It seems that this young American duet have the market to themselves at the moment, yes there is the recording by the Prague Piano Duet on the Praga Digitals label, but this is not complete, as instead of the Grosse Fuge Op. 134 you get a transcription by Hugo Ulrich of the 7th Symphony. This recording is also unique in the way that the sisters give you two recordings of all the works, the first presented on a modern Yamaha piano which is recorded in a concert hall, while the second version is recorded in a more intermit surroundings using three fortepianos. The difference is remarkable; there are times when you would think that you were listening to different works, with the more percussive modern instrument really showing up the limitations of the fortepianos. That being said, I do think that overall I prefer the more period aware recording, yes I know that the sound from the fortepianos will not be to everyone's taste, but it is to mine! The performance is, at times, full of bravura brilliance, the Hamann sisters are new to me, as I am sure they will be to most people on this side of the pond, but they seem to have been making musical waves, both as a piano duet and on two pianos in their home country, and you can hear why. They seem at home on either the period or modern instrument, which is no mean feat in itself, but they are then able to bring out every nuance of the great man's music. Whether in the more contemplative and humorous passages to be found in the two sets of variations (WoO 67 & 74) or in the more marshal music of the 3 Marches Op. 45 their playing is excellent! The highlight for me, on both discs, is their interpretation of the Grosse Fugue in B flat Major Op.134, as here they take this brilliance to another level. This is Beethoven's own transcription of the famous single movement string quartet, perhaps this is why I like it so much, and whist I enjoyed the period performance, this is for me the work which is best heard on the modern instrument, as while the fortepiano is fine in the quieter moments, it is only on the modern instrument that you get the full effect of the more explosive elements of the piece! This is a most rewarding set and one which I have no hesitation in recommending. I hope that the powers that be at HNH make further recordings with the Hamann sisters either for their Grand Piano or their Naxos labels; they certainly have a wide enough repertoire to suite either label. Good notes from that stalwart of Naxos booklets, Keith Anderson, and good recorded sound only serve to heighten ones enjoyment of this fine recording.

Sara Hamann may be an A flat and Amy Hamann may be a G sharp but the noted Minneapolis pianists sound identical on the stage.

The sisters are as enharmonic as any two notes can be and have won numerous awards in four-hand piano competition.

They bring their repertoire of classical music to the stage of the Performing Arts Center at South Dakota State University in the second concert of the season for the Brookings Chamber Music Society.

Concert time is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, with tickets available from the Music Department and at the door.

“I expect them to be a very dynamic and interesting group,” said Associate Professor John Walker, director of keyboard studies at SDSU and director of the Chamber Music Society.

“From what most people have observed, people who are blood relation have an innate ability to play closely together.”

As Sara Hamann said in a July National Public Radio interview, “We sort of just breathe together and know what the other one is going to do.”

Amy added, “We’re not twins, but we do have a very tight connection.”

That tight connection as well as thousands of hours of practice has allowed them to become the first American piano duo to win the Absolute First Prize in the 14th Concorso Pianistico Internazionale in Rome in October 2003.

Judges added the “absolute” tag because their points far exceeded the second-place finishers, they report.

Raised in Edina, Minn., the pair have been turning heads since Amy was a 5 year-old and Sara had just turned 4. They began their training by practicing at the Yamaha School of Music.

The instructors thought the look-alike sisters would be cute on a piano bench together.

From that innocuous start, Sara and Amy Hamann soon decided being a pianist duo was more than a cute pose. Childhood whims of pursuing the piano were replaced by childhood resolve when they met the Labeque sisters.

As 8 and 9-year-olds, the Edina sisters met the French musicians backstage at a Minneapolis performance.

“That was a turning point for us,” Sara said.

Throughout their education in Edina and at the University of Minnesota, the duo dedicated themselves to piano duets, and after graduating from the U of M with degrees in piano performance, they pursued their passion professionally.

In 1999, they won the Ellis Competition for Duo Pianists, earning them $10,000 and two years of concert dates.

These days the sisters perform 20 dates a year, have recently released their first compact disc, “Jeux d'enfants and Other Works for Piano Duo”, and still practice five hours a day when preparing for a performance.

When practicing together, they face opposite directions to hone their listening skills.

In an interview with the Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine, Amy said, “It's probably unusual that two sisters get along as well as we do and share the same drive and passion. But we think it's a gift, and we'd be crazy not to make the most of it.”

Walker says any fan of piano duets would be crazy not to make it to their concert at the Performing Arts Center.

Tickets: Adults, $15; students, $5; SDSU students, free with ID.

Purchase: At the door, from the Music Department (Lincoln Music Hall), or by check, Brookings Chamber Music Society, Box 2212, SDSU, Brookings, SD 57007.

CLASSICAL
Precocious local pianists Amy and Sara Hamann maintain a busy touring schedule. But Sunday the duo kicks off the Colonial Church Chamber Series with a two-pianos program featuring works by Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven and W.F. Bach, along with Liszt's brooding and dramatic "Reminiscences de Don Juan," a standout on the pair's 2005 debut CD. (7 p.m. Sun., Colonial Church of Edina, 6200 Colonial Way, Edina. $15. 952-925-2711.) (L.F.)

At Sommerfest, the Hamann Sisters premiere a recently discovered Haydn concerto for two pianos.

It's not every day you get to hear a 250-year old work for the first time. But this Sommerfest, the Hamann Sisters - Amy and Sara - introduce Franz Joseph Haydn's long-lost Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra to American audiences.

"It was always talked about that there was a two-piano concerto that Haydn had written when he was seventeen," says Amy Hamann. "But it was unpublished in its original format, and for centuries was thought to be lost."

The full manuscript was discovered in a Czech library, authenticated, and obtained by private collectors, who in 1996 gave it to a Greek conductor and pianist, George Petrou. Petrou, in turn, gave it to the Hamann sisters as a birthday present for Amy.

"It's the only thing Haydn wrote for two pianos, and he was very young when he did it," says Amy Hamann. "It's almost Baroque in style, but you can hear where he's going - there are stereotypical surprises and humor, unadorned harmonies, intricate ornaments and trills. The ensemble is quite involved."

The Hamanns had been looking for the right opportunity to premiere the score. Then their teacher, Alexander Braginsky, mentioned the treasure to Minnesota Orchestra music director Osmo Vanska. "It's pretty rare you hear of a Haydn premiere, and he was intrigued," says Amy.

The premiere also marks the duo's Minnesota Orchestra debut. The Hamann Sisters have won many prestigious awards, including a 2005-06 McKnight Artist Fellowship, but performing as guest soloists with the Minnesota Orchestra is a big step forward in their careers.

