Guest Artists
Guest Artist: Stephen Drury
World renowned guest artist Stephen Drury will celebrate the Ives sesquicentennial 2 days after Ives’ birthday with a special performance of Ives’ complete sonatas for piano, including the monumental “Concord” sonata. 30 for 30 composer Paul Beaudoin composed a piece that “suggests some of the wilder, fantastical adventures into the half-childlike, half fairy-like phantasmal realm” of the Concord Sonata.
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Ray-Kallay: Inflection Point
Californians! Some pass through – others put down roots and stay. Some write in microtones and others for electronics and toy pianos. There are minimalists and maximalists. Celebrating Californians past and present Ray/Kallay explores the rich tapestry of composers who have called California home with works by Michael Byron, John Luther Adams (with video by Johannes Bosgra), Joao Pedro Oliveira, Rand Steiger, Nina Shekhar, Sean Friar, Veronika Krausas and Vicki Ray. This concert takes place at 2220 Arts + Archives as part of LA Philharmonic’s California Festival.
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Genevieve Feiwen Lee – La Voix du Pianiste
Guest pianist Genevieve Feiwen Lee will present La Voix du Pianiste or Voice of the Pianist. Genevieve will present a program that features speaking and singing with keyboards. Performing on piano, toy piano, harpsichord, and other percussion instruments, Genevieve will be utilizing her voice in three languages. Works will include world premieres by Chris Castro and Livia Malossi Bottignole, plus Gao Ping’s Daydreams, and Kurt Rohde’s Famous Last Words for speaking keyboard player and assorted items.
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Conor Hanick
Pianist Conor Hanick will present a rare performance of The Book of Sounds, a remarkable cycle of 12 solo piano pieces written between 1979 to 1982 by the pioneering German composer, pianist, poet and visual artist Hans Otte (1926-2007). The work is a mesmerizing exploration of sound, shaped by Otte’s immersion in both European and Eastern spirituality as well as his championing of such composers as John Cage, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass. Presented in cooperation with Monday Evening Concerts.
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Takashi Harada
Mr. Harada is the best known Ondist in Japan, and one of the few masters of this unique instrument in the world. Robson and Harada are longtime friends, having met as students at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. Mr. Umezaki has long been a proponent of Japanese traditional and contemporary music for the shakuhachi, and is well known as a founding member of The Silk Road Ensemble.
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David Kaplan
David Kaplan, pianist, has been called “excellent and adventurous” by The New York Times, and praised by the Boston Globe for “grace and fire” at the keyboard. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Britten Sinfonia and Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, and has performed recitals at the Ravinia Festival, Sarasota Opera House, Washington’s National Gallery, Music on Main in Vancouver, and Strathmore.
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Frederic Rzewski: An Appreciation
The iconic composer-pianist Frederic Rzewski was to have given a Piano Spheres recital this coming February in a rare US appearance. With his unfortunate passing June 26, 2021, he left a huge legacy of his music. Now rescheduled to April 16, 2022 Piano Spheres core artists will be joined by two of Rzewski’s closest musical collaborators, Ursula Oppens and Lisa Moore, as well as numerous Piano Spheres artists from the last 20 years.
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