If you like hearing a pianist playing with two hands, you just might like pianists Duo Fuerza twice as much. The extraordinary collaboration of precision and harmony by master musicians James D’Leon and Alwen Yeung will be on display at 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 3, at Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, 200 W. Tulpehocken St. in Germantown.

Praised for “exciting pianism filled with highly powerful emotion” and “sensitive playing and touch,” the duo’s programs span a diverse repertoire from Bach and Schubert to Gershwin and Astor Piazzolla. Duo Fuerza (Spanish for strength or force duo) showcases the range of four-hand piano performance with dramatic color and emotional nuance.

The Local interviewed the pianists last week in advance of their performance.

Where are you both from originally?

D’Leon: I was born in South Korea and raised on the East Coast, living in Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C., at different points of my life. I am currently based in Arizona, but the East Coast will always be an important part of who I am.

Yeung: I’m originally from Hong Kong. I came to the U.S. to study music at Florida State University, and eventually my path brought me to Georgia. It’s funny how life works; sometimes you start out with one plan, and music takes you somewhere completely unexpected.

Where did you meet?

D’Leon: Our paths first crossed through a mutual connection who had heard me perform a concerto in Arizona and knew that Alwen was interested in four-hand piano music. Alwen mentioned that she was looking for someone to play with, and somehow the idea of the two of us came together. We exchanged contact information, started playing and pretty quickly realized that we had a really natural musical connection.

Yeung: Yes, it was one of those unexpected moments when everything just seems to fall into place. We started playing together, and there was an immediate sense of musical chemistry.

What were some of your favorite performances? Why?

D’Leon: Two that really stand out for us were performances in Port Clinton, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland, and in Ashburnham, Mass., where we performed Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn on a Schubert-era piano from 1830. It was like stepping back in time! In Port Clinton, the audience was incredibly warm and welcoming, and we immediately felt a real connection with them. Those are the kinds of concerts you remember.

Yeung: Yes, playing that repertoire on an instrument from that period was such a wonderful experience. We actually received invitations to come back to both places, which meant a lot to us. It’s always wonderful when you leave a concert feeling that you’ve really connected with an audience.

What makes four-hand piano playing more exciting than the traditional two-hand?

D’Leon: There’s something very special about four hands sharing one piano. You have two people creating one musical voice, but you can also see the interaction between them. In some ways, we think of it almost like watching a pair of ice dancers. You’re constantly aware of the other person, anticipating each other’s movements and making adjustments in a split second. It creates a real sense of energy and physical connection that you don’t get in the same way with a solo pianist.

Yeung: And historically, four-hand piano music was very much a social experience. In the 19th century, it was a major part of salon culture, where friends and families would gather around a piano and make music together. We love that aspect of it. There’s something wonderful about watching two people sit at one piano and, somehow, make it sound like a much larger musical world.

From a layman’s point of view, it seems to me that four-hand playing would be much more difficult for the two players to coordinate the sounds in perfect harmony. Is this correct?

D’Leon: Absolutely. In some ways, four-hand piano is like chamber music with a string quartet or piano trio, except that we’re sharing the same instrument. We have to breathe together, listen constantly and anticipate what the other person is going to do. And because we’re sitting so close together, there’s really nowhere to hide. Every little difference in timing, articulation or touch is immediately noticeable.

Yeung: It takes a lot of communication and trust. We’re constantly listening to each other and making tiny adjustments, sometimes without even thinking about it. We also have to coordinate the physical movements of four hands on one keyboard, so there’s definitely a lot of choreography involved. But that’s also what makes it so much fun. When everything comes together, it feels almost effortless, and that’s a pretty wonderful feeling for both the performers and the audience.

What prompted you to play together in the first place?

D’Leon: It really started with the music itself ... once we sat down at the piano together, it just felt very natural.

Yeung: Exactly. There wasn’t really a grand plan behind it. We simply thought, ‘Let’s play and see what happens.’ We quickly discovered that we enjoyed making music together and that our musical personalities complemented one another. One rehearsal led to another, and before we knew it, Duo Fuerza was taking shape.

Who are the composers whose music you most like to play? Why?

D’Leon: That’s a tough question because we really enjoy such a wide range of music. We love the elegance and depth of composers like Bach, Mozart, Schubert and Schumann, but we also have a lot of fun with composers like Piazzolla, Gershwin and Kapustin.

Yeung: And that variety is part of what makes Duo Fuerza so exciting for us. Whether we’re playing a classical masterpiece or something with a strong jazz or Latin influence, we’re always looking for the color, emotion and story in the music and how we can share that experience with the audience.

For more information, visit ebenezermaxwellmansion.org. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.