"We couldn't be more thrilled to present the American premiere with our home orchestra in our hometown," she says. "It means so much to us." July 14. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls., 612-371-5656, minnesotaorchestra.org, hamannsisters.com

"The sisters," wrote George C. Ford in the Cedar Rapids Gazette, "who are 17 months apart in age, performed as one, exhibiting an intensity and stage presence that captivated the audience and earned them a standing ovation." The concert, given at the city's Paramount Theater, featured the debut of the orchestra's new music director, Timothy Hankewich, who, judging by Ford's review, also was a hit with the audience.

This weekend the Hamanns are giving a recital in Columbus, Ohio, this time performing repertoire for one piano-four hands. They'll be playing the Mendelssohn Two-Piano Concerto with the Rochester (Minn.) Symphony Nov. 18 at Mayo Civic Center Presentation Hall.

Students of Alexander Braginsky at the University of Minnesota, the Hamanns won first prize in the two-piano category in the Grieg International Piano Competition in Oslo, Norway, a year ago, and earlier in 2005, they released their debut CD on the Schubert Club's Ten Thousand Lakes label.

Freed will lead
Kenneth Freed is the new music director of the Mankato Symphony. Freed will lead the orchestra in his inaugural concert next Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Mankato West High School. A violist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Freed was conductor of the Kenwood Symphony for several years, and during the 2005-06 season he served as assistant conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, a position he shared with two colleagues from the orchestra, Manny Laureano and William Schrickel. Freed's guest soloist next Sunday will be another colleague, Burt Hara, the Minnesota Orchestra's principal clarinet, who will play the Mozart Clarinet Concerto.

A near-capacity crowd greeted Maestro Timothy Hankewich and the Cedar Rapids Symphony on Saturday evening at the Paramount Theatre for the season's inaugural Masterworks series concert.

The concert opened with the traditional singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and quickly moved to a performance of the sweeping "In the South" overture by Edward Elgar. Written in 1903-04 while the composer visited Alassio on the Italian Riviera, the selection contains a beautiful viola solo portraying a shepherd's song.

Directing without a musical score, Hankewich conducted "In the South" with an enjoyable flowing style that engages the orchestra and the audience.

Pianists Amy and Sara Hamann joined the CRSO for an eloquent performance of Mozart's "Concerto for Two Pianos in E-flat." The sisters, who are 17 months apart in age, performed as one, exhibiting an intensity and stage presence that captivated the audience and earned them a standing ovation.

The CRSO opened the second half of the concert with a stirring performance of Respighi's "Pines of Rome."

The four movement composition, composed as a celebration of Rome and it's history describes four very different locations in the Eternal City.

The opening movement, "The Pines of the Villa Borghese," features music that mimics children in the estate's garden. The scene changes to the "Pines Near a Catacomb" as somber music sets the mood for an underground burial site.

Moonlight brings an air of mystery to the "Pines of Janiculum." A recording of nightingales helps the listeners envision Rome's highest hill.

Hankewich filled the balcony boxes with additional trumpets and trombones for the final movement, "The Pines of the Appian Way," with its musical visions of past Roman glories. As the final notes echoed, many audience members quickly stood and applauded.

Amy and Sara were the first American Piano Duo to win the Absolute First Prize in the Fryderyk Chopin Concorso Pianistico Internazionale and are also the youngest First Prize winners in the history of the National Federation of Music Clubs Ellis Competition for Duo-Pianists.

2005 was a very monumental year for the sisters—they released a new CD, were awarded a $25,000 prize from the McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Performing Musicians and won first prize at the International Grieg Competition (Two-Piano category) in Oslo, Norway.

The sisters’ new CD Jeux d'enfants and Other Works for Piano Duo was released on the Schubert Club’s “Ten Thousand Lakes” label and is available from the Schubert Club (651-292-3267 or www.schubert.org) or on their website www.hamannsisters.com. The CD is a recording from a live performance, unedited and straight from one program. Amy says, “When we first thought about it, it was terrifying, but at the same time, it was such a romantic idea. You get so much energy that you can’t get in a recording studio. It’s much more difficult to recreate that energy when you know you have as many takes as you need.”

The Hamann sisters, who were the only Americans to compete in the International Grieg Competition’s Two-Piano category, were praised by judges for their stage presence and energy. Their final round program of works by W.F. Bach, Corigliano, Mozart, Grieg and Liszt was a winning combination, which not only won them the first prize, but also the prize for the best performance of a Mozart composition. Sara says, “We certainly didn’t automatically think we had won but we felt that we had represented ourselves well and felt positive about what we had done.” As the winners of the prize, they will perform at the 2006 Oslo Grieg Festival this July.

While they attended the SOM, Amy studied with Lydia Artymiw and Paul Shaw, with whom Sara also studied when she started the performance degree one year after her sister. Today, the sisters study privately with SOM Professor of Piano Alexander Braginsky, with whom they have studied for nearly 4 years. The sisters say studying with him has been very rewarding. Amy says, “We can’t say enough positives about him. And, that man knows how to push our buttons and get us motivated. It is unbelievable how he’s able to give us exactly what we need at exactly the right time.”

At present, Amy and Sara are working on two recordings in the studio, one of which will focus on harpsichord music. In addition, the Hamann sisters are slated to perform in the season opening concert of the Cedar Rapids (IA) Symphony Orchestra and will also perform with the Rochester (MN) Symphony Orchestra. They will also attend the International Keyboard Institute this summer in New York.

Now duo concert pianists, Amy and Sara have experienced one musical success after the next since graduating from Edina High School in the 1990's. They recently won the first prize at the International Grieg Competition in Oslo, Norway, along with a prize for the best performance of a Mozart composition. This past spring, the MacPhail Center for Music awarded them a $27,000 prize through the McKnight Foundation Fellowship for Performing Musicians. And they have just released their first CD on the Schubert Club's “Ten Thousand Lakes” label.

Growing up together in Edina, the performing sister musicians attended Countryside Elementary, Valley View Middle School, Edina High School and the University of Minnesota. Amy now lives in southwest Minneapolis, while Sara lives in Edina's Edinborough.

The sisters began their successful musical journey together at the Yamaha School of Music. There, they were introduced to “Four-hands” playing, or duo piano playing.

“We felt it was important to get them introduced to music at a young age,” said their father, Dr. Arlyn Hamann, who describes Amy and Sara as being “more like twins” than mere siblings in their thought processes and how well they work together. “They always seemed to have a natural talent, or a natural drive, since the beginning.”

Reflecting on his daughters’ work ethic during their young years, he added, “Just when you would expect young kids to lose interest [in piano], they would become more interested in it. They’ve been so successful not just because of their talent, but because they were really willing to work hard at it, which is sometimes difficult for some kids to do.”

At ages 7 and 8, they began admiring and following the Labeque sisters - duo piano performers from France. When the Hamanns were 8 and 9 years old, the Labeque sisters released recordings through the Schubert Club’s International Artist series, all of which they listened to. History changed for them when they were able to meet the French musicians backstage at a Minnesota performance.

