Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts Presents Solo Recital by Simone Dinnerstein, 1/23

By: Dec. 10, 2013
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Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts presents an intriguing solo recital by renowned Brooklyn-based pianist SIMONE DINNERSTEIN. Dinnerstein's first major performance following the release of her new CD features the Bach Inventions as well as the NY premiere of a work by Nico Muhly. Thursday, January 23, 2014, 8:00 p.m. Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street) Tickets: $35-45 • Students with valid ID: $21-27

A pianist of "arresting freshness and subtlety" (TIME), Simone Dinnerstein returns to Miller Theatre in a program that brings together challenging keyboard works both old and new. Though Dinnerstein is perhaps best known for her interpretations of Bach, The Philadelphia Inquirer puts her "in a league with any of the great Beethoven pianists of our time." She'll pair one of Beethoven's most sublime piano sonatas with a work by George Crumb where he riffs on Thelonius Monk, a Nico Muhly premiere written for Dinnerstein (commissioned by the Terezin Music Foundation), and Bach's ingenious Two-Part Inventions, which are the subject of her newest release on Sony Classical, due out on January 21.

PROGRAM:
J.S. Bach: Two Part Inventions for keyboard, Op. 772-786
George Crumb: Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik (Ruminations on 'Round Midnight by Thelonius Monk, 2011)
Nico Muhly: You Can't Get There From Here (2012) - New York premiere
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Opus 111
Related Outreach Event
"Bachpacking" with Simone Dinnerstein
Simone Dinnerstein will present a series of free classroom concerts at elementary and middle schools in and around Morningside Heights and Harlem, where Miller Theatre is located, in the days surrounding the recital. This series of outreach performances emerges from a commitment to education and community that is shared by Dinnerstein and Miller Theatre.

Dinnerstein has a long history of bringing music into schools, prisons, nursing and retirement homes, and hospitals. In short, anywhere where she thinks the music can speak. She plays regularly in the New York public schools that are part of her Neighborhood Classics concert series. Miller Theatre, for its part, has produced a number of free community events in recent years, including the participatory art-making festival and parade Morningside Lights; an outdoor performance of John Luther Adams'Inuksuit in Morningside Park; and the ongoing, free monthly Pop-Up Concerts series onstage.

Simone Dinnerstein
American pianist Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. NPR reports, "She compels the listener to follow her in a journey of discovery filled with unscheduled detours . . . She's actively listening to every note she plays, and the result is a wonderfully expressive interpretation." The New York-based pianist gained an international following because of the remarkable success of her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations, which she raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many "Best of 2007" lists including those of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker.

The three solo albums Dinnerstein has released since then - The Berlin Concert(Telarc), Bach: A Strange Beauty (Sony), and Something Almost Being Said (Sony) - have also topped the classical charts. She was the bestselling instrumentalist of 2011 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart and was included in NPR's 2011 100 Favorite Songs from all genres.

In spring 2013, Dinnerstein and singer-songwriter Tift Merritt released an album together on Sony called Night, a unique collaboration uniting classical, folk, and rock worlds. Other upcoming and recent highlights include Dinnerstein's debuts in Sydney and Melbourne; her debuts in Leipzig at the Gewandhaus and in Toulouse; the world premiere of Nico Muhly's You Can't Get There From Here at Symphony Hall in Boston; her third return engagement at the Berlin Philharmonie; and world premiere performances of Philip Lasser's The Circle and The Child with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Dinnerstein's performances have taken her around the world since her triumphant New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall in 2005 to venues including the Kennedy Center, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Metropolitan Museum, and Wigmore Hall; festivals including the Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival, the Aspen, Verbier, and Ravinia Festivals, and the Stuttgart Bach Festival; and performances with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Kristjan Järvi's Absolute Ensemble, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony.

Dinnerstein is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she was a student of Peter Serkin. She also studied with Solomon Mikowsky at the Manhattan School of Music and in London with Maria Curcio. Dinnerstein lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and son.


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