Artistic Directors
Bergmann Piano Duo – Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann
The newly named Artistic Directors of White Rock Concerts are truly a team – husband and wife, and also partners in the Bergmann Duo – one of North America’s leading two piano ensembles.
As artists they are frequently on tour both at home in Canada and abroad. On the Canadian concert scene, in recent seasons they have re-invented two-piano touring by taking their own two grand pianos with them. They have recently completed major tours of interior British Columbia, Vancouver Island, and Alberta.
As administrators, they are now programming for one of Canada’s most successful membership-only concert series. The Bergmanns also continue to serve as Artistic Directors of the concert series at the Langley Community Music School.
The Bergmann Piano Duo’s dynamic and energetic performances of uniquely eclectic programmes have inspired audiences for more than two decades. Their recitals and concerts with orchestra have taken them to many parts of the world, including the United States, Italy, Germany, Holland, Greece and Canada. The duo has appeared at international festivals including: The San Francisco International Music Festival, MusicFest Vancouver, the celebrated Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Banff Arts Festival, the Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition, the International Two Piano Symposium and Schubertiade, Miami, the Tage für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, the Braunschweiger Kammermusik Podium and at the EXPO 2000, Hannover.
They have made recordings for the CBC, for several stations of the ARD in Germany and for National Public Radio. The duo has recorded several CDs, which appear on the CordAria, Arktos, Koch International Classics, Naxos and Brilliant Classics labels. As founding members of the International Piano Quartet they had the opportunity to record Stravinsky’s Les Noces under the direction of Robert Craft at the Abbey Road Studios in London. Their latest two releases on the Brilliant Classics label feature Marcel’s arrangement for 4 pianos of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells and a collection of minimal music for multiple pianos also featuring Marcel’s compositions.
The duo studied with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hannover and with Jean-Eudes Vaillancourt at the Université de Montréal. They received first prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta, Italy, and were laureates of The 4th Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition. They performed extensively in Germany as members of the young artists’ roster of Yehudi Menuhin-Live Music Now.
In addition to their performing careers they also enjoy teaching and working in other capacities in the music industry. From 2009-2013 Marcel was Professor of Music at Mohawk College in Hamilton. Elizabeth and Marcel have been on faculty at Mount Royal University and University of Calgary as well as being involved in various musical projects at The Banff Centre for the Arts. In 2004/2005, they served as Artistic Directors of The Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition and Foundation in Miami. They were members of the Calgary based group Land’s End Chamber Ensemble, recipients of the 2005 and 2006 Western Canadian Music Awards for Outstanding Classical Recording.
Committed to supporting the production of new repertoire, the duo has commissioned and premiered several works by Canadian composers. Their extensive repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary and includes numerous own arrangements and compositions.
