ARc duET is pianists Anne Rainwater and Emily Tian. They are both interested in and primarily perform contemporary and jazz-inspired works for piano 4-hands and 2 pianos. ARc duET is committed to programming composers with diverse voices and backgrounds. Friend and colleague Leslie La Barre wrote them a piece in 2018, and they have also worked with Bay Area composer Ryan Brown. Anne and Emily recorded Steve Reich’s Eight Lines at Tiny Telephone Oakland in March of 2019 as part of a new, sanctioned-by-the-composer version of the piece which also involves handmade synthesizers on the other instrument parts. Recent concerts include a lecture recital at Cal State East Bay University in the spring of 2024 and performances at the Berkeley Piano Club and on the Vernon Salon Series. When not at the piano, they both enjoy hanging out with their cats and teaching.
Concert pianist Anne Rainwater is a dexterous musician known for her vibrant interpretations of works from J.S. Bach to John Zorn. Recognized for her “boldly assertive rhetoric” (San Francisco Examiner) and “bright golden honeycomb for a brain” (Roy Doughty, poet), she engages audiences as a soloist, chamber musician and lecture artist locally and around the country. Anne has performed in venues and festivals throughout the US and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, the Donau Festival in Austria, Kampnagel in Germany, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, and Bargemusic. She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music. Anne curates a monthly musical gathering called the Vernon Salon Series, which she founded in 2016. She has released 3 solo albums – J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (2018), Anywhere But Here (2020), featuring electronic keyboard works by Jude Traxler, and Ave Maria: Variations on a Theme by Giancinto Scelsi (2023), a vocal and piano work by Ian Power out on Carrier Records. Anne is a 2019 recipient of an InterMusic SF Grant. She is working on her first book, which explores the internal and external ecosystems that contribute to the understanding, practicing, and performing of music.
Emily Tian is a Bay Area pianist and educator. She is known for her fine playing and diverse repertory. Emily was raised in a musical family. Beginning at the age of six, she received awards for piano, vocals and dancing. At age 12, The Affiliated High School of Gui Zhou Music & Arts in China made an early admission for Emily’s professional piano study. Later on she went on to Gui Zhou University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in 2005. She received the “Best Musician Award” every year at both high school and university. Recognizing her talent, the Gui Zhou Province Symphony invited her to be a lifetime piano soloist. Emily earned her advanced study diploma at Stuttgart Music Conservatory under the direction of Ms. Huang Wan Ying. The following year she entered the music performance program at California State East Bay University, where she completed her master’s degree and became employed as vocal/instrumental coach. Emily collaborates regularly with emerging and established composers and musicians such as Jack Van Geem,Leslie La Barre, Nick Vasalo, and Anne Rainwater. She was also the pianist and music director for Savage Jazz Dance Company “Sketches of Oakland” dance and contemporary music concert, all while maintaining a full-time position as the Instrumental Music Department Co-Chair and the piano program director at Oakland School for the Arts.