“That was a turning point for us,” Sara said.

Although they are only 17 months apart in age and play so well as a duo that listeners sometimes cannot tell one from the other, Amy and Sara acknowledge that they are different.

“We compliment each other well,” said Sara.

“We balance each other out,” added Amy.

The results of the 2005 International Grieg Competition in Oslo, Norway clearly demonstrated this, as Amy and Sara played the first prize-winning performance. Leading up to the momentous experience, Sara said, “We felt as well-prepared as we could possibly be.”

Reaching this level of preparation takes significant dedication. For the talented sisters from Edina, a typical day is spent keeping their piano talents in tune and perfecting their passion for musical performance. The women practice four to six hours per day. The morning begins with each working individually; they later join each other for practice in the afternoon.

Their current teacher, Alexander Braginsky, decides which pieces to practice; and they usually practice specifically for their next performance. Interestingly, they did not have Braginsky as a teacher while at the U of M but learned from him after graduation “for a different viewpoint,” said Amy.

As far as what they spend the rest of their time doing, and the interests that they have, Sara said that music is “pretty much all-encompassing” in their lives. The two enjoy attending Minnesota Orchestra performances and arts organizations’ shows, arts fairs and other art-related events.

Currently, Amy and Sara are artists-in-residence at the International Piano Institute and say they are “looking forward to a busy season.” The CD they have just released, “Jeux d’enfants and Other Works for Piano Duo,” is a live recital program.

Presently, the sisters are working on two recording projects. They are studying early period instruments, such as those from the Baroque, the harpsichord and various keyboard instruments. And, according to Amy, they might produce a duo harpsichord and piano recording in the future. This would be the first performance of its kind - by women using such instruments in a duet.

“They are so dedicated to music and their career as performers,” says Sara’s best friend of 12 years, Laura Mullin, who met the sisters at the University of Minnesota. “When they commit to something, they put their whole hearts into what they do, and believe me, it shows!”

They take their work very seriously, but these multi-talented sisters also have a great sense of humor - a virtue that has helped them maintain their composure amidst the unexpected. Amy recalled a memorable moment during a concert performance years ago, describing it with amusement as “just one of those nights when everything seemed to be falling apart.” Sara’s earring fell out during the performance; and as Amy reached out to strike one of the keys on the “gorgeous old Steinway” they were playing, it fell completely off and onto the floor. With a laugh, they said they promptly practiced the “art of recovery.” Sara also recalled a time when they were playing and one of the pedals on their piano fell off and “slammed to the ground.”

“Both Sara and Amy are delightful to be around,” said Mullin.

Surprisingly, their musical passion is not rooted in their immediate family. Amy and Sara say they have two younger sisters - one who sings and another who dances - neither of whom shares their love for piano. Neither do our parents (“They were not concert pianists,” said Sara, dispelling an assumption that might have existed over the years about their influences). They said that this was what made the bond between them so strong - why they grew up so close, and still are. They had only each other with which to share their strong interest.

“We always felt we were destined to do this,” began Amy.

“We never questioned it,” Sara agreed, completing Amy’s thoughts.

It is no small wonder that their captivating performances are like a beautiful conversation between two pianos that combine perfectly as one.

After attending Edina High School, they both enrolled at the University of Minnesota, where they studied piano performance. Amy and Sara were right: they were growing up to be musicians.

A typical day for them begins with each sister practicing by herself. Later, they meet to practice as a duo for their live competitions, concerts and CD recording sessions. Sara says, in the early days, they both played on one piano, but then switched to two different pianos for their performances. “It gives us our own space, and we can make eye contact as we sit across the stage from each other,” says Sara. “Plus, it’s also more visually appealing to the audience...to see both pianists, instead of just one,” adds Amy.

In 1989, one of the first competitions they won was the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies Concerto Competition, and the award list just increased from there. They were the first American duo to win the Absolute First Prize in the Fryderyk Chopin Concorso Pianistico Internazionale in Rome, Italy, and the First-Prize winners of the International Grieg Competition in Oslo, Norway. The Hamanns were also the youngest First-Prize winners in the history of the National Federation of Music Ellis Competition for Duo-Pianists. “Our prize was $10,000, and we also got professional management for two years, which actually turned into four [years] because the next time around, the prize wasn’t awarded to anyone,” says Sara.

Recently, they were chosen to be the recipients of the 2005-06 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Performing Musicians administered by the MacPhail Center for Music. “It was a great surprise. The first part of the competition is totally blind because the judges only get to listen to a CD recording and have no idea who you are. They narrow it down to nine finalists, who are then invited to take part in a live competition,” says Amy.

Even though they’ve been playing in front of live audiences for many years, both sisters say they still get a touch of stage fright. “We still get butterflies when we perform, which in a way is good, because it adds to the sense of excitement when we go out on the stage,” says Sara.

One person who they give a lot of credit to is their current teacher, Alexander Braginsky, a professor of piano at the University of Minnesota. “He’s our ears. Sometimes two pianos can be very loud, and he’ll make suggestions like having one of us ease up on the pedal,” says Amy.

When they’re not practicing or performing, they both enjoy going to hear the Minnesota Orchestra or the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, taking trips to art galleries and playing with Amy’s dog. They also like to play other instruments such as the harpsichord.

Another exciting venture for the Hamann sisters is the release of their first CD, Jeux d’enfants and Other Works for Piano Duo, which is part of the Schubert Club’s Ten Thousand Lakes label.

Although they’ve had to put in long hours developing and improving their piano skills, neither sister has any regrets about the path they’ve chosen. “If you want to do this, you have to work hard. There are no short cuts, and in the end, it’s very rewarding,” says Sara. “We’ll be doing this when we’re [older]. Even when we were little girls, we were committed to it. We’ve never doubted that this is what we were supposed to do with our lives,” adds Amy.
Susan Palmquist is an Eden Prairie-based freelance writer.

The Hamanns are students of Alexander Braginsky, professor of piano at the University of Minnesota. Always a master of understatement, Braginsky, hearing of the sisters' win, sent an e-mail: "Not so bad! We're obviously giving support to the right team."

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Piano-playing sisters win tough competition
Michael Anthony, Star Tribune
May 1, 2005

The talented Hamann sisters of Minneapolis are on a roll. The piano duo, Amy and Sara, recently released their first CD on the Schubert Club's Ten Thousand Lakes label. On April 23, they beat out 132 other contestants to win the McKnight Foundation Fellowship Competition at Sundin Hall.

"We never thought we'd win," Amy Hamann said. "We thought we had played well, but the competition was really tough."

The sisters played two pieces, Liszt's Reminiscences of Don Juan and the Sonata in F Major by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. In addition to their $25,000 prize, they will receive $2,000 for a community-service project to be determined.

