Pianist Reinis Zarins to play Chopin and Schumann

By Lloyd Garrison

The first concert in the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival’s winter series will feature Reinis Zarins, a young and gifted pianist who is a native of Latvia. Ticket sales will benefit the Norfolk Library, Norfolk Lions Club Ambulance and the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department.

Zarins delighted Norfolk audiences when he performed here last year as a Fellow at the Yale School of Music summer school. He is in his second year of study at Yale with Boris Berman.

Latvian pianist Reinis Zarins.

Zarins came to New Haven having already established himself as an up and coming performer in Europe, having placed first in major piano competitions in the Czech Republic and St. Petersburg. He also placed first at the Balys Dvarionas Competition for young pianists and violinists in Lithuania.

Before coming to the United States, Zarins studied with Raji Kharajanyan and performed recitals in St. Petersburg as well as at the Concertgebouw in The Netherlands.

Featured on the program here are the first two Ballades of Chopin and Schumann’s “Kreisleriana,” which the composer dedicated to Chopin.

Zarins’ recital on Nov. 11, which is a Sunday, will begin at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $18 and are available through the Norfolk Library or by calling 502-5075. Tickets will also go on sale at the door of Battell House at 2:30 p.m. the day of the performance.

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