New Yok Chronicle

What would he play for an encore?...In the end, he played nothing—which I think was right. Ea lier in this chronicle, I was campaigning for encores, but Jacobs and Bach—with Mendelssohn in the background—had said enough.
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Ursula Oppens plays Fredric Rzewski's The People United Will Never Be Defeated

For us, the draw is Ursula Oppens, 81, with her signature piece Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Shall Never Be Defeated… MoMA is being cagy about performance times, but we have it from the horse’s mouth that Oppens goes on “around” one P.M., in the Agnes Gund Garden.
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Pianist Mamora displays his strength, story-telling gifts in Carnegie recital

Mamora is a natural-born musical storyteller who grasps the arc of a piece and illuminates it with careful attention to detail and drama. This talent was front and center in this dark-hued program of single-movement works, with no pauses and applause to interrupt their dramatic flow.
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Red-Hot and Exalted

this entire recital gave the grandest picture of a bravura artist… Mr. Mamora is fearless (as every artist of his caliber must be), but his audacity never rolled over with excess rubati or finger-technical which blurred his meaning.
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West Side Fuge

As for Jacobs’ performance, it was a technical and musical tour-de-force of a very high order, revealing the architecture of Bach’s valediction while tapping unsuspected reserves of emotional power… It is sublime in the extreme.
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Jacobs’ historic Bach recreation looks back in Leipzig

Jacobs didn’t just do them justice—he conveyed a sense of the awe these works must have struck in listeners hearing them for the first time… Under Jacobs’s hands and feet, that classic sound included marvelous subtleties of tone color ranging from the breathiest flutes to the most piercing reeds, as well as some unearthly sounds no other non-electronic instrument makes.
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Organist Jacobs illuminates Bach’s “Art of Fugue” in living color

...an experience not merely beautiful but 'sublime,' that is, inspiring wonder and awe…For the next hour or so, Jacobs delivered handsomely on that promise, wielding organ textures from transparent to massive, making music of dense intellectual content leap off the page and into the listener’s ear.
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But these are inhuman: Paul Jacobs and “The Art of Fugue” at Oregon Bach Festival

To hear organist Paul Jacobs play Bach is a revelation.
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Young Hyun Cho: Beethoven's Piano Sonatas Nos. 12 – 15

…the perfect pianist for the project, given her impeccable technique and the clarity of expression and articulation shown in these performances. Couple that with Beethoven's towering lucidity of writing and form and you've got a composer-performer combination that's tough to beat.
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Voices Outside the Western Orbit: Music of Hatzis and Sorabji

He [William Hobbs] is adept at making the shifts that occur from impressionist, to modernist, to more romantic and parlor music-like gestures, to minimalism and contemporary musical avant-garde approaches.  All of those aspects blend between the two composers here which makes them good companions for this musical journey.
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Two Venerable Pianists Bring Insight Of Years To Tchaikovsky, Rzewski

Oppens, a longtime modern-music champion whose repertoire of new music includes nearly every significant composer of our time, remains the Rzewski oracle… when Oppens blazed — yes, blazed — through the piece, the music seemed more integrated, revealing its own reckless personality rather than those of its antecedents..
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CD Review: Classical Beethoven Performances in a New Cycle from Young Hyun Cho

There is a sense of Classical poise that Cho brings to these pieces. The accentuation helps to remind us of his style well and this helps to pull the listener into her approach. There is such great command of dynamic shading across the keyboard with an equally fine attack in both hands… The precision of the performances is also to be admired. Heard with their companions, the sonatas feel very much a part of this particular moment in Beethoven’s life with a performance informed by the period itself and not the romantic detritus that can be drawn from these when they are perhaps heard in isolation.  In the end, having fine performances of these four popular works on one disc turns out to be an excellent idea that should have listeners seeking out future releases in her cycle.
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CD Review: Voices Outside the Western Orbit: Music of Hatzis and Sorabji