PINCH-HITTING RUSSIANS

The Hamann sisters' teacher, Alexander Braginsky, had another reason to be happy last week. Braginsky, professor of piano at the University of Minnesota, saw his old friend, formidable pianist Yefim Bronfman, come to town to play Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in three performances with the Minnesota Orchestra.

The careers of these two native Russians have intersected in unusual, although oddly parallel, ways.

In 1980, when Bronfman played with the Minnesota Orchestra for the first time, Braginsky and his wife, cellist Tanya Remenikova, were scheduled to play Schubert's Trio in B-flat with violinist Kensley Rosen at Walker Art Center.

"I was on my way to a rehearsal the day before the performance," Braginsky recalled. "I blew a tire and reluctantly got out to fix it. I'm not exactly a professional at this. So I started to fix it and -- boom! -- my wrist goes. Suddenly I can't play. So I called Ken. He said 'Maybe Bronfman can do it.' He did it, and he was great."

Cut to 2000. Bronfman, now a big star of the concert world, is scheduled to play a recital in the Schubert Club's main series on a Friday night, and there's a major snowstorm on the East Coast. The airports are closed. Bronfman can't fly.

Braginsky gets a desperate call from Bruce Carlson, manager of the Schubert Club: "We're trying to get Bronfman a private plane, but nothing's working. Can you and your wife play tonight?"

"We haven't practiced," Braginsky told him, then called Tanya, who asked him if he was crazy.

Having said no to Carlson, Braginsky hurried to his 1 p.m. group class. He told the students what had just happened and how he had always stressed to them the last-minute things that can happen in a career and how a performer has to be ready.

"But then I admitted that I had said no, whereupon the whole class said, 'Do it. Do it. You've got to do it.' What could I say? I walked back to my office, and the whole class was following me. I called Bruce back and said, 'We'll do it.' They cheered.

That night, Braginsky and Remenikova played the Chopin Sonata for Cello and Piano to a packed house at the Ordway Center.

NEW CHAMBER GROUP PLAYS

The Arius Chamber Music Society is a new local group made up of 12 string players who perform in a variety of ensemble sizes. The group will give two concerts this week, with a program including works by Holst, Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky. Friday's concert will be at the Ramsey International Fine Arts Center, 50th St. and Nicollet Av. S., Minneapolis. Saturday, the ensemble will move to St. Michael's Lutheran Church, 9201 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington. The program will be repeated May 13 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 48th St. and France Av. S., Minneapolis.

Concerts are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12, $8 seniors and $5 students. Call 651-379-2499.

Michael Anthony is at manthony@startribune.com.

View Article
Pianists play so well together, they could be sisters
Michael Anthony, Star Tribune
April 10, 2005

Amy and Sara Hamann of Minneapolis were the first American piano duo to win first prize in the Concorso International Piano Competition in Rome in 2003. They have released their first CD, Jeux d'enfants and Other Works for Piano Duo on the Schubert Club's Ten Thousand Lakes label.

The Hamanns are smart, stylish players, and they have a bold streak. This, after all, is a live disc, a recording of a recital the sisters gave last June at Ted Mann Concert Hall. There are obvious risks to live recordings - mistakes and sound problems among them. On the upside is the greater involvement and sense of urgency that playing before an actual audience, rather than an empty recording studio, can bring, and that seems to be the case here.

The Hamanns attack their instruments with a fierce energy in works such as Franz Liszt's Reminiscences of Don Juan and Witold Lutoslawski's witty Variations on a Theme of Paganini, the same theme that inspired Sergei Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and a number of other works. (Back to the downside: The bigger climaxes get a trifle boomy, which presumably is the fault of the recording equipment.)

The sisters also can play with real delicacy, along with perfect unanimity, as they show in the careful ornamentation they apply to the Sonata in F Major by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, which opens the set. The title selection, Georges Bizet's Children's Games gets an appropriately light, breezy reading, though probably the most interesting performance of all is the Suite No. 1 by Anton Arensky, one of the classics of the duo-piano repertoire.

Maybe through the influence of their teacher, Alexander Braginsky, a native Russian, the Hamanns have a real feeling for Russian Romanticism: the flexible phrase and the singing line. The Hamanns will go far.

Michael Anthony is at manthony@startribune.com.

The program was a brief one, lasting only about 90 minutes, but it provided melodic, accessible music, which was both effective and popular.

Guest conductor Arthur Fagen got the evening off to a lively start with Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 1. That popular work with its energetic rhythms created a receptive feeling for the evening's centerpiece, which followed it.

Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto for Two Pianos in E Major is a lively piece from the conductor's teens and shows clearly the influence upon him of earlier masters.

The first movement, Allegro Vivace, had a quality of Beethoven clearly impressed upon it. The elegantly dressed, sibling soloists - Amy and Sara Hamann - performed the work like a hearty conversation, passing the audience's focus from one to the other and back to the orchestra, with commanding ease.

The second movement, Allegro non troppo, proceeded especially remarkable, since it features separate solos for the pianists. Amy's was lyrical and had much of a Mozartian quality, while Sara's was stentorian and continued the evocation of Beethoven.

Both soloists demonstrated solid technique and sensitive interpretation and he resulting performance was enthusiastically received.

There was no intermission, but rather a brief pause, during which the house lights were kept out, following which the final symphony was performed.

Once again, Antonin Dvorak's work was undertaken, this time Symphony No. 8, Op. 88 in G Major.

That work is thoroughly bi-polar, with each movement having elements of nearly rollicking happiness, interwoven with dark, Slavic passion.

The first movement was evocate of both nature and the composer's bohemian roots. The CSO's woodwind section was featured and performed clearly and brightly.

The third movement bore traces of the famed gypsy violin. The overall effect was relatively simple melodies that had been orchestrated beautifully, taking advantage of the unique tone and color of the different instruments of the orchestra.

The CSO was in fine form, seemingly intent upon their guest conductor and quite responsive to his reading of all three works.

Robert W. Plyler has been arts critic of the Jamestown Post-Journal since 1980. He has written for Opera News and for Dance Magazine and does freelance writing

Since they were young children, Amy and Sara Hamann have been inseparable from their pianos. The sisters will join guest conductor Arthur Fagen and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra at 8:15 tonight in the Amphitheater.

Separated by 17 months, the sisters were paired together on the piano early on. "We looked so similar when we were little girls that our teachers would always put us on the bench together," Amy said.

The piano always had a special pull on both Amy and Sara. "It was something we were drawn to. Our parents never had to ask us to practice," Sara said.

The sisters began their studies separately at the Yamaha School of Music, and later began duo lessons. At college the sisters began to seriously study two-piano literature, which now they exclusively perform.

The sisters will perform Mendelssohn's Concerto for Two Pianos in E Major. "It is a conversation between the two pianists in a few sections, and a conversation among the pianists and the orchestra," Amy said.

