Vashon Center for the Arts will present its 2nd annual Piano Fete from July 5 to 8, in the art center’s Kay White Hall.

The series, with four pianists and two pianos, has been curated by Vyacheslav Gryaznov — better known to island fans as Slava — who made his Vashon debut in 2018. The series will feature Gryaznov, Konstantin Soukhovetski, Rexa Han, and Katya Kramer-Lapin.

In advance of Piano Fete, The Beachcomber is presenting a series of interviews with all four pianists, conducted by islander Michael Tracy. Tracy is a local musicologist and trusted advisor for VCA’s curation of classical music programs. This week, Tracy spoke to Konstantin Soukhovetski. — Elizabeth Shepherd, Editor

At the Piano Fete you will perform the premiere of your own composition “Pride Suite.” Tell us the background and inspiration for this suite? As a gay man myself, I presume the suite addresses LGBTQ+ culture and history?

The Pride Suite is a project that is very important to me. As a gay man and a composer/pianist, I wanted to create a piano work that would be intertwined with the queer identity. To me, it is important not to separate the personal life from the professional output but rather synergize them into a living, breathing, authentic story.

Having written music for others, I wanted to find the right kind of concept to write a piece for myself. I wanted to tell my story and create a metaphor. To my utter surprise, I discovered that there isn’t a piano work for our flag – so I settled on the standard 6-color flag.

There is a metaphor for each color and personal to me: Orange is re-birth, luminosity; Blue – drama, sadness; Red – sex, passion, relationships; Purple – royal (the kind of majesty seldom bestowed upon LGBTQ+ folks). Each color is accompanied by a short poem, which can be read out loud, printed in the program, or projected. The six pieces can be played in any order. Pride Suite offers absolute freedom of expression of a performer’s personality. The pianist makes his/her own rainbow, tells his/her own story.

Some have real stories and humor in them — like “Red: Grindr Tango” — when partners are switching and, depending on the match or mismatch, the hands are in either the same key or in bi-tonality. There is a thematic DNA that weaves through the Suite, a leitmotif of love that starts with sexy Tango and ends up in the heartbreak of Blue. Across the colors, there is a search, hope, love, loss, and rebirth. Having lost my boyfriend to cancer a few years ago, those things are on my mind, in my experiences.

The COVID pandemic had and has a huge effect on live music, musicians’ careers, and that bond between audience and performer (s) that motivates your profession. Plus, you were in NYC during the pandemic. How did you cope?

The pandemic was a rollercoaster for me: first, everything canceling, which takes years to assemble into a schedule. For a few weeks, I was speechless and bewildered. Then I realized I couldn’t afford to lose a good crisis, and I went into a super active re-invention mode. I took my teaching online and expanded into global reach. I joined the Julliard School of Music faculty in the fall of 2020 and went on a creative bender, composing, producing, and filming, even a libretto for a commission by Mississippi Opera. I was never worried about the return of live performances. As long as civilization exists, we crave shared social experiences, as evidenced by many sold-out performances in post-pandemic times. But now we have a whole new industry — a redesigned, semi-virtualized Music 2.0. I think we live in exhilarating times. Look what Slava is doing with his virtual orchestra!

At last year’s Piano Fete we heard you perform your transcription of Richard Strauss’s four last songs. What transcription projects are you working on now? Songs, orchestral works, chamber works?

Right now, I’m creating a library of Basque music transcriptions, which I will record and publish over the next few years. This year I made Pascual Aldave’s “Love Scene from Akelarre,” along with R. Strauss’ “Capriccio, Final Scene, the Countess’ Monologue.” And finally, I will paraphrase Ravel’s “Scheherazade.”

You are on the faculty at Julliard School of Music and recently have been named Director of Pedagogy and Narrative Musicianship at Bronx School for Music. Tell us about this new position.

I teach online at Juilliard and lecture on a variety of subjects from how to make opera transcription courses for professionals to music appreciation. At Bronx School for Music (BSM), I “indoctrinate” all students and faculty into my system of Narrative Musicianship. I created this acting technique for instrumentalists based on my professional acting experience, theater, film and a piano. At BSM, we the faculty have exciting plans to deliver superior music education to an underserved community in the Bronx. We can really see an impact on these young lives, and that is a promise of a beautiful future.

For more information on Piano Fete, and to puchase tickets, visit vashoncenterforthearts.org.