All recitals are held at 7:30pm in the Music Recital. Admission for each is $20 general and $15 student/senior.

The fall 2013 Piano Series will open with a recital by guest artist Dmitry Rachmanov on Saturday, October 19. The concert will feature works by Scriabin. Dr. Dmitry Rachmanov is a Professor of Piano at California State University, Northridge, where he serves as Chair of Keyboard Studies. A sought-after master class clinician and lecturer, Dr. Rachmanov has served on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music, Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and Long Island Conservatory, SUNY, and has appeared as a guest artist at schools such as UCLA, University of Chicago, Indiana University, Brandeis University, University of Washington, University of Iowa, University of Alaska, Tulane University, Royal Northern College of Music (UK), Shanghai Conservatory and Beijing Central Music School. Dmitry Rachmanov is a graduate of The Juilliard School and he holds the DMA from Manhattan School of Music.

An additional recital in the fall will feature guest artist Adam Neiman on Saturday, November 23. His recital will include Beethoven’s Opus 106, the “Hammerklavier” Sonata. A highly-acclaimed recitalist, Neiman has performed in most of the major cities and concert halls throughout the United States and Canada. His European solo engagements have brought him to Italy, France, Germany, and Japan, where he made an eight-city tour culminating in his debut at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. Chosen as a featured artist by director and Academy Award nominee Josh Aronson, Adam Neiman appeared in the PBS documentary film "Playing for Real," which aired worldwide and continues to air on the Bravo and Ovation networks. A two-time winner of Juilliard’s Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Neiman received the Rubinstein Award upon his graduation in 1999, the same year in which he received the Avery Fisher Career Grant.

The annual Piano Festival will be held February 22-24, 2014. The preliminary round of the Valencia Young Pianist Competition will be held on Saturday, February 22 (not open to the public). A maximum of six finalists will be chosen to perform in the Final Round on Monday, Feb. 24 at 7:30pm, in front of an audience at Capistrano Music Recital Hall. This recital is free and open to the public. View the Piano Festival website for more info.

As part of the Piano Festival, guest artist Timothy Smith will be performing on Saturday, February 22 at 7:30pm. His recital will include Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at and Exhibition”. Smith, who has been described as "A pianist who interlaces grace with bursts of power and color" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, is Professor of Piano and head of Piano Studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Raised in Seattle, Washington, Smith began private piano studies at age five, and at ten was accepted into the Pre-College division of the Juilliard School. He made his orchestral debut at the age of 15. His undergraduate studies were at the University of Washington in Seattle, with Bela Siki, where Smith received numerous awards and scholarships. He continued graduate study as a scholarship student of Martin Canin at Juilliard where he received his Master of Music degree, and later at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, again with Martin Canin, where he was awarded the Doctorate of Musical Arts in 1985. Dr. Smith has won major prizes and recognition in international competitions, including the Casadesus (5th prize), Gina Bachauer (4th prize), Washington, D.C. International (3rd prize), Queen Elizabeth (Brussels) (semi-finalist), among others. As a winner of the Artists International Competition, Smith made his New York recital debut in Carnegie Recital Hall.

On Saturday, March 15, 2014, guest artist Natalya Shkoda will be performing works by Ukrainian composer Viktor Kosenko. A native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Natalya Shkoda is considered to be one of today's most dynamic and exciting young artists, master teachers and competition adjudicators. Dr. Shkoda holds degrees and diplomas from Arizona State University (Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance, 2006; Master of Music in Piano Performance, 2001), Kharkiv State Kotlyarevsky University of the Arts (Diplomas with Distinction in Piano and Musicology and Concert Performer's Qualification, 1999) and Kharkiv Special Music School for Gifted Children in Ukraine (Diploma with a Gold Medal in Piano and Composition, 1994). Since presenting her first solo recital and winning the National Young Composers' Competition in Kiev, Ukraine, at the age 13, she has performed numerous solo, accompanying and chamber music recitals in Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, France and throughout the U.S. She has also appeared as a soloist with the orchestras nationwide including the MasterWorks Symphony, the Southwest Symphony, the Paradise Symphony and the North State Symphony. Dr. Shkoda is an Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at California State University, Chico.

The season rounds out with a recital by Natsuki Fukasawa on Saturday, April 19, 2014. This recital will feature Beethoven’s “Moonlight” and Opus 101 sonatas, as well as Johann Strauss’ “Kunstlerleben”. Natsuki Fukasawa's music career has taken her throughout most U.S. cities as well as to Europe, Scandinavia, Israel, Australia, Japan, China and Hong Kong in the role of soloist and chamber musician. As a founding member of the award-winning Jalina Trio, Natsuki has won many accolades and international prizes, including a rave review in Fanfare magazine and the Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year from the Danish Music Awards. In 2012, Natsuki was added to the distinguished roster of international Steinway Artists. A Fulbright Scholar, she earned her degrees from Juilliard, Prague Academy in the Czech Republic and the University of Maryland. Natsuki records for Classico and Da Capo labels and her career is noted in the World of Women in Classical Music and Who's Who in America.