FREDONIA – The 1891 Fredonia Opera House will present a special evening of four-hand piano with ragtime/stride pianist Stephanie Trick and swing/jazz pianist Paolo Alderighi on Sunday, April 12, at 7:30 p.m.

Ragtime piano sensation Stephanie Trick delighted audience members with her piano artistry in a 2014 Opera House performance. In response to numerous requests, she returns this month – and she’s bringing along her husband, Italian pianist Paolo Alderighi, for an evening of four-hand piano. Four-hand piano – or piano four hand – is used to describe a piano duet in which both players perform together on a single piano.

Dedicated to playing the songs of the Swing Era, along with some ragtime and blues, Trick and Alderighi first met in October 2008 at a jazz summit in the small town of Boswil, Switzerland. After that meeting, the pair became mutual fans and realized that they had much in common, even though they grew up on two different continents. They began to run into one another at various international jazz events. Although their styles differ slightly, and although it is not easy as jazz musicians to play in four hands on one piano without being redundant or interfering with one another, they found it natural to find common ground and exciting to write arrangements that suit their sound as a duo.

They have been performing together throughout Europe and Japan since 2010 and have created two CDs together: “Two For One” in July 2012, and “Sentimental Journey,” which will be released in June.

Trick has come to “practically dominate the stride piano field,” notes reviewer Jack Rummel. Harlem stride piano, which developed in the 1920s and 30s, is an orchestra style of two-handed piano playing that not only swings, but is also technically demanding and exciting to watch. Louis Mazetier, a respected interpreter of the genre, writes that Stephanie has “won the esteem of specialists in the genre with wonderful interpretations of the stride classics, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller and Don Lambert. She plays these pieces with a punch that is matched by her precise interpretation.” With a swinging musical style that includes boogie woogie and blues from the late 20s era, Trick has performed in many parts of the U.S. as well as Europe. She has recorded six solo CDs and a DVD.

Alderighi received his degree in Piano from the G. Verdi Conservatory of Milan in 2000 and a degree in economics for arts, culture and media from Bocconi University in 2005. Since 1996, he has performed in Italy, Japan, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, France, Ireland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Malta, Morocco and the UK. He reached the second position in the “Top Jazz” referendum organized by the jazz magazine Musica Jazz as “Best New Talent” and first in the popular referendum “Italian Jazz Awards” as “Brand New Jazz Act.” He also has received a special prize from the Jury at the National Prize of the Arts, organized by the Italian Ministry of University and Research in the Jazz category. Alderighi has recorded three solo piano CDs and has performed in many other recording sessions with Incipit Records, Arbors Records, and on five CDs with the Japanese label Audio Park Records.

Jazz Legend Dick Hyman says of the two artists, “I love to hear Stephanie and Paolo together. They are an inspiration. Such simpatico. Such back-and-forth. Individually, they are marvelous musicians – we’ve known that – but together they play four-handed stride as it’s never been done. Brava, bravo.”

Tickets for the concert are $17, $15 for Opera House members, and may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 679-1891, Tuesday through Friday from 1-5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online at www.fredopera.org.

The duo’s performance is supported with public funds from the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County.

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported nonprofit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. A complete schedule of Opera House events is available at www.fredopera.org.