Courtesy: Rexa Han
Rexa Han, an internationally acclaimed pianist and recording artist, will perform in PianoFête 2026—a beloved festival of two-piano repertoire unfolding July 8 to 11 at Vashon Center for the Arts.
Han, who has annually appeared in the festival since its 2023 edition, is part of a four-member virtuoso company that also includes PianoFête’s curator Vyacheslav Gryaznov and pianists Konstantin Soukhovetski and Daria Kiseleva.
Born in China and now based in the United States, Han began performing at the age of 5 and has since appeared across Europe, North America and Asia in venues including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
A First Prize winner of the Kosciuszko Chopin International Piano Competition in New York, Han was also granted the United States “Extraordinary Ability” green card under the recommendation of Van Cliburn—an honor reserved for artists of exceptional distinction.
Han described her annual return to PianoFête as a treasured summer sojourn, filled with sunlit days and sea breezes, and also rich in artistic rewards both in rehearsals and during performances in Vashon Center for the Arts’ state-of-the-art, intimate Kay White Hall.
PianoFête is free for youth 18 and younger, with adult tickets at $42 per concert.
Han will appear in three of the festival’s four concerts.
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 8: “The Piano as Orchestra,” performed by the entire Piano Fête company, will include Glinka’s Overture to “Ruslan and Lyudmila”; Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Suite from “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh”; Smetana’s “Má vlast”; Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dances, Op. 72, Nos. 1 and 2” and Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.”
7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 9: “Beethoven: The Last Door,” with Konstantin Soukhovetski and Daria Kiseleva, will explore the intensely emotional world of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111.
7:30 p.m. Friday, July 10: “Childhood, Elegance, Jazz and Broadway,” with Rexa Han and Vyacheslav Gryaznov, will include Ravel’s “Ma mère l’Oye/Mother Goose”; Fauré’s “Dolly Suite”; Kapustin’s “Sinfonietta” and Bernstein’s “West Side Story Suite.”
7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 11: PianoFête’s grand finale will bring all four pianists together with both live and virtual orchestras. The program includes a world premiere composition with the virtual orchestra platform, GPhil, Strauss’ “Blue Danube Waltz” and “Kalinka Variations.”
For more information, go to vashoncenterforthearts.org.
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