Piano fans were treated to a twofer last Friday evening, as the Cranberry Coast Concert Series' final performance of the season featured a program of "Concertos at Two Pianos."

The idea, a pun on the repertoire of concertos for two pianos as popularized by Mozart, Poulenc, and others, was an ideal concept for the Cranberry Coast.

Co-founders and husband-and-wife pianists Kirk Whipple and Marilyn Morales are both talented pianists, so each performed a piano concerto (a concerto is a piece written for solo instrument and accompanying orchestra) while the other performed the orchestral part.

Plus, as Whipple said in his introduction, "symphony orchestras are always looking for unity," he said.  "With two pianos, you don't have to worry about the third trumpet missing a cue."

Morales performed the solo for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major with Whipple accompanying. The two then played several of their own compositions.

After intermission, Marilyn Brown performed the famous first movement of Grieg's Piano Concerto No. 1, in A minor, with Whipple playing the accompaniment. It was Brown's first concert in 34 years, and she was rewarded with a standing ovation.

"It felt great," Morales said after the concert, describing both her playing and the audience's reaction.

Whipple concluded the program with Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1, in F minor, with Morales at the accompaniment.

Whipple said it was sad, but also a little bit of a relief to see the season come to an end.  "It takes a lot of work," he said, both lining up the visiting performers and practicing for their own concerts.

And now they have to figure out next season.  Whipple and Morales both said that they have been disappointed that the concerts haven't attracted more people, especially children, this year.

"We're tired of not seeing kids in the audience," said Whipple.  So although they still need to raise $12,000 to pay off the two, six-foot-one-inch concert grand pianos that the series purchased for the communities of Onset and Wareham, Whipple and Morales plan to offer free admission to children between the ages of 6 to 17.

"The parents complain, 'my son and daughter aren't practicing,' but when was the last time they went to a concert?,' Morales said.  "It opens the eyes and whets the appetite."