPR / 416 544 1803 / liz@lizpr.com / www.lizpr.com
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