Pianist presents ‘unprecedented’ gift for Orchestra Iowa

CEDAR RAPIDS - Grammy-winning concert pianist Emanuel Ax is giving Orchestra Iowa a priceless gift of his time and artistry, waiving his fee for a weeklong residency in the Corridor next April.

The offer came out of the blue this spring, and the orchestra gladly accepted.

'I almost cried when I heard the news,” said Maestro Timothy Hankewich, the orchestra's music director. 'The magnitude of this gift is unprecedented. We're talking in the high five digits or low six figures that normally makes an artist of his magnitude unreachable for an orchestra our budget size.”

It's a much-needed confidence boost, as well.

'I've been working so hard saving this orchestra through the flood and preaching the gospel that what we have here in the Corridor is exceptional and rare. When somebody the stature of Emanuel Ax took notice and asked to come here to play, it was a dream come true,” Hankewich said.

'He knows that orchestras our size are like the canary in the coal mine, and that orchestras can easily disappear through either economic hardship or just plain indifference. So it says a lot about our organization when he asks to play with our orchestra in its support, to fund raise for the orchestra, to invest in the community in terms of a gala performance and master classes - all for free - tells me how dedicated he is to his art, and how much he believes in the importance of the work we do here,” Hankewich said.

'It speaks to the quality of the orchestra, of the musicians, of the collaborations that we do the community and our goals of reaching further beyond Cedar Rapids and into some of the surrounding communities as well, where we're really striving to serve a large population and bring just outstanding artists and outstanding music to the Eastern Iowa area,” said Jeff Collier, Orchestra Iowa's CEO.

Outreach will be a large component of the residency.

'He wants to play for students, so we'll be busing in students from the schools to come hear him play, and he wants to visit the children's hospital (in Iowa City). He really wants to roll up his sleeves and not just talk the talk but walk the walk,” Hankewich said.

It's an amazing opportunity for those students, he added.

'As I get older, I realize how rare it is to be able to touch greatness. I remember growing up with friends who remember hearing Rachmaninoff play. This is close to the same thing,” he said.

Details still are being firmed up, but as part of the orchestra's Masterworks series, Ax will be performing Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 with the orchestra at 7:30 p.m. April 14 at the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids and at 2:30 p.m. April 15 in the University of Iowa's Voxman Concert Hall in Iowa City.

Hankewich, also an accomplished pianist, described the Brahms piece as 'one of the most difficult.”

'I've been waiting for a special occasion and special pianist to perform it,” he said.

The free residency is part of an initiative Ax has been conducting for several years with symphonies the size of Orchestra Iowa, Hankewich said. It comes on the heels of the master pianist's sold-out recital Dec. 6 at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City. A longtime friend of Hancher and its audiences, Ax helped select the auditorium's new Steinway concert grand piano, and signed it after his concert.

Several other factors may have put Orchestra Iowa on his radar, as well.

'He may have heard of our reputation when he was here; he may have heard of our reputation throughout the industry,” Hankewich said.

Ax also works with the same management agency as saxophonist Branford Marsalis, who performed two concerts and some educational outreach with Orchestra Iowa in March.

And Hankewich has a personal connection dating back more than a decade, during his tenure with the Kansas City Symphony.

'I did have the wonderful occasion to work with him when I was in Kansas City, in which I appeared in concert with him, without a rehearsal, to perform the Brahms first piano concerto,” Hankewich said. 'It's unbelievably amazing to have such close proximity to a legend. In the few interactions I've had with him through my career, it's refreshing to know he's as warm a human being as he is as brilliant an artist.”

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