Concerts Grand 2011-2012 Recitals
All Recitals are Sunday at 3 PM
The North Bay's favorite piano virtuoso returns to
SRJC's Newman Auditorium to play Rameau's Gavotte
et Variations, Brahms' C Major Sonata (Op. 1), the
three haunting Liszt Petrarch Sonettos and Chopin's
effervescent Andante Spianato, Op. 22. Mr. Nakamatsu's
legion of fans will pack the hall for his artistry.
University of the Pacific pianist Frank Wiens opens
the Ukiah section at Mendocino College with a
Spanish theme, featuring works of Soler, Albeniz,
Falla, Rodrigo, Granados. Debussy's La Puerta Del
Vino, Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody and the Bizet/Horowitz
Carmen Variations complete the program.
Fresh from her ninth tour of Japan and recording sessions in Moscow,
Concerts Grand favorite Elena Kuschnerova will play in Newman pieces
from Tchaikovsky's The Seasons, Schumann's Symphonic Etudes, Op. 13, the
Liszt Petrarch Sonettos 104, 123 and 147, and a bouquet of works honoring
Liszt's 200th birthday, including the demonic first Mephisto Waltz.
Mendocino County's own
Elizabeth MacDougall
returns to the College's
Choral Room to play Bach's
G Minor English Suite, two
Beethoven Sonatas (Op.
81a and the melodic Op. 109),
Liszt's 10th Hungarian Rha and an audience favorite, the
fetching Children's Corner Suite
of Debussy.
In a unique program heard on National Public Radio and in halls across the nation, Lara Downes explores the Bach Goldberg Variations with 13 new variations, written by 13 composers such as Jennifer Higdon, William Balcom, Lukas Foss and Fred Hersch. A tour de force in old and new music.
The insouciant pianist Paul Barnes
makes his Northern California debut
in a sensationally innovative program,
the first half comprised of celestial
transcriptions from composer (and
Barnes colleague) Phillip Glass, and
works of Arvo Pärt and Lincoln Hanks.
The recital's second half is just one
work, Liszt's monumental B Minor
Sonata, but with the addition of
Professor Barnes' sage commentary
concerning the Sonata and Liszt's
legacy for the 21st Century.
A fitting end to the final Concerts Grand season is Russian virtuoso
Natasha Paremski, who in her sparkling 2011 season has been playing
Rachmaninoff Preludes, Chopin's daring Barcarolle, Brahms, Gabriel Kahane's Sonata
(written for the artist) and perhaps the 20th Century's most popular Sonata, Prokofiev's
thrilling 7th, Op. 83. Ms. Paremski may include these in her TBA Newman program.