"We wanted to do this one because it is less frequently done and we love it," Sara said. The sisters also chose the piece because it highlights the orchestra. "The orchestra is so great; it is really well showcased in the piece," Amy said.

The piece has three movements. The first movement, broken into three sections, begins with an orchestral introduction. Amy enters first, and is later joined by Sara. "We have our own little dialogue," Sara said. "It is very energetic, with big sounds coming from the orchestra and the pianists."

The second movement begins again with an orchestral introduction, but in this section, each pianist has a solo. "Each pianist is truly by herself, and then we come together at the end," Sara said.

The third movement features a lot of back and forth between the pianos, where one piano is more lyrical, while the other piano plays energetic and fast passages, Amy said.

In addition to playing the piano, the sisters perform on such period instruments as the harpsichord and pianoforte. Although it is unusual to hear a piano duo, there are many works written for two pianos, Amy said.

"Pieces are still being written today for two pianos," Sara said.

Sara and Amy enjoy their collaboration. "We feel very fortunate that we get to this together. Since we were 8 or 9 this was something we wanted."

The CSO will also perform Slavonic Dance, Opus 46, No. 1 by Dvorak and Symphony No. 8, Op. 88 in G Major, also by Dvorak.

Arthur Fagen is renowned as a conductor throughout the United States and Europe. He was born in New York and began his conducting studies under Laszlo Halasz. He attended Wesleyan College and Curtis Institute where he was under the guidance of Max Rudolf.

Fagen was the first prizewinner of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Conductors Competition, as well as prizewinner of the Gino Marinuzzi International Conductors' Competition in Italy.

In 2002, he became music director of the Dortmund Theatre, and in 2003 he made is debut as conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has held positions as principal conductor of the Kassel and Braunschweig Orchestra and Opera as well as Chief Conductor of the Antwerp and Ghent Opera and Orchestra.

He has an opera repertoire of more than 60 works, and has conducted opera companies such as, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera and the Munich State Opera.

They call themselves "pretty much complete opposites," and, at first glance, so they appear. Amy, seventeen months older that her sister, is animated and emotive; she loves the human form in representational art and has remodeled her own home. Sara, though as lively as Amy, is more serious in conversation, prefers Impressionistic landscapes, and takes long walks in her free time. They live separately, albeit not far from each other, in the southwest metro.

When the Hamanns take the concert stage, however, they are obviously and inextricably bound. Their togetherness as classical pianists has, in fact, earned them world renown, most recently, last fall, as the first American piano duo to win top honors in the Concorso Pianistico Internazionale in Rome. Since making their professional debut in St. Paul fifteen years ago, the sisters have traveled widely, appearing in such prestigious venues as the Chautauqua Institution in New York, the International Duo-Piano Festival in Quebec, and high-tone music festivals in half a dozen European cities. They will soon begin working on their first CD, and, on June 6, they perform at the Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota. (See About Town page 290.)

Though inspired by the legendary Labeque sisters of France, the Hamanns are decidedly Minnesotan. Born and raised in the Twin Cities, they are former winners of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies' Concerto Competition, graduates ofthe U of M (with majors, naturally, in piano performance). and, for the past three years, students of U of M piano professor Alexander Braginsky. Their professional headquarters is Amy's refurbished house near Lake Harriet, where the sisters typically practice three to five hours a day on one or more of their several pianos and harpsichords. Not surprisingly, given their practice regimen and many performance invitations ("We pretty much take everything," says Amy, with apparently only slight exaggeration), neither has time for a "day job."

The Hamanns began playing at four and five (there is a third, younger sister, Emily, who reportedly "hates" the piano) and have been a committed sister act ever since. "It's a very different life we've chosen," says Sara. "And I think because we've always known what we wanted, we've never gone through a period of wondering what we were going to do with our lives." Though they've remained close to family and a handful of friends, their dedication both to their music and each other has made "normal" social life - and, so far, marriage - impractical. "I'm sure some of our friends think we're crazy," Amy concedes. "Well, yeah, we're different.

"It's probably unusual that two sisters get along as well as we do and share the same drive and passion," Amy continues. "But we think it's a gift and we'd be crazy not to make the most of it."

Claire Joubert is arts and entertainment editor of the Mpls.St.Paul Magazine

Even their laughter is in tune. Sisters Amy and Sara Hamann are the first American piano duo to win the Absolute First Prize in the Concorso Pianistico Internazionale in Rome, collecting the maximum points the jury could award. "The translators announced there was no first prize awarded, and our hearts just sank to the floor - " Amy says, " - but then they announced we were the Absolute First Prize Winners," Sara says, finishing her sister's sentence. "We were so happy. It was very emotional." Practicing two to five hours a day, the sisters sometimes loose track of time, but never of their goal - which, as Sara declared in her senior high-school yearbook, to "be known as Hamann Sisters Worldwide." Well on their way, the duo is working on a classical music video project for the Bravo network and preparing for concert performances throughout the United States, England, France, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.

When did you get started as a duo? We started at age 4 and 5 at the Yamaha School of Music. At that age, we were doing duets - four hand music. Our first was an arrangement of Ode to Joy. We were always those weird kids that would practice hours and hours a day.

Was there any sibling rivalry when you were younger? Oh, yes! Playing four-hand piano, we were sharing the same bench. I [Amy] was always a little stronger than Sara, being the big sister, so I would shove her off the bench. But Sara would grow her pinky fingernail longer than the rest and cut it really sharp and scratch me. Then I'd screech and push her off the bench - and I'd be the one to get in trouble. We definitely aggravated each other.

What, or who, inspired you to pursue piano performance? When we were about 7 and 8, we learned about the Labeque sisters [Katia and Marielle], a French piano-playing duo. We collected all their recordings. About a year later, they were at the Ordway doing a recital for the Schubert Club for their international artists' series. We were taken backstage to meet them. They encouraged us to keep practicing. It was really one of those life-altering experiences, very motivating. We've never questioned what we wanted to do since.

How many hours do you spend practicing? We'll practice two hours a day minimum to keep our fingers in shape, but at least five hours a day when preparing for a performance. We practice by ourselves to do memory work before we come together for ensemble work. There are so many intricacies being in a duo. Things you would normally do as a solo artist, you can't do because you may throw the other person off.

How attuned are you to mistakes the other might make in the ensemble? Even without communicating verbally, we can read each other's thoughts. We have worked together so long. And when we practice, our backs are to each other, so it forces us to really listen. We've been doing this technique for three or four years, and it helps us to not rely on any visual cues to perfect our timing. We have an advantage over other duos. It can take years to become in-sync with your partner, but being sisters, it came really naturally to us. We have a special connection.

Did your parents make you practice? Our family is not musical. Our father is a doctor and our mother is a special ed teacher. They always supported what we were doing, but it wasn't a passion of theirs. They didn't really encourage us to go into this, but it was a decision they supported. They would be there, even if our dad was in the front row falling asleep with the video camera.