There is a deep emotional connection that [William] Hobbs brings out in these pieces well that is clarified by the accompanying notes.  Orbiting Gardens is a fine album of engaging piano pieces blending a variety of compositional voices into unique, music that is often quite captivating.  It is also excellently performed here in great sound which further advocates for this stellar production that reminds us why physical media are still preferable!
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Kristina Reiko Cooper – Bridging Worlds Through the Soulful Cello

In the vibrant world of classical music, American-Israeli-Japanese cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper stands out not only for her electrifying performances but also for her unwavering belief in music’s profound capacity to heal, connect, and transcend. Blessed with a captivating stage presence and an effervescent personality, Cooper has built a remarkable career that seamlessly weaves together artistic excellence with a deep commitment to humanitarian causes.
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Charles Neidich Featured On Phillip Gainsley’s Podcast Let’s Talk Music

In the words of The New Yorker, Charles Neidich “is an artist of uncommon merit -- a master of his instrument and, beyond that, an interpreter who keeps listeners hanging on each phrase.”
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WA Sinfonietta: Weinberg, Klein, Ustvolskaya in Review

As for Mr. Neidich, what more can one say? He is so incredibly precise that any clarinet hopefuls would be well-advised to seek him out and learn from him, not only his technique, but his musicianship and his scholarly mien…It is also wonderful to see how much joy Mr. Neidich has and how he shared that joy with all the musicians that performed with ebullient handshakes for all.
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The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra's concert for Holocaust remembrance - review

Clearly identifying with the work’s anguished message, cello soloist Kristina Reiko Cooper (USA-Israel) impressively projected its melodic asymmetry – as much with her formidable stage presence as with skillfully nuanced and chilling cries drawn from the cello. Both performer and composer of this recently written concerto received a well-deserved ovation at its close.
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Paul Jacobs to play at Saint Vincent Archabbey with PSO

It was 25 years ago this July that Paul Jacobs broke into the national consciousness with an act that combined deep musical knowledge and sheer stamina…he quickly became a force to be reckoned with in the classical music world.
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ESO and organist Paul Jacobs: review

…Jacobs indeed pulled out all the stops. big, blaring, extrovert, showing off the voices and the power of the organ.
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A sense of awesomeness: Organist Paul Jacobs in Eugene

Jacobs was in his element with his favorite composer. “Bach inspires me every day,” he said in the interview. With his feet pedaling and dancing at a mighty clip, his hands crossing over – and all this by memory – he wrung the majesty out of Bach. Too much praise? Nope. His gracious nature, colored with whimsey, makes him almost as much of a draw as his musical prowess, boundless expressiveness and prodigious memory. No wonder his concerts are almost always sold out.
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Three by Chumbley plus Brahms in Review

Mr. Chumbley writes that Serenade takes the form of a fantasy, with the melodic material “sung” in the clarinet and cello, while the piano provides harmonic and rhythmical support. This ten-minute work is meditative and lyrical, emphasizing melodic coloring over virtuosic gymnastics. Ms. Petrella and Ms. Mallow were lovely “singers,” as they passed and shared thematic material.
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WA Sinfonietta in Review

The first movement felt like a love poem to the instrument, exploiting all its facets and capabilities. The lightness of the second movement was executed expertly by Mr. Neidich and Mr. Shams, whose collaboration throughout the program was top notch to say the least! The triumphant ending was full of joy and was met with a roaring applause from the audience.
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Ian Hobson: The Complete Schumann Piano Works – Colorful Album Leaves in Review

…his ability to convey the big picture, painting his interpretations in broad brushstrokes, with an architect’s grasp and without fussiness or self-indulgence. Generally one might not expect such a pianist to handle well all the delicate fluctuations of these miniatures – as Schumann can be rather “needy” – but what Mr. Hobson brought to them on this occasion was a refreshing clarity, perhaps akin to his conductor’s overview. In any case, it was welcome. We could enjoy the vista of hills and valleys without getting too lost in the flurry of foliage.
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WA Sinfonietta makes energetic debut with Neidich as conductor-soloist

