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Konstantin Soukhovetski will perform a recital at The Rising Stars Piano Series on May 25, in memory of the series founder and long-standing board member Liliane Questel. COURTESY SOUTHAMPTON CULTURAL SOCIETY
The Rising Stars Piano Series will present a recital with Konstantin Soukhovetski at Southampton Cultural Center on Saturday, May 25, in memory of the series founder and long-standing board member Liliane Questel, who died in March. COURTESY SOUTHAMPTON CULTURAL SOCIETY
The Rising Stars Piano Series will present a recital with Konstantin Soukhovetski on Saturday, May 25, at 6 p.m. in memory of the series founder and long-standing board member Liliane Questel. The concert will take place at Southampton Cultural Center’s Levitas Center for the Arts.
Questel, who died in March, cared deeply for classical music, particularly the piano. An accomplished, prize-winning concert pianist, she mentored many of today’s leading pianists and played a vital role as a presenter, providing a performance opportunity for the crème de la crème of the pianists via the Rising Stars Series.
Her legacy will continue at the SCC, as it renames the Rising Stars as Liliane Questel Piano Series, continuing her work of forging the path for the future of piano music on the East End.
In this special recital in Questel’s memory, Paul Schenly, founder and director of Pianofest in the Hamptons, will be the emcee and Konstantin Soukhovetski, who was the first pianist to perform in the Rising Stars Piano Series in 2002, will perform works by Questel’s favorite composers — Bach, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Soukhovetski. He and Questel were close friends and eventually managed the series together. Soukhovetski will remain the managing director.
Born in Moscow to a family of artists, Soukhovetski studied at the Moscow Central Special Music School, where he double-majored in piano and composition. The winner of 17 awards from prestigious international piano competitions, Soukhovetski has performed to critical acclaim at leading venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and The Louvre. Newly appointed the Director of Education and Community Engagement at Grand Piano Series in Naples, Florida, he is also an adjunct faculty member at his alma mater, the Juilliard School in New York City. He often served on the selection jury of the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition (where he took Bronze in 2003).
Southampton Cultural Center’s Levitas Center for the Arts is at 25 Pond Lane in Southampton. Tickets are $20 in advance at scc-arts.org or $ 25 at the door. Students under 21 attend at no charge.
Staff Writer on May 6, 2024