World premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's 'Hailli Lirico'. Also featuring works by Eleanor Alberga, David Garner, Gustav Holst, and Urmas Sisask.
ZOFO turned 10!
upcoming shows
ZOFO will perform the world premiere of Pablo Ortiz's 'ZOFO Encajonado' with the San José Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Maestra Barbara Day Turner.
ZOFORBIT: A Space Odyssey. Works by George Crumb, Gustav Holst, David Lang and Urmas Sisask.
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"...jaw-dropping awesome!" - SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Since joining forces as a professional duo in 2009, internationally acclaimed solo pianists EVA-MARIA ZIMMERMANN and KEISUKE NAKAGOSHI - ZOFO - have electrified audiences from Carnegie Hall to Tokyo Japan with their dazzling artistry and outside-the-box thematic programming for piano-four-hands. This GRAMMY-nominated, prize-winning Steinway Artist Ensemble - one of only a handful of duos worldwide devoted exclusively to piano duets - is blazing a bold new path for four-hands groups by focusing on 20th and 21st century repertoire and by commissioning new works from noted composers each year.
"...dazzling..." - LOS ANGELES TIME
ZOFO, which is shorthand for 20-finger orchestra (ZO=20 and FO=finger orchestra), also performs heart-pumping duet arrangements of famous orchestral pieces such as Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," exploring the realms in which many composers first experienced their symphonic visions. They believe that the piano duet is the most intimate form of chamber music, with two musicians playing individual parts on one instrument in a complex, often beautiful choreography of four hands.
Since its inception in 2009, ZOFO has made some remarkable achievements:
TWO GRAMMY NOMINATIONS: 2013 Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Producer of the Year, Classical, for their debut album MIND MELD
FIRST PLACE: 2010 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition
CARNEGIE HALL concert debut: May 2010
FINALISTS: 2011 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition - only piano duo to be elevated to the final round
MULTI-DISC RECORDING CONTRACT with GRAMMY Award winning Sono Luminus Records
STEINWAY ARTIST ENSEMBLE designation conferred by Steinway & Sons
12 SELF-COMMISSIONED WORKS by noted composers including Pulitzer Prize winner William Bolcom, Gabriela Lena Frank and Terry Riley
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES at prestigious venues across the United States and in Europe and Japan. They have been featured on American Public Media's Performance Today and in a live in-studio performance on WFMT Chicago's Impromptu.
"ZOFO's feisty performances surge with athletic precision, always mindful of how much joy there is in the music." - WASHINGTON POST
Eva and Keisuke are sincerely grateful to the amazing fans, family, and arts granting organizations who have made it possible for them to commission and perform new duet works each year, including their first major commissions from composers Gabriela Lena Frank, Allen Shawn, William Bolcom and Terry Riley. Based in San Francisco, California, ZOFO is a fiscally sponsored Affiliate of The San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.
If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to help fund ZOFO's commissioning projects, please CLICK