Eastern Music Festival (EMF), Greensboro’s nationally recognized classical music festival and summer educational program, announces a soloist change for July 22nd. Hélène Grimaud will be replaced by Drew Petersen. The festival is overjoyed to introduce the acclaimed young American pianist, sought-after soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician to Greensboro audiences. Petersen will be performing the Piano Concerto in G major by Maurice Ravel with the Eastern Festival Orchestra.
When asked about Petersen, Music Director Gerard Schwarz says, “I am so eager to be making music with the outstanding pianist Drew Petersen again. I first met Drew when I conducted for him when he won the prestigious American Pianists Association top prize in 2017. His career has continued to grow with his wonderful interpretive skills and remarkable technique. I feel sure that our wonderful EMF audience will be as excited by him as I am.”
Drew Petersen is the winner of the 2017 American Pianists Awards and the Christel DeHaan Fellowship of the American Pianists Association and has been named Artist-in-Residence for two years by the University of Indianapolis. In March of 2018, he was honored as a recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. This is one of many accolades in a decorated young career that includes being prize winner in the Leeds International Piano Competition, the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition, and the New York Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. Petersen was presented at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall at age five and by age nine he was presented in a solo recital at Steinway Hall in Manhattan for the company’s 150th Anniversary.
The New York Times has written about the early performances of the gifted, “freckle-faced 10-year-old who still impresses adults with his intelligence, maturity and depth” and New York Magazine prominently featured Petersen in an article about child prodigies. Petersen’s extraordinary gifts were also chronicled in the documentary Just Normal produced by Kim A. Snyder, and in Andrew Solomon’s book, Far From the Tree, which featured case studies of exceptional children. An avid traveler, Petersen’s emerging career frequently takes him abroad, where he sets out to discover new foods and meet locals as eagerly as he performs for new audiences.
Overseas engagements have included recitals at the Musica e Arte Festival in Tolentino, Italy; Verbier Festival in Verbier, Switzerland; Euro Arts Music Festival in Leipzig, Germany; and American Spring Festival of the Czech Republic.
Petersen graduated cum laude from Harvard at age 19 with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Social Science and did his undergraduate and graduate music studies at the Juilliard School, the former as a recipient of the prestigious Kovner Fellowship. He has recently been accepted into the Artist Diploma program at the Juilliard School. He is managed by Opus 3 Artists.
Complete program details for the Eastern Music Festival that runs June 24 – July 29 are available at easternmusicfestival.org.