How active were teachers in your work? Our current instructor, Alexander Braginsky, a professor at the University of Minnesota, has made such an impact on us. We started working with him about three years ago, and he's completely turned our playing around. He's given us that push when we needed it and has been a really great support system. He's the first person we call when something good happens in our music.

What did you do in high school to be productive in your work? We were in the Edina public schools. We were having private instruction all along, but the school had a very strong music program, so we definitely got a lot of exposure. We were in concert band and concert choir and orchestra - basically every group. We played the flute and clarinet, as well. We were known for our music.

How did your classmates deal with your talent? There's always an air of competition in that age range, but people knew our success didn't come easily. We worked hours a day. We were voted most talented when we were seniors. People recognized we had a talent and weren't just doing it as a hobby.

Was there any stress when one or the other of you wanted to spend time with friends instead of practicing? Certainly, but it [piano] was such a priority for us. When you're in high school, you want to be with your friends, and it's difficult to keep things in perspective. Some years were hard, when one of us was out and the other wanted to practice. But we're good at balancing that now.

What is your favorite piece to perform? How do you receive other piano performances? Probably Reminiscences of Don Juan, but it really depends on what we're working on. When listening to music, we go into studying mode. It's very difficult to listen for leisure without that critical ear going. We learn so much from watching other artists play. Whether it's their physical approach to the music - if they drop their weight to create a louder sound or have different interpretations of a piece - it's looking at things like that. We love to listen to people who have really made the music their own.

What is your New Year's Resolution? Do you have any advice to people in the upcoming year? Never stop dreaming - if you have a vision and work hard enough, you can accomplish anything.

Courney Lewis is Minnesota Monthly's editorial intern.

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Local piano duo makes history
Sun Current
November 27, 2003

Edina High School graduates Amy and Sara Hamann received the Absolute First Prize in the 14th Concorso Pianistico Internazionale, held in Rome on October 27.

In the 36-year history of the competition, the Hamann sisters are the only American piano duo to receive this prize, and there were no Americans on the jury.

Amy and Sara Hamann also shared the top prize in the 4 hands category at the competition.

The Hamann sisters are also the youngest first-prize winners in the history of the National Federation of Music Ellis Competition for Duo-Pianists. In addition to winning the first prize, Amy and Sara were awarded the Lucile Parrish Ward Award for the best performance of American music.

As winners of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies' Concerto Competition, Amy and Sara made their professional debut at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. They have been featured artists at the Chautauqua Institution, the First Quebec International Duo-Piano Festival, as well as the Reding-Piette Two-Piano Festival in Switzerland.

Amy and Sara's performances have been broadcast on national and international television and radio, including NPR's "Performance Today."

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Minneapolis sisters win piano competition in Rome
Michael Anthony, Star Tribune
November 23, 2003

Amy and Sara Hamann of Minneapolis flew to Rome last month and came back winners. They are the first American piano duo to win the Absolute First Prize in the Concorso Pianistico Internazionale. In addition, they shared with another duo first prize in the category of four-hand - that is, one piano, two players - performance.

"We felt very good about our playing," said Sara Hamann. "But we couldn't read the jury at all. They had stone faces. So when we won, it was a pleasant surprise." Their trophy was a gold plate with their names on it.

Sara and Amy started piano lessons at ages 4 and 5. (Sara gives their current ages as "mid-20s.") As winners ofthe Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies Concerto Competition, they made their professional debut at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. They have been featured artists at the Chautauqua Institution and the Quebec International Duo-Piano Festival. Their idols are the Labeque sisters, Katia and Marielle.

"We saw the Labeques for the first time when we were little. They were on "The Tonight Show," Sara said. Then, at 8 and 9, they actually met their idols after a performance the Labeques gave at the Ordway Center. Bruce Carlson, manager of the Schubert Club, arranged the meeting. "The Labeques gave us a sense of direction," Sara said.

For the past three years the sisters have been studying privately with Alexander Braginsky, professor of piano at the University of Minnesota. Just a few years earlier, Braginsky had guided the careers of the Russian duo-piano team, the Elkina sisters. "None of our success would have been possible without Alex," said Sara.

Braginksy rates them highly. He talks especially about their strong stage presence. "They are dedicated to making a career," he said, "I think they will make it."

Upcoming engagements include performances, both recitals and with orchestra, in Europe and the United States - including one in the Twin Cities, though the contract for that one hasn't been finalized.

They do perform solo work occasionally, but they prefer the two-piano format. "We find it lonely onstage without the other one being there," said Sara.

Michael Anthony is at manthony@startribune.com.

Sisters share love of piano Sunday at Lenna Hall
Laura Pate, Chautauquan Daily
June 28, 2003

Sisters Amy and Sara Hamann spend every day together. They fight. They grow tired of one another. But they still spend every day together. They do this by choice.

The Minneapolis sisters say that to be successful, they practice piano together everyday. They say it is this practicing that helped them to win the National Federation of Music Clubs' 1999 Ellis Competition for Duo-Pianists.

The two will play a W.F.Bach Sonata in F Major, with three movements: Allegro moderato, Andante and Presto. Amy said she chose this piece because she believes it is an interesting combination of baroque and early classical style.

Next they will play Reminiscences of Don Juan, a piece which is based on themes originally written by Mozart and used as inspiration to Liszt.

They will also play a sonata by Hindemith and Lutoslawski's Variations on a Theme by Paganini.

Amy believes that Hindemith and Bach are especially good combinations. She enjoys hearing the similarities between the two. "They are both so far apart in chronology, but they used a lot of counterpoint in writing," Amy said.

In winning the National Federation of Music Clubs' 1999 Ellis competition, the sisters also won the Lucile Parrish Ward Award for the best performance of American music. The two also won the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies' Concerto Competition at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.

They also played as featured artists in the Quebec International Duo-Piano Festival as well as the Reding-Piette Two-Piano Festival in Switzerland.

The duo plans to make recital, concerto and festival appearances thorughout the United States and Europe.

Forecast - Pleasant with Much Music
Robert Sherman, New York Times
June 3, 2001

JAZZ violin, grand opera and what the artist Maurice Sendak calls ''a doodly life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'' are all part of the sixth annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas.

From June 14 through the end of the month, New Haven will be a hub of cultural activity, with literally dozens of events on each day's schedule -- plays, art exhibitions, theater productions, children's classes, schooner sails -- and an abundance of musical delights.

A few of the highlights:

On June 16, the Grammy Award-winning violinist Mark O'Connor, joined by Frank Vignola on guitar and Jon Burr on bass, will pay homage to Stephane Grapelli, the French master who died in 1997. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in the Hall of Graduate Studies Courtyard at Yale.

