The 22nd Annual Music Festival at Walnut Hill  
胡桃山音樂營
July 25 to August 17, 2013

 Concerts and Master Classes
Admission free. Suggested Donation $5 at door
 


Monday, August 5, 2013, 7:30 PM
at Keiter Center

Mr. Minsoo Sohn, piano
 

Program
   

Rachmaninoff: Elegie, Op. 3, No. 1
Rachmaninoff Polka de W.R.
Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebesleid
Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebesfreud

Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42

 Intermission

Webern Variations for piano Op. 27
Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op.24
 
Steinway piano provided by M. Steinert & Sons

 Meet The Artists
Minsoo Sohn,  pianist
Pianist Minsoo Sohn has been described by the Boston Globe as an artist, a man who will create a life in music, find listeners, and reward them. Known as a performer with poetic vision and musical intelligence, Sohn continues to garner praise from critics and audiences alike for his masterful virtuosity and deep musicianship. The latest accolade, published in The New York Times, called his recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations a "beautifully articulated, radiant interpretation" and named it one of the top classical records of 2011.

Sohn has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Israel at important venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio and St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Boston's Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall and Gardner Museum, Calgary's Jack Singer Concert Hall, Arrata Opera Centre and Rozsa Centre, Banff Centre's Rolston Recital Hall, Ottawa's National Arts Centre, Chicago's Cultural Center, Cleveland's Severance Hall, San Francisco's Herbst Theatre, Spain's Palacio Festivalle de Cantabria, Israel's Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Mann Auditorium, Brussel's Palais des Beaux Art and Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, and Munich's Gasteig. He has also appeared at New Hampshire's Monadnock Festival, Spain's Santander Festival, Israel's Eilat Festival, Canada's Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Colors of Music festival, and Tuckamore Festival.

He has collaborated with leading conductors such as Gilbert Varga, Keith Lockhart, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jane Glover, Yoav Talmi, Goerges Octors, Jahja Ling, David Hoose, Roy Goodman, Andrew Grams, Avner Biron and has performed with orchestras including Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Israel Philharmonic, Jerusalem Camerata, Holland Symfonia, National Orchestra of Belgium, Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras among others.

An avid chamber musician, Sohn has performed with Aviv Quartet, Cecilia Quartet and Ysaÿe Quartet, Israel Camerata Woodwind Quintet and Gryphon Trio. In January 2010, he collaborated with Mark Morris Dance Group alongside Russell Sherman and the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music in the Boston premiere of Mozart Dances presented by Celebrity Series of Boston.

Sohn's notable interpretation of Bach's Goldberg Variations has been broadcast numerous times on CBC — including live broadcast of the Glenn Gould 75th birthday commemoration concert — and across the United States on NPR's Performance Today. He made guest appearances in a number of other radio stations, including WFMT (Chicago), WGBH Classical Performance (Boston), The New Classical 96.3FM Live from the Concert Lobby (Toronto) and CBC Live on Studio Sparks (Ottawa). His performance with Boston Symphony Salute to Symphony concert was broadcast on CBS and A&E Channels. Sohn was also featured on Canada's Bravo! Channel.

His debut recording, Liszt Transcriptions and Etudes, released in the fall of 2008, "brings an elegant intensity while tossing off fearsome technical challenges without breaking stride" wrote the Toronto Star. He will be recording Beethoven's Diabelli Variations in the spring of 2013.

In 2006, Sohn became the First Laureate of the Honens International Piano Competition. Prior to that, he was top prize winner of international competitions such as the Busoni, Cleveland, Hilton Head, Rubinstein, Santander, and Queen Elizabeth competitions.

Born in Korea, Sohn began piano studies at age three. He moved to Boston to study with Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun at New England Conservatory where he received his artist diploma in 2004. He is currently on the faculty of Michigan State University.
(2012)