Ghadeer Abaido and Svetozar Ivanov present “Fancy” – a program inspired by John Keats’ poem “Fancy”. The concert features “Fantasies” for piano 4-hands by English Renaissance composers Tomkins and Carleton, Viennese composers Mozart and Schubert, and American composers Feldman and Lang. Verses of the poem along with other pre-recorded material are woven into the program.

Fancy

Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Fantasy in F Minor, K 608 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Fancy for two to play – Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)

Gravity – David Lang (b.1957)

A Verse for two to play – Nicholas Carleton (1570-1630)

Fantasy in F Minor, D 940 – Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

“Fancy” by John Keats (1795-1821) read by Seth Travaglino

GHADEER ABAIDO is a Palestinian-Jordanian pianist with extensive experience in the music world. From performing classical music as a soloist to collaborating with chamber music groups and orchestras in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

She received her Bachelors degree from the National Music Conservatory in Jordan. While living in Jordan, she performed the Tchaikovsky piano concerto under the baton of Mohammed Uthman Siddiq, and Liszt’s second piano concerto in collaboration with the conductor Jose Arean.

Ghadeer was also actively involved with the humanitarian aid organization War Child, where she was dedicated to working with refugees in different parts of Jordan.

Ghadeer Abaido worked briefly in Dubai as a film-score composer; her music won two Lynx awards and was featured in the Dubai International Film Festival. She moved to the United States in 2017, and completed her masters in the University of South Florida. While studying at USF, she won the concerto competition and went on to perform Liszt’s Totentanz with the USFSO. She was also awarded first place in the USF piano competition for her performance of the Liszt piano sonata and Beethoven’s Op. 109. Ghadeer also participated in the Osaka International Piano competition, where she won first place in the U.S. regionals, and went on to Japan for the finals. Ghadeer most recently won the Iowa Performance Fellowship award from the University of Iowa, where she completed her Doctorate in Piano performance under the guidance of Dr. Rene Lecuona. Ghadeer Abaido has taken part in music festivals regionally and around the world; some festivals she performed in are the Cincinnati Young Artists Chamber Music Festival, the Harvard Chamber Music Festival, the Savonlinna Chamber Music Festival in Finland, the International Brancaleoni Music Festival in Italy, and the International Prague Piano Festival. She hasperformed in masterclasses for and studied with world famous pianists such as Ralf Gothoni, Valentina Lisitsa, Antonio Pompa-Baldi and Richard Goode.

Ghadeer enjoys performing chamber music and arranging orchestral works for marimba and piano with her duo partner William Brown. The Abaido-Brown Duo first met at the University of South Florida, debuting with an electrifying performance of Danse Macabre. The two players have since developed an astounding repertoire, joining forces in bringing new life to beloved classics in both recording and performance. Ghadeer Abaido currently serves as piano professor at the University of South Florida, and as instructor at the Tampa Bay Music Academy.

Pianist SVETOZAR IVANOV has made numerous appearances as recitalist and orchestra soloist worldwide. Numerous publications have praised his recent solo CD’s; the album Naked Tango was called “superbly original, quite moving, personal and musically absorbing” while his CD Vers la flamme was celebrated for performances which were “played with aplomb, panache and complete conviction” and interpretation “filled with sensual longing, anguished yearning, anxious dread and provocative energy”. Regarding his album Echo one reviewer wrote: “Ivanov’s most distinctive gift as a pianist is his ability to draw us inward, which imparts the feeling that we’re approaching a mystery”. Dream Images was hailed for “performances of purified beauty that can leave you breathless” and his most recent album Intermissions was praised for its “combination of maturity, deeply felt expression, and dignity.” Recent performance venues include Carnegie, Merkin, and Steinway Halls in New York City, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Splendor and Bethaniënklooster in Amsterdam, Guildhall, Royal College, and Goldsmith in London, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Razumovsky Salon in Vienna, Salon Chritophori in Berlin, RNCM in Manchester, Royal Academy of Music in Denmark, RCS in Prague, as well as numerous concert series at universities throughout the US. Recent festival appearances include “Pianomaster”, “PianoEchos”, “Terre d’Arezzo”, “Autunno Musicale”, and “Classicariano” in Italy, “Krakow Piano Festival” in Poland, “Música de Besalú” in Spain, “Pianotune” in Belgium, “Seiler” in Greece, “Walled City” in Northern Ireland, “Salon des Arts” and “Sofia Music Weeks” in Bulgaria, “Peter the Great” in the Netherlands, “Chautauqua” in New York, “Killington” in Vermont, and “Fox River” in Wisconsin. Svetozar Ivanov is especially recognized for his creative work designing unusual concert formats combining music with other art forms (documentary footage, art films, animation, poetry, short stories, live dance improvisation, paintings, lighting design, live streaming). His DVD Perpetual Tango explores the synthesis between music, movement, multimedia, and was released by Naxos in 2018. His latest video projects include Music of Shadows and the Poetry Series - a poetry inspired collection of twelve short films.

Svetozar Ivanov is Professor of Piano at University of South Florida, serves as Artist Faculty at Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Vermont, Brancaleoni Music Festival in Italy, Prague Piano Festival, Walled City Music Festival in Northern Ireland, and is the Artistic Director of the Steinway Piano Series in Florida. He is a Steinway Artist and holds degrees from the Bulgarian National Conservatory and University of Michigan.