Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Presents
SHAI WOSNER, piano
Variations on a Theme of FDR
Evening Features Variations on a Theme of FDR,
Commissioned by Wosner from
Derek Bermel, Anthony Cheung, John Harbison, Vijay Iyer, and Wang Lu, and
Beethovens 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120
Saturday, March 5, 2022, 7:30 PM
(Beverly Hills, CA, February 16, 2022) The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents an evening with pianist Shai Wosner, featuring Variations on a Theme of FDR, a work he commissioned from Derek Bermel, Anthony Cheung, John Harbison, Vijay Iyer,andWang Lu, five remarkable American composers, on Saturday, March 5, 2022, 7:30 pm, in The Wallis Bram Goldsmith Theater. Also on the program is Beethovens 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120. Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire reflect a degree of virtuosity and intellectual curiosity that have made him a favorite among audiences and critics who admire his keen musical mind and deep musical soul (NPRs All Things Considered). A Preludes @ The Wallis pre-concert conversation with Wosner, moderated by Classical KUSCs Brian Lauritzen, is open to all ticket holders at 6:30 pm.
Wosner returns to The Wallis for the third time his first as a soloist performing the new work, whose theme is a quote from President Franklin Delano Roosevelts address to the Daughters of the American Revolution: Remember, remember always, that all of us are descended from immigrants and revolutionists. Beethoven used a similar idea to test his creative powers when he accepted Anton Diabellis invitation to compose variations for piano on his simple C Major waltz. The proceeds from Beethovens popular Diabelli Variations were used to support orphans and widows of the Napoleonic Wars.
Other upcoming performances at The Wallis in February and March include the Connie Han Trio (February 25), A Conversation with ClassPass Founder Payal Kadakia (February 27); Bridge to Everywhere, led by Artistic Director Derrick Skye (March 3); Rapunzel Alone (March 12-19); The Wallis debut of MUSE/IQUE, led by Artistic Director and Conductor Rachael Worby (March 12 and 13); Sunday Funday (March 13); DIAVOLO (March 18-20); Bedtime Stories (March 24-26); and Hershey Felder Presents Live from Florence The Verdi Fiasco (livestreamed beginning March 27). The World Premiere production of The Excavation of Mary Anning, originally slated to open in February, has moved to The Wallis 2022/2023 Season.
Ticket prices are $29-$79 per person. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 (Monday Friday, 10 am to 6 pm) or visit TheWallis.org/wosner.
The Wallis is closely monitoring the ever-changing local health and safety environment carefully and addressing known health factors at the moment. Should plans change and any performance be required to be postponed or cancelled or if venue capacity limitations are instituted, ticket holders will be notified immediately with options for their purchased tickets per The Wallis’ ticketing policies.
The health and safety of patrons, our staff, and artists inside and outside our venue are a top priority for The Wallis, which is requiring all patrons to provide, upon entry, proof of full vaccination, including proof of a booster shot, or a negative PCR test result within 48 hours or a verifiable Antigen test within 24 hours from your performance date, along with a government issued photo ID. Facial masks, covering both the mouth and nose, are still required at all times while within the venue. The Wallis’ health and safety protocols are also subject to change at the venue’s sole discretion or in accordance with LA County and City of Beverly Hills regulations. Our current Health & Safety Protocols and updates may also be accessed at TheWallis.org/Safety.