Having described the piece to the audience as “more opera than concerto,” Neidich made good on his words with a long-breathed, deeply affecting Adagio any onstage heroine would be proud of. Orchestral strings echoed his sighing phrases, then warmly reprised the entire theme, whose hushed return later was an expressive high point. Soloist and orchestra made the most of the rondo finale’s playful theme and picturesque episodes.
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Wa Concert Series presents Wind Miniatures in Review

The first movement felt like a love poem to the instrument, exploiting all its facets and capabilities. The lightness of the second movement was executed expertly by Mr. Neidich and Mr. Shams, whose collaboration throughout the program was top notch to say the least!
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Driver brings a myriad of illumination to Carnegie recital

Driver played the final variation’s trills with quiet intensity and weightlessness. Less an ending than a transformation, they echoed Ligeti’s rhythmic illusions, Schumann’s sonorities, now deconstructed, and Handel’s ornaments–stretched to infinity. In this final gesture, Beethoven distilled the evening’s theme: how music never truly resolves, but remains an open-ended dialogue.
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New common ground: Danny Driver comes to Carnegie Hall

Driver’s catalogue of recordings bears witness to the breadth of his repertoire, from Handel to Ligeti. Both composers find their place on a concert programme in the Key Pianists series at Carnegie Hall, alongside works by Beethoven, Schumann, Fauré and Gabriela Lena Frank. Drawing lines across time between these composers comes to him readily and spontaneously.
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A Conversation with Charles Neidich

The preeminent clarinetist Charles Neidich took time out of his busy day recently to chat with New York Concert Review about the imminent return of his extremely popular WA Concert Series and, what’s more, the creation of a new and innovative orchestra in New York, the WA Sinfonietta, with concerts in March and May under the auspices of the newly established Artena Foundation. Big things are afoot!
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OQUIN; PARKER; ROUSE Organ Concertos (Paul Jacobs)

… the participation of the stellar American organist Paul Jacobs, here framing recent material composed expressly for him
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Pianist Han brings insight and intelligence to connoisseur program

Han’s playing was deeply impressive. There was a real measure of understanding here. Music that requires so much focus and physical skill can turn the details of performance into sheer effort, but Han still held onto a great balance of force and care. She kept on the side of letting all the notes work together, rather than just showing what her hands can do, and one heard how fine were both the composing and her musicality.
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Ian Hobson: The Complete Schumann Piano Works- Visions of Youth in Review

Tonight’s concert was a rare and remarkable experience, bringing together a complete performance of these cherished works. It is hard to imagine having the opportunity to hear these pieces presented collectively in a single recital again. Mr. Hobson’s dedication to Robert Schumann and his artistry made the evening truly special.
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Concert Review (NYC): Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: All-Haydn Season Opener with Pinchas Zukerman, Michael Stephen Brown October 17, 2024 BlogCritics

Haydn’s Piano Trio in C major is mostly a piano feature. Brown uncovered a reverberant, chocolatey tone in the quiet sections. He then brought boisterous energy, supported by Boyd and Finckel, to the nearly perpertual-motion triplet passages of the wearing first movement.
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Papa Haydn’s Glowing Creations, New York, Alice Tully Theater, Lincoln Center

A personal surprise–and my unalloyed favorite of the evening–was the humbly named C Major Trio. Violinist Aaron Boyd, cellist David Finckel and pianist Michael Steven Brown launched into a work which, for sheer happiness, ebullience, almost drunken spirits, could not be improved.
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Paul Jacobs: Organ Concertos Naxos

...the interweaving of organ and orchestra proves arresting, as does their frequent call-and-response. The pairing of Jacobs' thick chords and the ensemble makes for a huge sound, but there are passages of comparative quietude too.
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SOLOISTS AND OTHERS
Horatio Parker: Organ Concerto; Wayne Oquin: Resilience; Christopher Rouse: Organ Concerto; Ives: Variations on “America.” Paul Jacobs, organ; Nashville Symphony conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero. Naxos. $19.99.