Other concerts in the courtyard will be the Wycliffe Gordon Quintet, with the Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez on June 17; the Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto on June 19; the piano-bass duo of Rex Cadwallder and David Chevan on June 20; and the percussionist Trilok Gurtu on June 21. On June 16 at 1 p.m., Neely Bruce gives a ragtime piano recital at the New Haven Historical Society. That same afternoon, at 5 p.m., the New Haven Symphony plays a free outdoor concert under its music director, Jung-Ho Pak. Bring a blanket and a picnic if you like to the quadrangle at Quinnipiac University.

Mozart (sort of) is the hero of ''Fantasy Sketches,'' a collaboration between Maurice Sendak and Amy Luckenbach, director of Milan's Teatro Minimo. The result is a puppet show that Mr. Sendak describes as a ''a Brooklyn Mozart as seen through the tiny prism of my own soul, a theatrical work that attempts to capture the very personal commentaries that I have compiled over a long life in the form of drawings and doodlings relating to the life and work of Mozart.''

Music by Mozart (and others) contributes to what Mr. Sendak described as ''a cockeyed life of Mozart, ending not so much with his death, but a total melding with all things eternal.'' There will be performances at 7 p.m. from June 20-24 in the Chapel Street Theater, with 2 p.m. matinees on the last two days.

As for the grand opera, that comes courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera, which has included the New Haven Green on its free ''Met in the Parks'' tour. Puccini's ''Tosca'' is the work on hand June 27 at 8 p.m., with Georgina Lukács in the title role, Fabio Armiliato as Cavaradossi, James Morris as Scarpia and Julius Rudel conducting. For a full listing of festival events, including other free programs, call (888) 278-4332.

Summer does not officially begin for a few weeks, but two summer pops concerts jump the gun next Saturday evening.

At 6:30 p.m., the Farmington Valley Symphony brings the romance of Italy to the lawn at Miss Porter's School, with overtures by two native composers, Rossini and Verdi, plus impressions penned by two celebrated visitors, ''Capriccio Italien'' by Tchaikovsky and the ''Italian Symphony'' by Mendelssohn.

''Come early and bring your family, lawn chairs and dinner,'' said the music director, John Eells, who promised to move to an indoor location in the event of rain. For tickets or directions, call (860) 651-9962.

The Symphony Pops Orchestra and two other Greenwich groups, the Choral Society, the Children's Chorus and Symphony Pops Orchestra, join forces next Saturday.

The program also features two popular Connecticut artists, Brenda Harris and Thomas Woodman, who will offer scenes from ''Porgy and Bess.'' The children help out in the Prayer from Humperdinck's ''Hansel and Gretel'' and the Humming Chorus from Puccini's ''Madame Butterfly,'' while the adult singers pluck favorites from the works of Mozart, Rossini, Verdi and Bizet.

Downbeat time is 7:30 p.m. in Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, which opens at 6 p.m. for picnics; the rain date is next Sunday at 6 P.m. For information, call all the Greenwich Arts Council at (203) 622-3998.

People who are looking for the Hartford Symphony and its sixth annual Talcott Mountain Festival will find it at a new location: Iron Horse Boulevard in downtown Simsbury. A pops flavor dominates the series, which begins June 29 and continues for the next three Friday evenings.

Opening night, with Randall Craig Fleischer conducting, is titled ''Red, White and Boom'' since fireworks will top off the program of patriotic hits and American favorites. On July 6, the cast of Bravo Broadway will contribute songs from ''Rent,'' ''Phantom of the Opera'' and other current musicals.

On June 13, John Eells takes the podium for a pre-Bastille visit to Paris, the orchestra assisted by the Simsbury Light Opera Chorus. The finale on July 20 comes back to Americana as the Count Basie Orchestra joins the Hartford Symphony for a Duke Ellington program. The concerts begin at 7:30 p.m., rain or shine, with an hour of musical games and other children's activities offered at 6:15 p.m. each evening. For reservations: (860) 244-2999.

Connecticut is unquestionably the summer place to be for chamber music lovers. Several festivals -- Chestnut Hill, Connecticut Early Music, Music Mountain, Norfolk, Silvermine and South Shore -- have racked up 294 years of music between them.

Norfolk does not open its 60th anniversary season until July, and Chestnut Hill will start its 32nd set of recitals in August. For advance listings, call (860) 542-3000 for Norfolk and (203) 245-5736 for Chestnut Hill.

The 19th Early Music Festival, meanwhile, gets under way Friday at 8 p.m. with the organist Kimberly Marshall playing dance music of the Renaissance and Baroque at St. John's Episcopal Church in Niantic.

Nine more weekend concerts follow at various locations in New London, Noank and Norwich.

Among the other highlights are a free children's introduction to music for voice and harpsichord by Rachel Rosales and the Festival director, John Metz, next Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in the Science Center of Eastern Connecticut; concertos for strings and organ next Sunday at 6 p.m. in Harkness Chapel of Connecticut College; music for two harpsichords, featuring Mr. Metz and Linda Skernick, June 15 at 8:30 p.m. in the Lyman Allyn Art Museum; and back to Harkness Chapel for the grand finale, the Mozart Requiem, in a new performing edition by Robert Levin, June 24 at 6 p.m.

Music Mountain, which proudly proclaims itself ''the oldest continuing summer chamber music festival in the United States,'' is also known for its singular dedication to the string quartet. Yes, there are jazz nights, an incursion of baroque flutes, even a special evening of Irish step dancing. But string foursomes rule the classical roost, often appearing with guest soloists.

At the first recital, next Sunday at 3 p.m., the Bert Lucarelli is featured on the oboe with the Leontovitch Quartet; when that ensemble returns on June 24, it will be in the pianistic company of Barry Snyder.

The festival runs through Aug. 25. Later events of note include the American debut of the Zapolski String Quartet of Denmark (June 30 and July 1), and multiple visits by the Blair, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Whitman quartets.

Among the other noted guest artists are the violinist Nardo Poy, the clarinetist Ethan Sloane, the double-bassist Alvin Brehm and the pianists Ruth Laredo, Peter Basquin, Frederic Chiu and Pamela Mia Paul. All Sunday matinees start at 3 p.m.; the Saturday recitals, plus a couple of Friday evening programs, start at 8 p.m. Information: (860) 824-7126.

On June 15, the South Shore Festival season, already under way, will feature the prize-winning pianists Amy and Sara Hamann applying their skills to the music of Bach, Brahms, Clementi and Arensky. On July 20, the Philharmonia Quartett, comprising principal players of the Berlin Philharmonic, arrives with a program of Mozart, Beethoven and Szymanowski. The season finale on Aug. 24 will be the St. Petersburg String Quartet, with the pianist Ludmil Angelov, playing Brahms, Schubert and Shostakovich. Information: (203) 227-0695.

