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MacPhail Center for Music — Austin has announced the first iteration of weekend activities for the inaugural Austin Piano Festival in October. 

Featuring former MacPhail teacher and accomplished composer Victoria El-Sabo, the festival will take place over three days on Oct. 7-9. Coined “Composer of the Year ” by the Washington State Music Teacher’s Association, El-Sabo will be joined by principal cellist of the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra in Washington, instructor, and music therapist Samantha Sinai. The duo will present a weekend of masterclasses and workshops  for students and teachers alike at MacPhail’s education center in Austin, finishing  with a performance premiering “Fanfare for an Uncommon Piano” by El Sabo on the Fazioli  308 Concert Grand Piano in Austin High School’s Knowlton Auditorium. 

Austin’s children’s chorus will  also join in on the performance at 2 p.m. on Oct. 9. 

The festival will continue next spring with a performance by MacPhail’s Electronic Music Recording Arts Director Michael Cain in April of 2023. 

MacPhail Center for Music is the nation’s largest center for music learning and performance and one of  Minnesota’s top ten arts organizations. Since 1907, MacPhail Center for Music has been providing  meaningful opportunities for people and is committed to transforming lives and strengthening  communities through music learning experiences that inspire. Each year, MacPhail offers programming  to 15,000 students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, at locations in Minneapolis, White Bear Lake, 

Chanhassen, Apple Valley, Austin, and Madeline Island, Wisconsin., as well as 103 community partnerships  across the Twin Cities.

For more information, visit: www.macphail.org/events/macphail-austin-piano-festival-creative-workshops/