Pianist, music teacher, and Redondo Beach resident Deborah Aitken is the featured soloist in George Gershwin’s “Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra,” being performed tomorrow evening at 8:15 by the Beach Cities Symphony. Conducted by Barry Brisk, the concert takes place in Marsee Auditorium at El Camino College, Crenshaw and Redondo Beach boulevards, Torrance.
Aitken says that she and Brisk discussed several possibilities before settling on Gershwin. “There are several concerti that I was very interested in, but I really liked this one. I’m kind of on a Gershwin kick at the moment. Singing Gershwin, playing Gershwin. And I got to know this piece many years ago because a friend of mine was preparing it to perform. I learned the orchestral reduction to play with her.”
Rehearsal time with the entire orchestra is limited, so Aitken studies the score on her own. “I don’t listen to a recording when I first learn something. I don’t listen at the very end. Like now, I’m not listening to the recording because I want to get my own take on it first. And then I listen to see what other people are doing with it.”
Aitken is pleased that Kawai is sending over a Shigeru Kawai piano for her to perform on. “They’re very nice pianos; they’re handmade in Switzerland.”
The orchestra also plays selections from “Porgy and Bess” as well as “An American in Paris,” but Aitken is just involved with the concerto.
So you play and then you get to go home?
Yeah,” she replies. “Although I think I’m playing after intermission, so I think that when I’m done we all go home.”
The Beach Cities Symphony performs tomorrow night, Friday, for free, with a 7:30 pre-concert lecture taking place before the 8:15 p.m. concert. Campus parking, $2. Call (310) 379-9725 or (310) 539-4649 or go to beachcitiessymphony.org. ER