The short  second movement [of  Horatio Parker’s Organ Concerto] provides an interval of surprising delicacy and  refinement, while the finale is broad, wide-ranging and emphatic and played by Jacobs with considerable flair and expressive  panache…Jacobs does not overplay the work [Ives’s Variations on “America”], but explores it with mostly serious engagement (albeit with appropriate lightness in the  third variation and the “Polonaise” fourth) and a fine sense of its overall structure.
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Classical Album Review: American Organ Concertos, Performed With Plenty of Swagger

Paul Jacobs, the day’s reigning organ virtuoso, knows it well and he’s assayed a fascinating assortment of Americana on his latest release for Naxos…Jacobs’ performance of Ives’ Variations on “America” offers just about everything you could ask for. It’s raucous and anarchic, yes (the “Polonaise” is a hoot), but also steeped in nobility and sincerity. Rarely does the final variation exhibit the swaggering majesty it does under Jacobs’ hands and feet.
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Organ Concertos Works by Ives, Parker, Rouse and Wayne Oquin

...the excellent Paul Jacobs gives a delightful performance, vigorously supported by Giancarlo Guerrero’s brightly polished Nashville Symphony, stripped of woodwinds in Parker’s scoring – something that only makes the organ’s tones stand out with extra clarity…All told, this is a most attractive album.
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The Bach Choir Of Bethlehem Celebrates Newly Granted UNESCO World Heritage Statu

The Bach Choir has for 125 years prided itself as being part of the rich Moravian cultural history, a foundation that gives special cachet to the city of Bethlehem.
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The Bach Choir Of Bethlehem Celebrates Newly Granted UNESCO World Heritage Status

America's oldest Bach Choir, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, has announced that the Moravian Church Settlements of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, have just been granted UNESCO World Heritage status. The Bach Choir has for 125 years prided itself as being part of the rich Moravian cultural history, a foundation that gives special cachet to the city of Bethlehem.
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Internationally Noted Pianist-Conductor Ian Hobson Releases All Sixteen Volumes of The Complete Works of Chopin, July, 2024

Mr. Hobson, whose playing has been described by Gramophone as "intensely alive to expressive nuance, textural clarity and elastic shaping," is the first pianist to take on the monumental undertaking of recording the complete piano works of Frederick Chopin.
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Transformation & Love: Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival Returns With 12 Concerts This Summer

The festival will feature the world premiere of pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown’s “The Lotos-Eaters” for Flute, Cello, Piano, and Percussion, inspired by the Tennyson poem of the same name, and his composition “Relationship” for clarinet and violin.
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The Bach Choir of Bethlehem brings Bach home to Leipzig, Potsdam…and Schwäbisch-Gmünd

One the country’s finest choirs for Bach and persuasive ambassadors for American music
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Discover Los Angeles: Paul Jacobs Organ Recital

If anyone deserves to be called the greatest showman, it's organ virtuoso Paul Jacobs” (Broad Street Review). Jacobs returns for a program that highlights the technical intricacies of Bach and the Romantic charisma of Liszt.
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Love and Transformation: Bridgehampton Music Festival 2024

The world premieres of two BCM-commissioned works, Michael Stephen Brown’s “The Lotos-Eaters” for Flute, Cello, Piano, and Percussion, inspired by the Tennyson poem of the same name…expand the festival’s theme of transformation..
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Times of London The best classical album so far

Bach Choir of Bethlehem recording Mendelssohn & Bach: Matthaus-Passion: There’s something equally homely and straightforward about the whole performance. Jackson’s forces give us commitment and heart, not affectation… It’s all fascinating and endearing.
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Review: Canellakis-Brown Duo at UU Congregation of Asheville

