The second season of the Oregon Piano Institute’s Murdock International Piano Series begins Oct. 3 at Beall Concert Hall on the University of Oregon campus. That night, Canadian concert pianists Angela Cheng and Alvin Chow will perform works for two pianos. They’ll also play piano for four hands, which is the technically challenging technique of two pianists playing on the same instrument. The concert features works by Brahms, Schubert, Dvorák, Debussy, Ravel and Brazilian composer Darius Milhaud. On the high levels of skill Cheng and Chow require to perform as they do, “they need to be so well connected,” says Alexandre Dossin, UO School of Music and Dance piano professor and Oregon Piano Institute founder. “When you play two pianos, the attack of each note is different,” he says. Meanwhile, as might be expected, playing piano for four hands offers its own set of challenges, Dossin adds. Cheng and Chow are married and perform together frequently all over the world. Dossin says the Murdock International Piano Series’ second season will feature musicians from acclaimed conservatories of music like Fabio Bidini (Colburn Conservatory) in February and Steven Spooner (Peabody Institute) in April. Chow and Cheng are faculty members at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. One detour is pianist Filippo Gorini, who performs in March. He is unaffiliated with a conservatory but a “wonderful pianist,” Dossin says. Gorini is presented in collaboration with the Portland Piano International, where he will have a month-long residency.

Angela Cheng and Alvin Chow perform 7:30 pm Friday, Oct. 3, at Beall Concert Hall, 961 East 18th Avenue. Tickets begin at $5. The concert is all-ages.