Third Swan City Piano Festival brings diverse slate of pianists to Lakeland this week

LAKELAND – Organizers of Lakeland’s annual Swan City Piano Festival tout the festival for bringing together “aesthetically-diverse pianists from around the country with unique musical and curatorial voices” and commissioning composers to write new works that “cultivate a living repertoire.”

LAKELAND – Organizers of Lakeland’s annual Swan City Piano Festival tout the festival for its ability to bring together “aesthetically-diverse pianists from around the country with unique musical and curatorial voices” and commissioning composers to write new works that “cultivate a living repertoire.”

The 2023 Swan City Piano Festival is the third edition of the Lakeland-based multiday celebration of pianists and piano repertoire from the past to the present. The first festival was scheduled for 2020 but was streamed online because of the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed live in 2021.

From June 8 to 11, three pianists representing north, south and central Florida will take to stages across downtown Lakeland. In addition, an original work by this year’s piano festival composer-in-residence Erica Porter, a Harrison School for the Arts alumnus, has been commissioned.

Performing at the free 2023 Swan City Piano Festival will be Jihye Chang, Tal Cohen and Sun-A Park. Chang will also be playing Porter’s original piece, “A Glimpse.”

The Swan City Piano Festival was founded by Patrick Fleitz, director of piano studies at Harrison, and his son, award-winning composer-pianist Robert Fleitz, a Lakeland native, graduate of The Julliard School and winner of many international piano competitions.

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Patrick Fleitz, in his third year at Harrison, said he and his son work to bring varied styles to the Swan City Piano Festival. He said the aim is to feature diverse pianists representing different genres and eras, such as traditional classical, contemporary classical and jazz.

“We always try to have a really eclectic program. We, at this point, are really trying to highlight pianists from the state of Florida. It has really outstanding pianists. It’s helping to grow the arts community here in Lakeland,” he said. “There’s likely going to be some music everyone would like to hear, and it’s performed at a world-class level of playing.”

The Swan City Piano Festival features a diverse schedule of recitals and fosters conversation and interaction between the artists, audiences and festival organizers. Festival composers and performers also provide educational and social outreach programs for students of all ages through master classes, children’s events, artist forums and collaborative partnerships with area theatre and music venues.

Porter, 27, is a Birmingham, Michigan, native who grew up in Lima, Ohio, and Lakeland and now lives in Los Angeles. She began playing piano at 5 years old, and she was invited to compose “A Glimpse” in fall 2022 after Robert Fleitz saw her portfolio of original music. He heard some of her pieces performed at Carnegie Hall in 2021 and reached out to her about composing something for the 2023 Swan City Piano Festival.

At the Swan City Piano Festival, Chang will perform “A Glimpse.” Porter said she’s just one of the most accomplished pianists who have graced the keyboard over the years.

“I think it’s working with these talented people who are all around in the arts that makes (the festival) really special; they’re phenomenal. To bring in this kind of opportunity to Lakeland is really great. The caliber of musicianship here is truly amazing,” said Porter, who holds a bachelor's piano performance from Florida Southern College, a master's in contemporary composition from the University of York, England, and a master’s in film scoring from Berklee College of Music’s Berklee Online.

Park, one of the pianists performing this year, echoed Porter’s feelings that the Swan City Piano Festival brings world-class talent playing at no cost to audiences to help foster the arts in the area.

Park, 35, who grew up in New Jersey and now lives in Orlando teach at the University of Central Florida, met Robert Fleitz while at school in the Julliard Pre-College program. Once Fleitz found out she lived in Florida, he invited her to the play at the festival. She’ll be performing a selection of piano works originally written for piano but later orchestrated by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) and Modest Mussorgsky’s (1839-1881) “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

Park, who has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C., the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel and the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Spain, said she’s happy to see the festival growing but wants more people to take advantage of what it has to offer. She said for musicians, it’s a way to get word out about their talents to people and venues across the state.

“A lot of people don’t know enough about this festival, and they should. All the artists featured are amazing musicians and appreciated not just in Florida, but all around the country,” she said. “All the artists that are featured in the festival are obviously amazing musicians. I’m really looking forward to performing and hearing them play.”

Cohen is a Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist based in Miami. He has won the Barry Harris National Piano Competition and was the recipient of the prestigious Freedman Fellowship and has performed to a sold-out crowd at the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

Since its founding, the Swan City Piano Festival has featured 11 pianists, featured the premier of six new compositions, reached 47 children and has had 18 young pianists participate. A total of $6,642 in small-dollar donations has been contributed to date, and that money is used to compensate musicians and house them and pay for venue rentals.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Swan City Piano Festival

WHEN: June 8 to June 11

WHERE: Harrison School for the Arts, Pressed LKLD, Florida Children’s Museum, Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College, First Presbyterian Church, Lakeland.

COST: Free

INFO: See www.swancitypianofestival.com/events-and-tickets for a complete schedule of events, times and locations; 863-944-2431.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Swan City Piano Festival comes to downtown Lakeland starting Thursday