Brown excelled at simultaneously defining texture and movement throughout the sonata. Again, my thoughts flew to atmospheric metaphors: His light pianistic touch sent Rachmaninoff’s rich chords billowing out like storm clouds, but his precise articulation of the composer’s melodies gave those cumulonimbi distinct, bright edges.
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Ian Hobson: The Complete Schumann Piano Works- Counterpoints in Review

Despite their brevity, each piece managed to convey a rich emotional world, and Mr. Hobson’s performance skillfully brought out their essence, with a lush sound and meticulous attention to each entrance… Hobson also treated us to a program full of passion, vigor, and commitment. He will be performing another all-Schumann recital on Friday, May 10 also at the Tenri Cultural Institute. Do not miss this remarkable musician!
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In Chicago, an Uneven Podium Debut, a Rarely Heard Organ Concerto

In his magisterial performance [of Charles Ives’s Variations on America], Jacobs hammed up the movements’ vivid personalities: the merry-go-round naïveté of the third, the pompous polonaise in the fourth, and the sulking dirges of the interludes, some of the teenage Ives’s earliest forays into bitonality. After a final variation that demands the same fleet feet as the Toccata, Jacobs’s Variations arguably drew even more spirited applause than the main event.
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Concert Review: Music by Mozart for Two Pianists, with Michael Stephen Brown and Adam Golka

The pianists presented the first movement [of Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major]’s dense textures with authority. In its “conversationality” this movement actually feels fugue-like in places. Brown and Golka had virtuosity to spare for its flurries of scales… The performance captured the fullness of the beauty of the piece.
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Elim Chan dances her way through Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut

Jacobs, a frequent guest of the CSO, utilized the full spectrum of colors available on the midsize, 3,400-pipe instrument, changing registrations so the melody emerged from different parts of the hall, finding a spooky whistle rank to color a hair-raising passage, and rumbling the rafters with the 32-foot stops. His encore, Charles Ives' Variations on America for solo organ – about half the duration of the Barber – showcased the palette even further, at turns hymnic, jaunty, silly, squirrelly, constipated and ballparky.
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Canellakis-Brown Duo To Perform In Los Alamos April 21

Presented by the Los Alamos Concert Association (LACA), cellist Nicholas Canellakis and pianist Michael Stephen Brown will play a program that celebrates the standard repertoire, little-known gems and their own compositions and arrangements.
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Canellakis-Brown Duo wows guests at Coastal Concerts season finale

Cellist Nicholas Canellakis and pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown brought their inimitable wit, humor and infectious rapport to the stage, captivating the audience with superb musicianship and a thrilling performance.
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JS BACH St Matthew Passion (arr Mendelssohn)

An enjoyable performance…Mendelssohn’s version of the St Matthew Passion was a pioneering effort, appropriate for its time and place.
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Concert Preview and Interview: Pianist Michael Stephen Brown on ‘Mozart as Harlequin’ (May 1, NYC)

Brown explained that the program “will include the D major Sonata for piano four hands, whose moods range from poignancy to slapstick humor; some of Mozart’s hilarious and bawdy canons; and excerpts from the notoriously crude letters he wrote to a girlfriend. As man and artist, Mozart was devoted to joie de vivre, and the concert will paint a portrait of him at his most high-spirited.”
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Cool Things to Do first weekend of April 2024

Classic and rarely-heard chamber music is coming to Lewes this weekend. Coastal Concerts will present the "Wild Card" concert Saturday at 2 p.m. at Bethel United Methodist Church. It features a duo made up of pianist Michael Stephen Brown and cellist Nicholas Canellakis.
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Canellakis-Brown Duo to cap Coastal Concerts season April 6

Cellist Nicholas Canellakis and pianist Michael Brown comprise the Canellakis-Brown Duo, set to perform on the Coastal Concerts stage in Lewes April 6.
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Canellakis-Brown Duo Delivers Fun at Trinity School

