  As we begin our fifth year, we are proud to present a seminal event that was two years in the making. The 2007 festival will honor the legacy of legendary Russian-American classical pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Horowitz’s personal Steinway grand piano will be in residence during the festival, thanks to the efforts and support of the Rice Music House who generously underwrote and organized the residency through Steinway and Sons. Students selected to participate in the festival will have an unprecedented opportunity to perform and record on this marvelous instrument. David Dubal, a close friend of Horowitz, and Franz Mohr, Horowitz’s piano technician, share personal accounts of their association with this great musician. John Kenneth Adams will shed light on the tumultuous life of the legendary pianist. Concert pianists, Santiago Rodriguez, Valery Kuleshov, and Edisher Savitski will mesmerize the audiences with their probing artistry and dazzling technique. As a special tribute to Horowitz, Valery Kuleshov will perform some of Horowitz’s most complex, unpublished piano transcriptions.
LEGENDARY PIANOS
With help and generous support by the Rice Music House, a proud sponsor of the First Prize of the Arthur Fraser Concerto Competition and of the Southeastern Piano Festival,
we are able to present to you Three Legendary Pianos.
Vladimir Horowitz’s Steinway Concert Grand Piano will be on the stage of the Recital Hall in use exclusively for the festival participants and guests. All participants will perform on this instrument during the “Hands-on Horowitz” Concert on Tuesday, June 12 and will receive a recording of their performance.
In addition to Horowitz’s own personal Steinway, The Van Cliburn Steinway Concert Grand Piano and The Rhapsody Art Case Piano by Steinway and Sons will be on display at the School of Music (first floor, lobby area), free and open to general public. Here is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to touch and play these marvelous instruments. There will even be recording equipment set up in the room, so your experience can be recorded upon request.
The Vladimir Horowitz Steinway Concert Grand Piano:
 This Steinway Concert Model D Grand in ebony was a gift to Horowitz from his wife, Wanda Toscanini-Horowitz. It was Horowitz’s touring instrument until his death in 1989. Horowitz used it exclusively wherever he performed including the historic concerts marking his return to Moscow and Leningrad. This piano was also used during his concert tours of Europe, Japan, Britain and The White House. The instrument resided in Maestro Horowitz’s New York City residence on the East Side for many years. Since his death, the piano has been used in performance and recordings by select other musicians and artists, notably Rudolf Firkusny, Horacio Gutierrez, Alicia de Larrocha and Murray Perahia. It has been touring the world where it has been available for concerts and recitals by piano performers and connoisseurs.
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The Van Cliburn Steinway Concert Grand Piano:
 This Steinway Concert Grand piano is owned and played on extensively by the legendary pianist Van Cliburn. It is on loan from his personal collection of Steinway Grand pianos.
Van Cliburn rocketed to worldwide fame by winning the coveted First Prize in the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow during the height of Cold War in 1958. For this achievement, he was honored with a “ticker tape” parade in New York City, the only pianist in history given this acclamation. It has launched Cliburn on a meteoric career as a featured piano soloist with prestigious orchestras around the world. He is also a recipient of the coveted “Kennedy Centers Honors Award.” Van Cliburn continues to be a major force in piano music with the establishment of the world famous Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.
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The Rhaposody Art Case Piano by Steinway and Sons:
Legendary piano to honor the legendary George Gershwin.
Brilliant, captivating, inspiring…. The words that describe this art deco Steinway Grand piano equally apply to its inspiration: the legendary Steinway artist George Gershwin.
Crafted in tribute to the 100th Anniversary of his birth, the piano is color of midnight blue with over 400 mother of pearl stars inlaid on its outer case. The inside cast iron plate is glided in silver to give the impression that the piano is emanating light when it is opened. The piano was designed by Frank Pollaro, one of the leading veneer craftsmen in the United States today, whose complex veneered and inlaid furniture has been featured in numerous publications and on television.
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