Emory Presents Beethoven's Complete Sonatas For Piano This Season

Music at Emory and the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta will present the entire cycle of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in eight recitals by noted pianists from around the world. Eight pianists will divide the set, each performing four sonatas, between Oct. 5, 2001 and April 19, 2002 in Emory's Performing Arts Studio. General admission tickets are $15 each or $90 for the series of eight concerts. For information or to order tickets, call the Arts at Emory box office at 404-727-5050 or send e-mail to boxoffice@emory.edu.

Created over the span of his lifetime (1770-1827), Beethoven's sonatas for piano include some of his earliest and some of his last works. "The 32 pieces express the joy and suffering, sensuality and spirituality that make Beethoven one of the most enduring and popular composers of all time," says series organizer William Ransom, the Mary Emerson Professor of Music and artistic director of the Emory Chamber Music Society.

Having eight different artists perform the cycle will provide different perspectives on the body of music, says Ransom. "This is one of the most exciting projects I have been involved in, and I am thrilled to be able to put it together for Atlanta."

The pianists in addition to Ransom are Philip Thomson from Canada, Yasuo Watanabe from Japan, Arthur Greene of the University of Michigan, Dante Medina from Argentina, Andrew Rangell from Boston, Robert Taub from New York and Youngho Kim from Korea. Each concert will be preceded by a lecture setting the context for that night's program. Greene, Medina, Rangell and Taub will give the lectures prior to their recitals. Additional speakers include Emory music professor Ben Arnold; Bill McGlaughlin, host of Minnesota Public Radio "St. Paul Sunday"; and National Public Radio commentator Miles Hoffman.

Pre-concert lectures are at 7:15 p.m. and recitals begin at 8:15 p.m.; both take place in the Performing Arts Studio, 1804 N. Decatur Rd., Emory. The lectures are included in the concert ticket price.

The series is sponsored by the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta and the Steinway Piano Galleries. The performances will be recorded for future broadcast on WABE. The schedule is as follows:

Friday, Oct. 5, 2001
Philip Thomson, Canadian pianist and faculty member at the University of Akron. He is acclaimed for his discovery, world premiere performance and recording (with the Hungarian State Orchestra) of Liszt's discovered sonata, "De Profundis." Thomson found the sonata and prepared a performing edition with composer Michael Maxwell.
No. 12, in A-flat Major, Op. 26 ("Funeral March"-1801);
No. 8, in C minor, Op. 13 ("Pathétique"-1799);
No. 14, in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight" -1801);
No. 3 in C Major, Op. 2, No. 3 (1795)
Pre-concert lecture by Ben Arnold, Emory University.

Friday, Oct. 26, 2001
Yasuo Watanabe, Japanese pianist and conductor. He studied under Theodore Lettvin and Sascha Gorodntizki and has performed around the world with many orchestras. He has conducted a number of groups across Japan and is professor of piano at the Kurashiki Sakuyo University in Kurashiki City of Okayama Prefecture.
No. 9, in E Major, Op. 14, No. 1 (1798);
No. 17, in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2 ("Tempest"-1802);
No. 6, in F Major, Op. 10, No. 2 (1797);
No. 28, in A Major, Op. 101 (1816)
Pre-concert lecture by Ben Arnold, Emory University

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001
William Ransom, Mary Emerson Professor of Music and founder/artistic director of the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. He has performed around the world as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. He studied piano with William Masselos, Theodore Lettvin and Gaby Casadesus. He has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Isserlis and members of the Tokyo, Cleveland and Lark string quartets. He had his Carnegie Hall debut this spring with poet John Stone. Ransom also serves as artistic director of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in Highlands, N.C., and faculty member of the Kamisaibara Pianists Camp in Japan.
No. 25, in G Major, Op. 79 (1809);
No. 21, in C Major, Op. 53 ("Waldstein"-1804);
No. 30, in E Major, Op. 109 (1820);
No. 23, in F minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata"-1805)
Pre-concert lecture by Bill McGlaughlin, host of Minnesota Public Radio's "St. Paul Sunday."

