Asheville Chamber Music Series Presents the Cann Sisters

Known for bringing down the house wherever they perform, Kimberly and Michelle Cann will bring their artistry to the Asheville Chamber Music Series with a fresh, fiery program that weaves through the earliest and latest periods of piano composition.

Of their performance on two superb concert grand pianos, ACMS Board President Marilynne Herbert said. “There is no telling what sparks will fly as these two outstanding pianists begin to play.”

Justine Estes of the Black Hills (SD) Chamber Music Society, noted, “They have an ability to stir the deepest parts of people’s souls. Their playing does this, but also the way they relate to an audience … They establish a connection with the audience immediately, because they are so personable.”

The Cann sisters are known as consummate musicians, passionate about performing a wide range of multi-cultural repertoire throughout the US and fostering increased appreciation for the arts in their local communities. They have been studying and performing together since childhood, first performing professionally as The Cann Duo in 2010. Since then, they have toured extensively throughout the US.

Some Music Familiar, Some Rarely Heard

For their Nov. 18 concert, the duo will present seven works for piano: Bach’s Sonata No. 4 in E minor, Michael Leibowitz’s Let My People Go, Helen Hagan’s Concerto in C minor, Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos, Op. 17, Robert Schumann’s Andante and Variations, Op. 46, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, and Greg Anderson’s Carmen Fantasy for Two Pianos.

Michelle shared in a recent interview, “We are very excited to bring the North Carolina premiere of Helen Hagan’s only surviving work, Concerto in C minor. Hagan was the first African American woman to graduate from Yale University in 1912, and during World War I, she performed for the African American troops as one of the very few musicians of color called to France during the war. Her story is inspiring, and we’re honored to bring this little-known work to Asheville.”

Hereditary Talents

The Cann sisters’ electrifying performances and engaging outreach programs and presentations are all the more meaningful due to the unmistakable sound of their lifelong hereditary connection. Both played many instruments during their Florida childhood, frequently accompanying one another. They often won the same competitions and played with the same orchestras and artists, and each sister made her orchestral debut around age thirteen, Kimberly with Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and Michelle with Schumann’s Concerto in A minor.

Kimberly, the elder of the two, received her Masters degree from the Eastman School of Music. She is married to fellow Eastman musician, double bassist Aaron Brown, and the two live in Asheville with their young children. The founding director of Piano Lab & Music Lab Studios, she has served in various capacities as a vice president of the Asheville Symphony and as president of the Asheville Piano Forum.

Michelle received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Cleveland Institute, and went on to study at the Curtis Institute, receiving an Artists Diploma in 2013. She resides in Philadelphia and performs in solo and chamber recitals internationally and throughout the US, including the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing and the Kennedy Center.

Tickets for the Cann Sisters Piano Duo on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022 are $45 and may be purchased at ashevillechambermusic.org/cann or at the door of First Presbyterian Church Asheville.