Texas Performing Arts Welcomes Pianist Jeremy Denk at Bass Concert Hall Tonight

Texas Performing Arts presents pianist Jeremy Denk tonight, February 27, 2013 at 8 p.m. at Bass Concert Hall, with a 7 p.m. pre-performance lecture by Professor Michael Tusa in the Bass Concert Hall lobby.

This performance marks the concert debut of The Cornelia, TPA's new Steinway concert grand, a gift from the Mary Potishman Lard Trust and the Friedman children in honor of their mother Cornelia C. Friedman.

PROGRAM:
Sonata, Sz. 80 BARTÓK
Allegro moderato
Sostenuto e pesante
Allegro molto

Prelude on "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen", S. 179 LISZT

I vidi in terra angelici costumi (No. 123) from Sonetti del Petrarca, S. 161 LISZT
(Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième Année: Italie)

Après une lecture du Dante, fantasia quasi sonata
from Années de pèlerinage, Deuxième Année: Italie, S. 161 LISZT

Isolden's Liebestod, S. 447 after Wagner LISZT

Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV. 869 J.S. BACH

Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111 BEETHOVEN
Maestoso; Allegro Con Brio ed appassionato
Arietta, Adagio molto, semplice e cantabile

Hailed as one of the "great pianists of this generation," Jeremy Denk has steadily built a reputation with an unusually broad repertoire. He has appeared as soloist with many major orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and London. He regularly gives recitals in New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, and around the United States. Denk is known for his witty and personal music writing, which has appeared in the New Yorker, the front page of the New York Times Book Review, Newsweek, and on the website of NPR Music. He looks forward to performing and curating as artistic director of the 2014 Ojai Music Festival, for which he is also composing the libretto to a semi-satirical opera.

In 2012, Denk made his debut as a Nonesuch recording artist with a pairing of masterpieces old and new: Ligeti's highly complex Études and Beethoven's final Piano Sonata. This album was featured on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, while BBC Music's review concluded: "All in all, it's a marvel." Besides his enduring devotion to the Baroque master's work, Denk has a long-standing attachment to the music of American visionary Charles Ives, and his recording of Ives's two Piano Sonatas was selected for many "best of the year" lists. Denk was invited by Michael Tilson Thomas to appear as a soloist in the San Francisco Symphony's "American Mavericks" festival, and he recorded Henry Cowell's Piano Concerto with the orchestra. Denk has cultivated relationships with many living composers, and has several commissioning projects currently in progress.

An avid chamber musician, the pianist has most recently spent considerable time touring with violinist Joshua Bell, and French Impressions - their recording of Franck, Saint-Saëns, and Ravel - was recently released on the Sony Classical label, winning the 2012 Echo-Klassik award. Denk also regularly collaborates with cellist Steven Isserlis.

After graduating from Oberlin College and Conservatory in piano and chemistry, Denk earned a master's degree in music from Indiana University as a pupil of György Sebök, and a doctorate in piano performance from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Herbert Stessin. Denk lives in New York City.

Campus & Community Engagement Event
7:00 p.m. pre-performance lecture by Professor Michael Tusa in Bass Concert Hall lobby

Michael Tusa, Professor Butler School of Music, focuses his interests on nineteenth-century opera, Beethoven, the compositional process, and piano music.

For more information on this performance, visit: http://texasperformingarts.org/season/jeremy-denk-piano-austin.