Encore! An All-French Piano Matinée

About this event

The Piano That Brought Us Home An All-French Piano Matinée Archie Chen & Rhona Gouldson-Chen

Two pianists, one intimate all-French matinée. Spokane husband-and-wife duo Archie Chen and Rhona Gouldson-Chen play Debussy, Fauré, Poulenc, Ravel, and Yann Tiersen — solo piano and four hands — on the historic grand piano that now lives at Hamilton Studio.

The program travels from the French salon to the cinematic France of Amélie: Debussy’s light, Fauré’s tenderness, Poulenc’s wit, Ravel’s jewelled precision, and the melancholy lyricism of Yann Tiersen. In four-hands playing there is no soloist and no accompanist, just one instrument and two people breathing together.

The piano itself has a story. According to Chen, it is the same Young Chang grand that appeared on his family’s lawn when he was fourteen, quietly arranged by a circle of Spokane music lovers who had noticed a gifted boy. Years later, it has found a permanent home at Hamilton Studio, where all of Spokane can hear it sing.

Encore! is the second concert in The Living Piano series at Hamilton Studio, following Emerald Keys .

Sunday, November 1, 2026 · 3:00 p.m. (doors 2:30 p.m.) Hamilton Studio Listening Room, 1427 W. Dean Ave., Spokane, WA 99201 Approximately 90 minutes, no intermission Tickets: $40 at hamilton.live

From The Listening Room