Friday, Dec. 14, 2001
Arthur Greene, award-winning American pianist. Greene has garnered rave reviews for his performances in recent years. He won gold medals in the William Kapell and Gina Bachauer international piano competitions and was a top laureate at the Busoni international competition. He has had great success as a concert performer throughout the United States, Europe and the Far East, has done several recordings, and is on the faculty of the University of Michigan.
No. 5, in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1 (1797);
No. 11, in B-flat Major, Op. 22 (1800);
No. 22, in F Major, Op. 54 (1804);
No. 4, in E-flat Major, Op. 7 ("The Beloved"-1797)
Pre-concert lecture by Greene.

Friday, Jan. 25, 2002
Dante Medina, Argentinean pianist, composer and scholar. In 1999, he performed the entire cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba and he has performed Beethoven's ten sonatas for violin and piano. He has performed widely in Argentina, South America, Mexico and the United States. As a composer, he has written for piano and for both chamber and symphonic groups, with works reflecting Latin, jazz and exotic rhythms. He holds teaching and research posts at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, and often is a guest lecturer and instructor at American universities.
No. 19, in G minor, Op. 49, No. 1 (1797);
No. 2, in A Major, Op. 2, No. 2 (1795);
No. 20, in G Major, Op. 49, No. 2 (1796);
No. 29, in B-flat Major, Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier"-1818)
Pre-concert lecture by Medina.

Friday, Feb. 22, 2002
Andrew Rangell, American pianist. He studied at Juilliard under Beveridge Webster and was a recipient of the Malraux Award of the Concert Artists Guild. He is a prolific and critically acclaimed performer, whose repertoire in the last five years has included 10 complete cycles (over three seasons) of all the Beethoven piano sonatas, and a five-concert series of Bach programs. His discography includes Bach's Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's final five sonatas, two diverse collections and a pairing of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.
No. 13, in E-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 1 ("quasi una fantasia"-1801);
No. 16, in G Major, Op. 31, No. 1 (1802);
No. 24, in F-sharp Major, Op. 78, No. 24 ("Für Therese" -1809);
No. 31, in A-flat Major, Op. 110 (1821)
Pre-concert lecture by Rangell.

Friday, March 22, 2002
Robert Taub, internationally acclaimed American pianist. He has performed with many of the world's major orchestras and given recitals worldwide. In 1994, he was appointed the first artist-in-residence at the Institute for Advanced study in Princeton. In the next three years he performed the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas in nine programs, most broadcast on National Public Radio's "Performance Today." He also has recorded the sonata cycle and been selected as a critic's favorite by Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Gramophone, Ovation and Fanfare.
No. 7, in D Major, Op. 10, No. 3 (1798);
No. 26, in E-flat Major, Op. 81a ("Les Adieux"-1809);
No. 27, in E minor, Op. 90 (1814);
No. 15, in D Major, Op. 28 ("Pastoral"-1801)
Pre-concert lecture by Taub.

Friday, April 19, 2002
Youngho Kim, Korean pianist and educator. Kim received his training in New York with such teachers as Clarence Adler, Byron Janis, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Herbert Stessin and Solomon Mikowsky. During that time he won a number of competitions, including the Helen Hart, Kosciuzko Chopin and Frinna Awerbuch competitions. He also won a number of competitions abroad and has performed extensively on the international concert scene. Since his return to Korea, he has been a professor of piano at the Yonsei University School of Music in Seoul. He has recorded with the Moscow Philharmonic, Czech National Symphony and the Philharmonia of London.
No. 1, in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1 (1795);
No. 10, in G Major, Op. 14, No. 2 (1799);
No. 18, in E-flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3 (1802);
No. 32, in C minor, Op. 111 (1822)
Pre-concert lecture by Miles Hoffman, National Public Radio commentator.

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