Face to Face

Put two grand pianos head to toe so that they form a square. Draw a circle with a piece of chalk. The whole turns into a geometric figure, a Yin and a Yang only longing to sound. The two surrounded pianos, that's Pop art. Two iron harps, and, sitting at the keyboards like symmetric figures on one playing card, Rami and Francesco. Two runaway accomplices. One is from the Levant, and the deep oriental singing. The other is from some kind of North where the heaves curl up at the feet of steel bridges. They face each other. One glance and... go! Double play of Pop art. Here, all is done in a flash on dual mechanics. It's a system captured in a mirror. The two of them lead to the dance. Head or tails, Hide and seek - Pop art is all of the above. (Pascal Letellier)

The Rami Khalife-Francesco Tristano piano duet was born in New City in the year 2000, when both pianists met at The Juilliard School. Favoring improvisation over the interpretation of existing works, the duet was a pioneer in offering the first concerts of totally improvised shows in the 100-year history of the institution. Their album Pop Art was released in 2008. The compositions recorded saw many transformations on stage during subsequent tours in Portugal, Spain, the USA, and Lebanon. Khalife and Tristano were exploring different collaborations with electronic musicians/DJs before returning to their original format in 2023, in a highly successful show at Milan's Piano City festival, now integrating electronic elements themselves.