Although the sound is more opulent, this romantic arrangement still breathes the spirit of Bach. Conductor To hear merely ten seconds of this style of music might make your hair want to stand up on end. For both piano and cello this was the closer to outflank any program closer. The audience was overwhelmed with joy!
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Bachs Matthäus-Passion in der Mendelssohn-Fassung

Although the sound is more opulent, this romantic arrangement still breathes the spirit of Bach. Conductor Christopher Jackson takes this into account and allows his instrumental ensemble to play in an unaffected, agile manner.
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Nordic duo of Mälkki and Höskuldsson hold court at Symphony Center

What I loved most about Liebermann’s new concerto is that it has a marvelous sense of propulsion to it. Whether the tempo is fast or slow, the music unfolds like a ribbon caught in a breeze. There is clear shape and purpose and swirling beauty.
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Review: At CSO, a rare world premiere shines against an unbalanced Mahler 4

Liebermann’s blueprint certainly ticks all the concerto checkboxes — soloistic liberty in the first, sweeping pensiveness in the second, and quicksilver virtuosity in the third. Höskuldsson met each benchmark with not just ease but palpable satisfaction — a snug fit between commission and dedicatee.
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra Soars With a New Work and a Mahler Symphony: Review

And now to Liebermann’s work for the flute that soared on the brilliant playing of Höskuldsson. The first of its three movements opened with a flute solo at once emotional and pensive…There was a grandeur and romanticism to the piece as it developed, with the fast and fluid sound of Höskuldsson’s flute generating a lush orchestral response.
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Mälkki returns and an engaging flute concerto achieves liftoff with CSO

Based on the resounding success of Thursday night’s premiere of Liebermann’s Flute Concerto No. 2, the American composer has come up with another winner. This engaging, richly tuneful and soloist-friendly work is a virtual certainty to become a popular addition to the scant flute concerto repertory.
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Album Review: Nicholas Canellakis & Michael Stephen Brown: (b)romance

Regarding “Poème,” Canellakis rightly opines that this early, unpublished evocation sounds more like Debussy than Copland; regardless, it's a lovely romantic exercise whose hush showcases the musicians' exceptional command of their instruments. Here and elsewhere, the rapport between the two amplifies the lyrical tenderness of the material…As composers, Brown distinguishes himself with Prelude and Dance, its first part enticing for its reflective, serene character and its second arresting for its hellacious drive.
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Christopher Jackson: Matthäus-Passion review — fascinating and endearing

There’s something equally homely and straightforward about the whole performance. Jackson’s forces give us commitment and heart, not affectation.
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Pianist Brown brings customary excellence, insight to a personal program for CMSLC

Brown’s manner was ideal for Debussy’s Hommage à Haydn and Ravel’s Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn. Precise articulation in fluid phrasing, a sense of forward motion, and just the right amount of time lingering on the most colorful sonorities, all served the intellect and charm in the music... His playing was exceptional, natural and immaculate… He finished the first half with a fantastic performance of Miroirs. Playing fleetly but with every note presented precisely, his pedaling and balance between percussive and legato articulations were perfect; one was enveloped in the sheer sound and mysteries of this wonderful piece.
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Let’s Talk Music Podcast with Pianist Michael Stephen Brown

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Michael Stephen Brown Shines in Redlands: A Dual Performance of Originals and Mozart

Esteemed pianist and composer Michael Stephen Brown, celebrated for his 2018 Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center, is set to dazzle Redlands with two performances. This unique musical endeavor, hosted by the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, showcases Brown's versatility both as a solo artist and as a concerto soloist, providing audiences with a rich tapestry of classical compositions.
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New England Philharmonic program offers a fresh vision of familiar vistas

Jacobs’ performance embodied the interplay between Bach’s earnestness and spirit, intensity and lightness as he moved seamlessly and with perfect confidence through the work.
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WA Concert Series Presents “The World of the Expanded Clarinet” in Review