About Shai Wosner
Pianist Shai Wosner is Resident Artist of Peoples Symphony Concerts (PSC) from 2020 to 2023 and on the piano faculty at Bard College Conservatory of Music. Wosner records for Onyx Classics, and his recordings include Impromptu, comprising improvisationally inspired works by composers from Beethoven and Schubert to Gershwin and Ives; concertos and capriccios by Haydn and Ligeti with the Danish National Symphony conducted by Nicholas Collon; an all-Schubert solo album featuring a selection of the composers folk-inspired piano works; solo works by Brahms and Schoenberg; and works by Schubert paired with new works by Missy Mazzoli. As a chamber musician, Wosner has recorded Beethovens complete sonatas and variations for cello and piano with Ralph Kirshbaum andfor Cedille Recordsworks by Bartk, Janek, and Kurtg with his duo partner of many years, violinist Jennifer Koh. Wosner is a recipient of Lincoln Centers Martin E. Segal Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Awarda prize he used to commission Michael Herschs concerto Along the Ravines, which he performed with the Seattle Symphony and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie in its world and European premieres. He was in residence with the BBC as a New Generation Artist, during which he appeared frequently with the BBC orchestras, including conducting Mozart concertos from the keyboard with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the BBC Scottish Symphony in both subscription concerts and Proms performances with Donald Runnicles and appeared with the BBC Philharmonic in a live broadcast from Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. As a concerto soloist in North America, Wosner has appeared with the major orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Berkeley, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, San Francisco, and Toronto, among others. In addition to the BBC orchestras, he has performed abroad with the Aurora Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, LSO St. Lukes, Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam, Orchestre National de Belgique, Staatskapelle Berlin, and the Vienna Philharmonic, among others. Wosner has also appeared with the Orpheus, St. Paul, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestras, having conducted the latter from the keyboard in a 2010 concert that was broadcast on American Public Radio. Wosner has worked with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Ji Blohlvek, James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, Gunther Herbig, James Judd, Zubin Mehta, Peter Oundjian, Donald Runnicles, Leonard Slatkin, Jeffrey Tate, and Yan Pascal Tortelier, and has performed at summer festivals including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Chautauqua Music Festival, Bravo! Vail festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, and Ravinia Festival. For several consecutive summers, he was involved in the West-Eastern Divan Workshop led by Barenboim and toured as soloist with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Widely sought after by colleagues for his versatility and spirit of partnership, Wosner has collaborated as a chamber musician with numerous artists, including Martha Argerich, Martin Frst, Lynn Harrell, Dietrich Henschel, Ralph Kirshbaum, Jennifer Koh, Cho-Liang Lin, Christian Tetzlaff, Orion Weiss, and Pinchas Zukerman. He has also collaborated with leading chamber ensembles, including the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet in The Schubert Effect recital series. Wosner is a past member of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two)and performs regularly at various chamber music festivals, including Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Piano Aux Jacobins festival in France, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Born in Israel, Wosner enjoyed a broad musical education from a very early age, studying piano with Opher Brayer and Emanuel Krasovsky, as well as composition, theory, and improvisation with Andr Hajdu. He later studied at The Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax. He resides in New York with his wife and two children.
About the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts:
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a dynamic cultural hub and community resource where local, national and international artists share their artistry with ever-expanding audiences. The campus, located in the heart of Beverly Hills, CA, is committed to robust and distinctive presentations and education programs curated with both creativity and social impact in mind. Distinguished by its eclectic programming that mirrors the diverse landscape of Los Angeles and its location in the entertainment capital of the world, The Wallis has produced and presented more than 300 dance, theater, opera, classical music, cinema and family programs since its doors opened in October 2013. Hailed as au courant (LaLa Magazine), The Wallis was lauded by Culture Vulture, which proclaims, If you love expecting the unexpected in the performing arts, you have to love The Wallis. Its programming has been nominated for 79 Ovation Awards and nine L.A. Drama Critic’s Circle Awards. The campus itself, a breathtaking 70,000-square-foot facility, celebrating the classic and the modern, has garnered six architectural awards. Designed by acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali (SPF:architects), the restored building features the original 1933 Beverly Hills Post Office (on the National Register of Historic Places), which serves as the theater’s dramatic yet welcoming lobby, and includes the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza for family, community and other performances; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education, where learning opportunities for all ages and backgrounds abound. Together, these elements embrace the city’s history and its future, creating a performing arts destination for L.A.-area visitors and residents alike. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is led by Chairman of the Board Michael Nemeroff and Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer Rachel Fine.
For more information about The Wallis, please visit: TheWallis.org.
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WHAT:
SHAI WOSNER, Piano
Variations on a Theme of FDR
Bram Goldsmith Theater
WHEN:
Saturday, March 5, 2021, 7:30 PM
Preludes @ The Wallis pre-concert conversation, 6:30 PM
PROGRAM:
DEREK BERMEL, ANTHONY CHEUNG, JOHN HARBISON, VIJAY IYER and WANG LU Variations on a Theme of FDR: A Suite of Five New Works by Five Composers
BEETHOVEN 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120
RUN TIME:
Approximately 95 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission.
TICKET PRICES AND INFORMATION:
Ticket prices are $29-$79 per person. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 (Monday Friday, 10 am to 6 pm) or visit TheWallis.org/wosner.
PLEASE NOTE:
Due to current health and safety variables, the engagement or select performances are subject to change, postponement or cancellation.
