When Blair School of Music piano professor Sun-A Park and her husband, pianist Ammon Perry Bratt, sit down at the piano together Sept. 1, they’ll share more than the stage. They’ll share the same 88 keys.
Park and Bratt will open Blair’s fall performance season with a special piano four-hands recital as part of the Blair Master Series. The program, featuring works by American composers Judith Lang Zaimont, Amy Beach, Samuel Barber and George Gershwin, celebrates the richness of American music during the nation’s 250th anniversary year.
The couple’s musical partnership at the piano began somewhat by circumstance. In 2024, Park and Bratt were invited to perform an all-Gershwin program at Judson’s Live, a jazz club in Orlando, Florida, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” There was just one complication: The venue had only one piano.
The two solo pianists found four-hands arrangements that would work in the space and performed their first program together in April 2024. They have been performing regularly as a duo ever since.
“For two people to sound like one yet still retain our own sound and voice is something that we find most difficult,” Park said.
For musicians accustomed to having an entire keyboard to themselves, Park says sharing one instrument presents some unusual challenges.
“We are so used to being solo pianists and having our own space with 88 keys, and now we need to share them,” Park said. “Playing with someone so close, in terms of distance at the instrument and also in relationship, comes with more responsibilities to be accountable for each other.”
The greatest challenge, she says, is creating a unified musical expression while allowing each pianist to retain an individual artistic voice.
“For two people to sound like one yet still retain our own sound and voice is something that we find most difficult,” Park said.
Preparing a four-hands program also requires something solo piano performance generally does not: choreography. The two must negotiate not only interpretation and timing but the physical mechanics of two performers occupying the same keyboard.
“There is now a spoken discussion in rehearsals, a bit of choreographing done to adjust to each other’s physicality. You will understand this when you come see us at the recital,” Park said. “At the same time, it’s very fun and comforting to be together on stage.”
For their Master Series appearance, Park and Bratt have curated an all-American program in recognition of the nation’s 250th anniversary, with particular attention to including works by women composers. Among them is Judith Lang Zaimont, a Memphis native, giving the program a Tennessee connection. The recital also features music by Amy Beach alongside beloved four-hands works by Barber and Gershwin.
Park says the concert will showcase both the accessibility and the artistic possibilities of a format audiences may encounter less frequently than the traditional solo piano recital.
“We hope that the audience can enjoy this program for a very special American year and also know that a four-hands piano program can be both a fun and a very serious genre, just like other forms of classical music,” she said.
Now entering her second year on the Blair faculty, Park and her family have settled into life in Nashville, exploring the city and surrounding state parks with her husband and their 9-month-old son, Leo.
“We love being at Blair,” Park said. “It’s an energetic community that keeps on giving, with students who are eager and happy to learn.”
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Sun-A Park and Ammon Perry Bratt perform Tuesday, Sept. 1, 7:30 p.m. in Turner Recital Hall at Vanderbilt Blair School of Music.
Tickets: $18.50 | Purchase Tickets