Four concerts also make up the 43rd summer of the Silvermine Chamber Music Series, each held in the recently renovated auditorium at the Silvermine Guild Arts Center in New Canaan, where the galleries are opened for viewing during the intermission. The Aulos Ensemble Up will perform first with a recital at 8 p.m. on June 22. A classical guitar program with Peter Blanchette and Jean Chaine follows July 6. The Turtle Island String Quartet explores the contemporary scene July 20, and the Laurentian String Quartet concludes the cycle Aug. 3. Information: (203) 966-9700.

The Turtle Islanders are also part of the Sunset Series at Wesleyan University, with a performance at 8 p.m. July 13 in Crowell Hall. Among the other attractions: Buster Keaton's silent film classic ''Steamboat Bill,'' screened with live organ accompaniment (July 17 at 8 p.m. in Middletown's Church of the Holy Trinity); a piano recital by Neely Bruce (July 24 at 7 p.m. in Crowell); and consecutive evenings of gypsy fire with the Noche Flamenca troupe of Spain (July 26-27 at 8 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Theater). Information: (860) 685-3355.

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Concert more than lives up to its dramatic title
Dolph Bezoier, Rochester Post
March 21, 2001

The word "drama" was the title for the Rochester Orchestra and Chorale concert Saturday night. One-word titles have been used all season with varying degrees of appropriateness but it seemed that this one might be a bit of a stretch. I wasn't sure how Borodin, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Handel would rank on the dramatic scale. Still, done this well, and with the fine talents of a sister duo-piano team, this concert was not lacking in dramatic punch.

With the Orchestra and Chorale performing several Coronation Anthems Handel wrote for the coronation of England's George II in 1727, the concert started out most dramatically. Written for that grand occasion there is little subtlety involved. They were composed to be blockbusters and the chorale was fully up to the challenge.

The Orchestra and Chorale also joined for the finale of the concert, the Overture and Polovetsian Dances from Alexander Borodin's Opera, Prince Igor. We heard the familiar Stranger in Paradise used in the Broadway show Kismet, plus many other brief melodies. Borodin's rich orchestration calls for the largest possible sound. The work is made up of ornate harmonies and rollicking rhythms. It is a delight for chorus members but it only works with the backup of a full orchestra. It was an appropriately dramatic ending for the concert.

Earlier we heard the Overture: The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) by Mendelssohn. In its low, sweeping melodies we can almost see and feel the rising tide as wind and waves move into the caves on islands off the Scottish coast. This is at once a romantic musical picture and a specific advancement in the growth of symphonic form. Serious music students delight in tracing the growth of the form, melody and harmony through various musical periods. Academics aside, it is just a delight to hear them.

Featured in the concert was the performance of sisters Amy and Sara Hamann, young pianists from the Twin Cities area. After establishing a strong reputation in this region, they have toured various sections of the United States and won special recognition in Canada, the Czech Republic, France and Switzerland.

The very appearance of these young women, in matching long gowns, taking their places at the twin grand pianos, was a bit of drama in itself. Even more exciting was their musical talent. They seem equally talented with lightning fast fingering and a fine understanding of musical nuance.

The two grands were in a line on the stage. The soloists, though facing each other, were about 14 feet apart, but they seemed to be of a single mind. Often it was a musical dialogue with alternating comments. But many times a single very fast phrase would race from one keyboard to the other so seamlessly that it was hard to tell which instrument was playing.

The music was the Mozart Concerto in E-flat Major for Two Pianos and Orchestra. To most of us, Mozart piano music is the very essence of the classic style and is sometimes compared to style and grace of classical ballet. Perhaps not everyone would consider it dramatic but elegance with this flair carries a drama all its own.

Then responding to the applause the Hamann sisters gave us an encore, a Spanish Dance by Infante. It was a delicious romp.

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Sisters win national duo-piano competition
Sun Current
April 22, 1999

Sisters Amy and Sara Hamann walked away with $10,000 and two years of concert dates as winners of the Ellis Competition for Duo Pianists in Spartanburg, S.C., in March.

The competition, sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs, is a competition for duo pianists.

Since its imception in 1991, only three teams have been declared first-place winners. The Hamanns, both in their early 20s, are the youngest pair to win the contest, according to the federation.

The sisters impressed the judges with a 70-minute program that included Wilhelm Friedmann Bach's Sonata in F Major and Johannes Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn.

The women also won the $1,500 Lucile Parrish Award for the best performance of an American composition. They played John Corigliano's Kaleidoscope.

"Everything fell into place - we could not have played any better," said Sara Hamann, who lives in Bloomington. "We have been working so long and so hard, winning the competition was very rewarding."

The Hamann sisters' first concert following the Ellis Competition will be in May at the Music Federation's convention in St. Louis.

Amy Hamann, a resident of Minneapolis, and her sister began their joint piano studies at the ages of 5 and 4 at the Yamaha School of Music.

They made their first professional appearance at the former World Theater in St. Paul in 1989 as winners of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies' Concerto Competition.

After a summer of study with Jackson Berkey, keyboard artist for Mannheim Steamroller, they enrolled as piano performance majors at the University of Minnesota School of Music.

Minnesota sisters win duo-piano competition
Jose Franco, Spartanburg Herald
March 28, 1999

Sisters Amy and Sara Hamann of Minneapolis walked away with $10,000 Saturday as winners of the Eliis Competition for Duo Pianists at Converse College.

The competition, sponsored by the National Federation of Music Clubs since 1991, is a highly regarded competition for duo pianists.

The sisters' performance Saturday morning dazzled the audience and three judges. All music must be performed from memory. Selections included Kaleidoscope by John Corigliano and Concerto for Two Pianos in E Major by Felix Mendelssohn.

The sisters also won the $1,500 Lucile Parrish Award for the best performance of an American composition.

"It was a stunning performance; they sounded like one," said Barbara Irish, president of the National Federation of Music Clubs.

"After the first couple of notes, everything fell into place," said Amy Hamann, who read about the competition last year in Musical America. "It's so rewarding when all of your hard work pays off."

In the competition's short history, only three teams have been declared first-place winners.

Irish of Ithaca, N.Y., said the competition is attractive to artists who what to pursue a career as duo-pianists.

"It's considered very prestigious nationally because of its rigorous repertoire," she said.

After the Hamanns learned they were finalists in December, they practiced 10 hours every day - five hours alone and five hours together.

"A life as duo pianists has been our dream since we were about nine years old," Sara Hamann said. "We have always had the same goals. Although we got on each other's nerves the last couple of weeks, this competition really brought us closer together."

Judges for the competition were Henry Janiec, former dean of the School of Music at Converse College; Allison Nelson, member of the piano duo Nelson and Neal; and Elizabeth Pridonoff, teacher at the Cincinnati Conservatory.

The Hamann sisters' first concert will be at the music federation's convention in St. Louis in May.