Sarasota Concert Association presents
Murray Perahia, Piano
March 25, 8 p.m. at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall
The eminent pianist marks his first-ever Sarasota performance with an inspired selection of works by Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Franck and Chopin.
“Murray Perahia displayed a breathtaking drive and imagination playing the music of Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and Chopin”
Los Angeles Times
(Sarasota, Florida) The Sarasota Concert Association (SCA) concludes its 70th anniversary season with a first-ever Sarasota performance by renowned pianist Murray Perahia. The inspired and challenging program includes Bach’s French Suite No. 6 in E Major; Haydn’s Sonata in A-flat Major, Hob. XVI: 46; Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-Flat Major (“Les Adieux”); Franck’s Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, Opus 21; and Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor. The concert, part of SCA’s “Great Performers Series,” is at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, in Sarasota. Individual tickets are $40, $50, $60, and $70. Tickets and information for the Great Performers Series are available by calling 941-225-6500 or online at www.scasarasota.org.
In the more than 40 years that he has been performing on the concert stage, Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time, renowned for his continued ability to “breathe freshness and distinction into works we’ve heard many times before, but seldom played at this inspired level.” (The Chicago Tribune.) The commanding and illuminating insights that Perahia brings to the repertory will be on full display in his first appearance in Sarasota, performing a challenging, century-spanning program of masterworks for piano by Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Franck and Chopin.
Born in New York, Perahia began playing piano at the age of four, and later attended Mannes College where he majored in conducting and composition. His summers were spent at the Marlboro Festival, where he collaborated with such master musicians as Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals, and the members of the Budapest String Quartet. In subsequent years, Perahia developed a close friendship with Vladimir Horowitz, whose perspective and personality were an abiding inspiration. In 1972 Perahia won the Leeds International Piano Competition and, in 1973, he gave his first concert at the Aldeburgh Festival, where he worked closely with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, accompanying the latter in many lieder recitals. Perahia is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music and, in 2004, was awarded an honorary KBE by Her Majesty The Queen in recognition of his outstanding service to music. He is currently the principal guest conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Of Perahia’s conductorship with the Academy, principal violist Robert Smissen says, “Each performance brings something special…there are moments with Murray that elevate music-making to a different level altogether.”
“We’re thrilled not only to be presenting this legendary pianist in Sarasota for the first time, but also with a musical program that is a tour de force of solo pianism,” says Joy McIntyre, president of the Sarasota Concert Association. “I can’t think of a more memorable way to close out a successful and rewarding 70th anniversary season.”
SCA also presents “Munchtime Musicales,” a series of free concerts featuring performances by high-caliber, area-based artists. The series is designed to offer a wide variety of musical genres, including classical, folk, and jazz, featuring both vocal and instrumental performers. The 2014-15 concert season continues with Studio Artists from the Sarasota Opera, Sarasota’s ambassadors of opera who bring this musical form to stages beyond the walls of the Sarasota Opera House (March 18, 2105); and the State College of Florida Chamber Choir, an 18-person vocal ensemble that performs repertoire spanning from Renaissance madrigals to contemporary jazz (April 8, 2015). All performances are at noon at the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. The series is free and open to the public. Seating is open; no reservations taken. For more information about Munchtime Musicales, call 941-351-7467 or visit www.scasarasota.org.
About the Sarasota Concert Association
The Sarasota Concert Association (SCA) exists to foster the development of an appreciation for the musical arts by sponsoring professional presentations that are not otherwise available in the community, through a not-for-profit, organized-audience plan. SCA aims to set reasonable fees for all performances. The organization is not designed to make a profit but does intend to be self-supporting. It provides outreach to all members of the regional community by offering a series of free concerts, Munchtime Musicales, held every year. For more information about SCA, visit www.scasarasota.org.