To hear these disjunct roles achieved by a single player is amazing, and the way Mr. Neidich concluded the work with that final idée fixe note after a long rest made it hard not to gasp in reaction... That is communication through music, and that is what one has come to expect from WA concerts.
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NEP Piques Our Interest

A piece with this title requires Bach’s prime instrument, the organ, and a very skilled player thereof, in this case, fortunately, Paul Jacobs.
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A Conversation with Lowell Liebermann

Composer Lowell Liebermann is beloved in our community for his many works that feature the flute in all its lyrical, colorful, technical beauty. On the eve of the premiere of his second flute concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Flute Examiner’s Keith Hanlon had the opportunity to speak with him about his background, his future and his music.
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Composer Michael Stephen Brown Coming to Rochester Hills

Chamber Music Detroit welcomes composer Michael Stephen Brown March 1 in Rochester Hills. “It’s going to be a fun showcase of a variety of different styles of piano repertoire from different periods,” Brown said.
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Pianist Thomas Nickell in Review

Mr. Nickell dealt with these issues with a sure technique, never letting the energy flag while maintaining a musical sense throughout. It’s not an easy task, and it’s also something of a high-risk, low-reward proposition that many pianists would not take on in performance..
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Oppens at 80: A birthday concert to inspire pianists

One of the best feelings in the world is when you can trust the soloist. You know it from the first note they play. You sink into your chair, forget about the audience around you, and take a deep breath out, knowing you are in good hands. That is what I experienced Saturday afternoon at Merkin Hall in Manhattan, where Ursula Oppens, her partner, Jerome Lowenthal, and six other pianists played a group recital of pieces written for Oppens over the years.
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Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series: Charles Neidich & Robert Levin in Review

Thank you, Mr. Neidich and Mr. Levin for giving me the luxury of taking off my “critic” hat and putting on my “music lover” hat… The audience knew it was something special as well, and gave the duo the proper respect of a loud ovation.
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Concert Review: Avant-Garde Showcase Marks Ursula Oppens’ 80th Birthday

Oppens’ closing duet with Lowenthal was a fitting nightcap. The presence of two bodies on the bench working together in seamless creativity encapsulated the concert’s theme, “Ursula & Friends.” It signified the importance of community in the musical world of these eight composers, these eight pianists, and the audiences that have supported them and their many infinitely creative colleagues over the past half-century.
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Oppens marks 80 years delightfully with friends and music

Pianist Ursula Oppens has been one of the most important voices in contemporary American music for the past 50 years…Oppens’ spirit and her technique at the keyboard show no concessions to age. She beams with a sense of welcoming delight, and the tender lyricism of Old and Lost Rivers, a juxtaposition of regret and peacefulness, came through with a limpid simplicity.
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At 80, the Modest Queen of Contemporary Music Keeps Exploring

That kind of modesty has been mixed in with mastery throughout Oppens’s long, distinguished career. With crystalline lucidity, warm sensitivity and utter authority, she has guided generations of listeners through the seductive complexities of Wuorinen and Elliott Carter, Anthony Davis and Conlon Nancarrow, Frederic Rzewski and Joan Tower, and on and on.
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The Best Is Noise - The Ursula Oppens Interview

Oppens, who has commissioned so much music that she has almost single-handedly shaped the direction of the American piano repertoire in the last half century, is a wellspring of musical insight, wisdom, and humility.
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Lowell Liebermann: Plays Piano Music of Theodor Kirchner, Blue Griffin

As enrapturing as it would be to hear the recording's intimate material performed live, it feels almost tailor-made for home listening where one might surrender to its charms from the comfort of a cozy living room. As Liebermann himself states, “Many of his pieces are of such a delicate and exquisite nature that their beauties seem to have been meant to be appreciated in solitude, played late into the night for one's own enjoyment. There is a fragile purity and direct simplicity to some of them that make an audience an unwanted intrusion”
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