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September 14, 2006
Veri and Jamanis to Bring Back All-Gershwin Program
Frances Veri and Michael Jamanis, duo pianists renowned for their interpretations of the music of George Gershwin, will bring their critically-acclaimed all-Gershwin program back to the stage after 20 years at a concert at the Forum in Harrisburg, PA on Saturday, October 21, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. The program is sponsored by the Wednesday Club, the oldest continually-operating music club in the United States. Tickets are available by calling 717.214 ARTS (2787).
The American Record Guide has called their Gershwin recordings “…brilliant…the playing by the Jamanises is exemplary. They play Gershwin with the right degree of sinew and sensitivity.”
Their highest compliments, however, came from Frances Gershwin Godowsky, sister of George and Ira Gershwin. She has called Veri and Jamanis “two of my favorite interpreters of my brother's music.”
The New York Times has described Veri and Jamanis as “Fascinating….they played with consistently fine tone and much technical skill. They produced handsome sonorities…gracious performances.” And the Los Angeles Times has said of them: “Veri and Jamanis play with praiseworthy technical assurance and pianistic bristle.”
Veri and Jamanis have performed across the United States and in the Far East, specializing in the music of George Gershwin. They gave the first New York performance of the composer's original two-piano scores of the Second Rhapsody and Variations on “I Got Rhythm” as well as the world premiere of Frances Veri's two-piano transcription of “An American in Paris.” This was followed a few years later by a two-concert series that presented all the composer's solo and duo piano music. Their recording career began with the historic first performances of the original two-piano scores of Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue,” along with the Second Rhapsody, Variations on “I Got Rhythm,” and Cuban Overture.
They have toured extensively under Columbia Artist Management, appeared on numerous public television shows, including two devoted to the works of George Gershwin narrated by the actor William Hurt, and were guests on the Merv Griffin Show. They have recorded for the Book of the Month Club, Pantheon, Phillips of Japan, Connoisseur, EMI and Prince Productions.
Veri and Jamanis both received Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Juilliard School and pursued further studies at the American School of Music in Fontainebleau, France. They are co-founders of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where they serve as Dean and President, respectively.
The Pennsylvania Academy of Music is a non-profit pre-collegiate institution dedicated to the musical advancement of its students. Founded in 1990, the Academy attracts students from an immediate nine-county area as well as from around the world, who study disciplines ranging from instrumental, chamber music, orchestra, opera and vocal performance to music composition and theory, improvisation, accompanying ,jazz and recording. The Academy has a widely accomplished international faculty and is one of only 12 autonomous pre-collegiate music schools in the country accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.
