Husband-and-wife pianists Andreas Landstedt (left) and Esther Jihye Han, who perform as the Andes Duo, inside one of their favorite places to be together, the Green Lady Lounge (photo by Jim Barcus)
Based at UMKC Conservatory, the award-winning collaboration features husband and wife pianists Andreas Landstedt and Esther Jihye Han
Seeing a husband and wife onstage making beautiful art together holds a special charm. And it’s a special draw of the Andes Duo, comprising musicians Andreas Landstedt and Esther Jihye Han.
“Synergy exists not just between us as musical partners, but with our shared instrument,” Han said. “We love the skillful intimacy of sharing one piano, and even more the sonic magic that can happen with two.”
Their newest “sonic magic” project, “SERIE ANDES,” was created “to intertwine music, tradition and storytelling.”
On Dec. 9, 2023, the couple debuted “PAPER,” the first part of the “SERIE ANDES” program, at UMKC’s White Recital Hall; a second performance was held in Albuquerque this past January. “Inspired by Western traditional wedding gifts, SERIE is mean to be spontaneous and serendipitous, a public display of a personal celebration reflecting us as unique performers and united partners,” Han said. The piece includes works by Grieg, Mozart, Schumann, Debussy and Guasavino, re-mastered for “a two-piano interpretation, so that both pianists become necessary to form the whole.”
Andes Duo, a title conjoining the first letters of their first names (and invoking the height and majesty of the mountain range for good fortune), became official in March 2022 with a full-length recital in Albuquerque. The two had just won first place at the annual U.S. International Duo Piano Competition in Colorado Springs in January 2022 and second place in the Sweden-based online North International Music Competition. It was a big year: They were chosen to compete at the highly prestigious Music Teacher National Association Conference, in the Two-Piano component, in Atlanta in March and at the Internationales Klavierfestival Lindlar in Germany in July.
Andes Duo has performed at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, with the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo at Orford Musique, the Ohio International Piano Duet and Duo Competition and the online UK International Music Competition. They have headlined many masterclasses. All this comes on top of numerous individual awards each pianist has won.
Han began studying piano at age 6 in Chicago; Landstedt at age 5 in Los Lunas, New Mexico. They met in 2017 in Albuquerque, as undergrads at the University of New Mexico, both studying under internationally renowned German American composer/pianist/pedagogue Falko Steinbach. After practicing long hours together, a romance ensued. “It was only after we started dating that we found out we had the same childhood piano teacher in the early 2010s — our names are right next to each other in old recital programs, so that’s our sign we were meant to be!” They married in 2022 and moved to Kansas City.
“The creative arts seem to run in our blood,” Han said. “We both have painters, poets and writers in our families. Our interest in the piano both began and was encouraged by our mothers, and music is all we’ve ever known since childhood.” Landstedt’s eldest brother is also a professional pianist.
Still, there were divergences. Perhaps the most dramatic variance is seen in Landstedt’s family, a “ski family” in Han’s words. Fredrik Landstedt, father of Andreas, has been a college ski coach for 30 years, earned six NCAA titles and has trained Olympic athletes. Schussing is in their DNA.
Skiing was definitely not in Han’s repertoire. On her first downhill run with her new family in winter 2022, she broke her leg badly. “Luckily it was my left leg,” she said, “which I rarely need to play piano.”
These days, both musicians have active accompaniment and collaboration schedules. They’re avid concertgoers and museum visitors. Landstedt plays soccer and follows the Premier League and is a video game aficionado. Han knits, cross-stitches, cooks and writes poetry.
Their hobbies may take different directions, but their individual personalities keep them centered. Says Han, “His grounded focus and good humor helps us as a team in reaching our goals, while I’m more of the idea-filled visionary.” Their varied family backgrounds, with Han’s parents from South Korea and Landstedt’s from Sweden and Mexico, also factor into the creative mix.
The piano is their driving force, and their focus is classical music, which they view as “a relevant force in the arts and our society as a whole” with the power to “unite a diverse audience.”
Landstedt is currently pursuing an interest in composition, as well as jazz and improvisation. He is the pianist of the trombone chamber ensemble Border Bones, which toured Kentucky school campuses in April. In August he’ll be at the International Piano Festival in Gijón, Spain.
The two completed their Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance at UMKC this spring. Han was selected as a merit recipient of the Women’s Council Graduate Assistance Fund. She will manage a private piano studio of 25+ students, while obtaining a Graduate Certificate in Performing Arts Management through the Conservatory and the UMKC Bloch School of Management. Landstedt will pursue an Artist Certificate with a fully funded graduate assistantship at the Conservatory and will play as opera rehearsal pianist.
The couple will continue the SERIE project and plan to develop hour-long programs for accessible outreach events at local nursing homes and senior communities. Landstedt will continue solo recitals and competitions and add jazz to his mix.
“Our story is really only in its first chapter, and there is still much left in store,” Han said.
For more information, www.andesduo.com.
