Queens Tribune

Too often music and marriage lead to break ups.

But Stephanie Ho and Saar Ahuvia break the trend. The married pianists have made a name for themselves individually and as a duo. But it’s all about negotiation and sacrifice, as their upcoming free performance at Queens College taught them.

“We always have to work for a common ground,” Ahuvia said. “You know … like a marriage.”

The couple, currently residing in Forest Hills, will perform a collection of works by New York composers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11 at Lefrak Hall at Queens College. The concert will be held in memorial to collaborator, friend and Forest Hills resident Denise Broadhurst, who passed away Sept. 19.

“It’s a celebration of her life and what it represented,” Ahuvia said.

The couple will perform works from various composers with New York roots, including former Forest Hills resident Charles B. Griffin’s “From a faraway nearby.” The 20-minute suite was inspired by six Georgia O’Keefe paintings.

Though Griffin is currently in Latvia, he offers an ocean of trust in Ho and Ahuvia, who he believes will do his work justice.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised more than once,” he said. “Most of the time, you sort of hope the performers are communicating something to the audience.”

The performers represent a background as diverse as the borough they live in. Ahuvia was born in Israel and bounced around the southern hemisphere and Switzerland before finally meeting the Taiwan native Ho at the Peabody Institute.

“We met at a class for jazz improvisation,” Ahuvia said. “Since then, music and our relationship go hand-in-hand.”

Improvisation could describe the terms of picking the concert’s set list. In choosing the works and designating parts, Ahuvia said negotiation ruled.

“Whoever plays what part, it’s in as messy terms as everything else we do.”

For more information about the free concert, contact duo@stephsaarduo.com.