Ralph Markham

Ralph Markham says that for two pianists to function as a team, "you've got to have a pair of people who are able both to lead and to follow." Markham should know. He and pianist Kenneth Broadway have been functioning together successfully since 1975. Just back from a 20-city tour with the Philharmonia Hungarica, conducted by Yehudi Menuhin, they'll join the Pacific Symphony at Irvine Meadows on Saturday to play Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos.

Of all Mozart's piano concertos, the Concerto No. 10 for two pianos is unique: It's the only one Mozart composed for himself and his sister, Nannerl, as the soloists. Perhaps that is the reason a later musician finds such "perfect dialogue" in the work. "For us, it's a little jewel," says Kenneth Broadway, half of the Markham and Broadway duo-piano team that will play the piece with the Pacific Symphony tonight at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

Of all Mozart's piano concertos, the Concerto No. 10 for two pianos is unique: It's the only one Mozart composed for himself and his sister, Nannerl, as the soloists. Perhaps that is the reason a later musician finds such "perfect dialogue" in the work. "For us, it's a little jewel," says Kenneth Broadway, half of the Markham and Broadway duo-piano team that will play the piece with the Pacific Symphony tonight at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

Ralph Markham says that for two pianists to function as a team, "you've got to have a pair of people who are able both to lead and to follow." Markham should know. He and pianist Kenneth Broadway have been functioning together successfully since 1975. Just back from a 20-city tour with the Philharmonia Hungarica, conducted by Yehudi Menuhin, they'll join the Pacific Symphony at Irvine Meadows on Saturday to play Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos.

Pianists don't grow up hoping to be team players. They dream of the spotlight, of winning the Van Cliburn Competition, of soloing in Carnegie Hall, of pounding through the Tchaikovsky Concerto before 17,000 at the Hollywood Bowl. Pianists Kenneth Broadway and Ralph Markham were no exception to thats rule. But circumstances led them down another path. "It just wasn't planned," says Broadway, explaining how the musicians' collaboration began.

Veteran San Fernando Valley journalist Ralph H. Markham, who helped turn a small Van Nuys newspaper into one of the nation's largest weeklies, died Saturday of a heart attack at his Van Nuys home. He was 76. At the time of his death, he was co-owner and chief executive officer of the Antelope Valley Press, a Palmdale paper published four days a week.

Virginia Lawrence Markham, 89, who for 40 years was vice president of Antelope Valley Newspapers. With her late husband, Ralph, Markham bought the Antelope Valley Press in 1958. She helped guide the growth of the newspaper and the cities it serves, Palmdale and Lancaster. In addition to her work with the newspaper, Markham was active in several organizations, including the UCLA Chancellors Circle and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Benefits for the Orange County AIDS Services Foundation are not exactly springing up as plentiful as asparagus in May despite the organization's increasing financial needs. But Saddleback College is lending a hand once again by hosting duo-pianists Ralph Markham and Kenneth Broadway in a benefit recital today at 8 p.m. All proceeds will go to the Orange County AIDS Services Foundation, a private nonprofit agency that provides services to people living with acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS-related complex.

A large chunk of the repertory for two pianos glorifies showmanship over substance. Duo-pianists Ralph Markham and Kenneth Broadway kept the fluff to a minimum in their concert at Irvine Barclay Theatre on Saturday night. Interpretatively, the two most demanding works on the program, which was sponsored by the Orange County Philharmonic Society, were Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 2, Opus 17, and Debussy's "Prelude a L'Apres-midi d'un faune."

The Pacific Symphony has announced its fifth summer series at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, to begin July 4. Guest conductors for the five concerts will include Jack Everly, principal conductor with American Ballet Theatre, July 4; Enrique Diemecke, music director of the National Orchestra of Mexico, July 25, and Zuohuang Chen, principal conductor of the Central Philharmonic of Beijing and music director of the Wichita Symphony, Sept. 26. Pacific music director Carl St.

Pianists don't grow up hoping to be team players. They dream of the spotlight, of winning the Van Cliburn Competition, of soloing in Carnegie Hall, of pounding through the Tchaikovsky Concerto before 17,000 at the Hollywood Bowl. Pianists Kenneth Broadway and Ralph Markham were no exception to thats rule. But circumstances led them down another path. "It just wasn't planned," says Broadway, explaining how the musicians' collaboration began.

Veteran San Fernando Valley journalist Ralph H. Markham, who helped turn a small Van Nuys newspaper into one of the nation's largest weeklies, died Saturday of a heart attack at his Van Nuys home. He was 76. At the time of his death, he was co-owner and chief executive officer of the Antelope Valley Press, a Palmdale paper published four days a week.

It is always enlightening to see what gets the biggest crowd response at well-populated, outdoor summer concerts. It keeps one's thumb on the pulse of the masses. Saturday night's Mozart program at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, with Carl St. Clair and the Pacific Symphony doing the honors, brought out an official tabulation of 7,577 Mozart-craving souls. Which Mozart masterpiece knocked 'em dead? Was it the Overture to "Le Nozze di Figaro"? No. Was it the Concerto for Two Pianos, K.