Fallbrook Music Society to present four hands piano

FALLBROOK – Fallbrook Music Society invites the community to attend a one-of-a-kind concert experience with four hands piano Sunday, Oct. 29, featuring Fallbrook favorites, Naomi Hobbs and Yumiko Oya. The 3 p.m. concert will be held in the Community Room of the Fallbrook Public Library and is free to the general public. No tickets are required.

“If you have never seen four hands piano, it’s thrilling,” Ann Murray, executive director of Fallbrook Music Society, said.

Four hands piano is a technique of two pianists performing simultaneously on one keyboard, and it requires amazing concentration, synergy and skill. Four hands piano evolved based on venues having started in smaller spaces where there was only room for room for one piano. In four hands piano, one pianist sits to the left side, playing the bass, left-hand notes with both hands, and the other pianist sits to the right side and plays the treble, right-hand notes with both hands.

Hobbs and Oya have been playing together for the past three years. They met at a concert where Hobbs was performing and Oya was in attendance. After the performance, Oya approached Hobbs and asked her if she would like to perform as a piano duet, and Hobbs agreed. According to Hobbs, the key to successful four-hand performances is agreeing musically and having a similar musical sense.

“We have very similar ideas about music,” Hobbs said. “We have no problem agreeing.”

The repertoire for four hands piano is typically arranged from other composers and are not originally written for four hands. The program, Oct. 29, features a number of compositions arranged by Hobbs, including two pieces from Astor Piazzolla, “Libertango” and “Milonga del Angel.”

“Our patrons will remember these Piazzolla works from previous concerts, but Naomi and Yumiko will present an amazing twist on these favorites,” Murray said.

The concert begins with a program preview at 2:30 p.m., during which Hobbs and Oya will discuss four hands technique and how arrangements are accomplished. A reception immediately follows the concert on the poet’s patio. More information is available through the Fallbrook Music Society website, http://www.FallbrookMusicSociety.org, or by calling the society at (760) 451-8644.