Recital Programs

Featured Programs

  • Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 · Liszt: Sonata in B minor, S.178

    These two monuments of the piano literature are special to me, though for different reasons. I first heard the Chopin sonata in a VHS recording of the Bell Telephone Hour special on Van Cliburn. In it, Cliburn was in the recording studio playing the first movement, eyes closed, in such a personal and passionate way, it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Since then, this piece has been near to my heart, as I’m sure it was to Chopin. The themes are operatic, yet intimate. There is drama and power, but always with elegance. It’s truly one of Chopin’s greatest works.

    I have a special relationship with the Liszt Sonata, a piece I’ve performed for over a decade. Most significantly, it was the piece I performed in the final round of the 2017 Franz Liszt International Festival and Competition, but on by the Ohio Chapter of the American Liszt Society (the first edition of its kind after its rebranding from the Liszt-Garrison Competition, held at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore), in which I won first prize. This success fanned the flame of a my love for Liszt as a composer, pianist, and person that continues to this day.

  • Sonata in C major, K.330 · Sonata in A major, K.331 · Variations on a Minuet by Duport, K.573 · Variations on "Ah, vous dirai-je, Maman," K.265

    Mozart's music sounds effortless, which is exactly what makes it difficult. K.330 is Mozart at his cleanest and most symmetrical; K.331 opens with variations instead of a sonata form and closes with the famous "Rondo alla Turca." The two variation sets show him working in public with borrowed material: the Duport theme grows steadily more virtuosic, while the "Twinkle, Twinkle" tune becomes a small dare in disguising the plainest melody imaginable.

  • Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 36 (1913 Version) · Selected Preludes from Op. 3, Op. 23, and Op. 32

  • The Four Scherzi, Op. 20, 31, 39, and 54 · Twenty-Four Preludes, Op. 28

    The scherzi reveal a side of Chopin the nocturnes don't: real ferocity, from the door-slam opening of the First to the leaner, chorale-driven Third and the comparatively light Fourth. The Preludes, written mostly during a grim winter on Majorca with George Sand, move through every key in pieces that range from under a minute to several, each saying exactly what it needs to and stopping. Together, the two sets cover nearly the full range of what Chopin could do at the keyboard.