Husband-and-wife duo in Valentine prelude concert Feb. 9 for Tuesday Musical

As a Valentine’s Day prelude, the husband-and-wife duo of flutist Marina Piccinini and pianist Andreas Haefliger perform Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m., presented by Tuesday Musical Association in EJ Thomas Hall at The University of Akron. Two days later, they will perform again at the Kennedy Center for the Washington Performing Arts Virtuoso Series.  

Both programs include Prokofiev’s Sonata for Flute and Piano in D Major, Dalbavie’s Nocturn, and Franck’s Sonata for Flute and Piano in A Major. Also on the program is Sonatine for Flute and Piano by Pierre Boulez, who died Jan. 5. 

Tickets are $25 to $45, and free for all students through Tuesday Musical's voucher program. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.tuesdaymusical.org or call Tuesday Musical at 330-761-3460. Tickets will also be on sale at the door that evening as long as seats are available.

Hailed by Gramophone as “the Heifetz of the flute,” Piccinini is in demand as a soloist with orchestras around the world, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Montreal Symphony. The first flutist to win the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant from Lincoln Center, Piccinini saw her career launched when she won First Prize in the CBC Young Performers Competition in Canada and, a year later, First Prize in New York’s Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Piccinini began her flute studies in Toronto with Akron’s own Jeanne Baxtresser and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School.

Andreas Haefliger grew up in Germany, going on to study at Juilliard. Following Haefliger’s performance last month at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Daily Telegraph cited the pianist’s affinity for works by Beethoven, observing that "Haefliger would be ideal casting for a Beethoven bio-pic, but it would have to be a serious film, for he is a very serious artist."

While in Akron, Haefliger and Piccinini will also teach master classes at The University of Akron’s School of Music.