Key Pianists Inaugural Season to Feature Feature 'The Beethoven Experience' & More

Key Pianists was conceived by pianist Terry Eder to fill a void in New York concert life: "Many wonderful pianists playing with wisdom, insight, sensitivity and beauty are not heard in New York. These stellar artists, as well as New York audiences, deserve an event to share this extraordinary music-making." This new concert series of note will present pianists in repertoire of special significance to them. The distinguished Beethoven authority Peter Takács will be the featured artist for the first season in an exploration of Beethoven's early, middle and late periods. Each of three recitals will include chamber music as well as solo piano works. In the words of Peter Takács: "This is a wonderful opportunity to explore the vast richness of Beethoven's output for the piano. Starting with the first sonata, ending with the last, including other solo works and chamber music for strings, winds and voice, this series of concerts will enrich and deepen listeners' understanding of Beethoven's genius."

To inaugurate the series, Mr. Takács will perform three early piano sonatas and will be joined by colleagues Carter Brey, principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic, and Boris Allakhverdyan, principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for a performance of the Trio, Op. 11, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon, October 18, 2015 at 2:00 pm.

Program II, which will explore Beethoven's middle period, will take place on Thursday evening, November 12, 2015,

7:30 p.m. and will include the Sonata for Piano and Cello No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69, with guest artist Robert deMaine, principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Takács performs the "Tempest" and "Waldstein"

piano sonatas and Andante favori, WoO 57, originally intended as the second movement of the "Waldstein" sonata.

The third and final concert of Key Pianists in the 2015-2016 season, exploring "Late Beethoven," will take place Thursday evening January 14, 2016, 7:30 p.m. This will include the Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96, with guest artist Soovin Kim, Professor of Violin at the New England Conservatory, and the song cycle "An die ferne Geliebte," with acclaimed Austrian tenor Virgil Hartinger. The program concludes with the Sonata No. 32, Op. 111.

Complete program details can be found below.

Tickets are $30.00, on sale at CarnegieCharge, 212-247-7800, at the Box Office at 57th and Seventh, and at carnegiehall.org, 90 days before each concert.

Hailed by the New York Times as "a marvelous pianist," Peter Takács has performed widely, receiving critical and audience acclaim for his penetrating and communicative musical interpretations. Mr. Takács was born in Bucharest, Romania, and started his musical studies before his fourth birthday. After his debut recital at age seven, he was a frequent recitalist in his native city until his parents' request for immigration to the West, at which point all his studies and performances were banned. He continued studying clandestinely with his piano teacher until his family was finally allowed to immigrate to France, where, at age 14, he was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris.

Upon Mr. Takács' arrival in the United States, his outstanding musical talents continued to be recognized with full scholarships to Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, and a three-year fellowship for doctoral studies at the Peabody Conservatory, where he completed his artistic training with renowned pianist Leon Fleisher.

The works of Beethoven play a central role in Mr. Takács' repertoire, and he has performed and recorded the cycle of 32 piano sonatas, which were released on the Cambria label to wide critical acclaim in 2011. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer included the set as one of its musical highlights of 2011:

One of the greatest challenges a pianist can face is performing all 32 of Beethoven's piano sonatas. Takács, a professor at the Oberlin Conservatory, took the challenge a massive step further by recording the entire cycle, which was released in 2011 on Cambria Master Recordings. The performances illuminate Beethoven's unpredictable and breathtaking journey from wizardly Classicist to transcendent risk-taker. The 11-CD set is a supreme achievement for Takács and a gift to listeners who value artistic profundity.

- Donald Rosenberg, 1/2012

Mr. Takács has received numerous prizes and awards for his performances, including First prize in the William Kapell International Competition, the C.D. Jackson Award for Excellence in Chamber Music at the Tanglewood Music Center, and a Solo Recitalist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. His performances have been hailed by audiences and the press for their penetrating intellectual insight as well as for emotional urgency and communicativeness.

Mr. Takács has performed as guest soloist with major orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, as well as at important summer festivals such as Tanglewood, Music Mountain, Chautauqua Institution, ARIA International, Schlern Music Festival in the Italian Alps, Tel Hai International Master Classes in Israel, and Sweden's Helsingborg Festival. Since 2008, he has been a member of the faculty at the Montecito Summer Music Festival in Santa Barbara, Cal.

Mr. Takács' success as a teacher is attested to by the accomplishments of his students, who have won top prizes in com-petitions in the United States, Canada, Europe, and South Africa. They have been accepted at major graduate schools such as the Curtis Institute, Juilliard School, and Peabody Conservatory, among many others. Mr. Takács has given master classes in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and has been a jury member at prestigious national and international competitions such as the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, the Canadian National Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Mr. Takács has taught piano at Oberlin since 1976.

Terry Eder, born in Detroit of Eastern European heritage, is a pianist with special affinity for the works of Béla Bartók. She performs, teaches, and lectures in the U.S. and abroad. She is also a recording artist with 3 CDs to her credit: Portrait, a recital program, Dohnányi Piano Pieces (Hungaroton), and Bartók Piano Music (MSR Classics). After earning her Master of Music with Distinction, Ms. Eder won a research grant from the International Research and Exchanges Board that sponsored her year-long residency at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where she worked with Zoltán Kocsis. Also an attorney, she has served on the Board of Directors of the Leschetizky Association since 2008, and has lent her legal expertise to various projects including the plight of refugees.