Pianist Christopher Taylor Returns
to Perform Another Messiaen Masterpiece
Program also includes a conducting turn by Larry Rachleff
For Immediate Release June 15, 2009
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Celebrated pianist Christopher Taylor, whose astonishing intensity and grace have spellbound audiences the world over, will perform Olivier Messiaen's scintillating Oiseaux exotiques as well as a satisfying Mozart concerto with the Academy Chamber Orchestra under guest conductor Larry Rachleff at the Lobero Theatre on Sunday, July 5. Tickets for the performance, which will begin at 7:30 pm, cost $45.
An associate professor of piano at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, Mr. Taylor stunned audience members in Hahn Hall last summer with a thrilling performance from memory of Messiaen's two-hour mystical masterpiece Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus. Writing in a subsequent edition of the Los Angeles Times, critic Mark Swed likened the pianist to "a wild man in the thrall of a great vision, seemingly possessed of superhuman powers. Clearly forces beyond the normal were at play."
For the mild-mannered Mr. Taylor, such effusive praise has become routine. In the words of The New York Times' Kathryn Shattuck, for instance, Mr. Taylor is often described "in the hushed, reverent tones typically reserved for natural wonders if not the otherworldly. Colleagues trip over words like ‘innocence,' ‘fervor,' ‘beauty,' and ‘vision' in an attempt to capture his elusive personality. Critics praise his virtuosity, his cerebral interpretations tempered by an aching tenderness, his unconventional programming and his advocacy of late-20th-century music." The Washington Post, meanwhile, has hailed Mr. Taylor as "one of the most impressive young pianists on the horizon today." Elsewhere, his demonstrated mastery of works by composers ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Boulez and Bolcom has earned Mr. Taylor conspicuously outsized plaudits in The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among many other publications.
In addition to performances throughout Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, Mr. Taylor has appeared with numerous prestigious symphonies in the United States, including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Pops. As a soloist he has performed in New York's Carnegie and Alice Tully halls, Washington's Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and at the Ravinia and Aspen festivals, among dozens of other venues. Apart from performing and recording, he has undertaken various unusual projects, including the commission and premiere of a piano concerto by Derek Bermel with the Indianapolis Symphony, investigations into the compositions of the legendary pianist Gunnar Johansen, performances and lectures on the complete etudes of György Ligeti, and a series of performances of the Goldberg Variations on the unique double-manual Steinway piano in the collection of the University of Wisconsin, an instrument whose rediscovery and refurbishment he has actively promoted.
Mr. Taylor's numerous honors include being named an American Pianists' Association Fellow for 2000, an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1996, and the bronze medal in the 1993 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In 1990 he took first prize in the William Kapell International Piano Competition, and became one of the first recipients of the Irving Gilmore Young Artists' Award. Mr. Taylor's widely divergent interests also include mathematics (he received a summa cum laude degree from Harvard University in math in 1992), philosophy (an article he co-authored with the scholar Daniel Dennett appears in The Oxford Handbook of Free Will), computing (one project being to create a compiler for a new programming language), linguistics, and biking, which is his primary means of commuting.
On July 5, the Academy Chamber Orchestra, under the baton Mr. Rachleff, will kick things off with a performance of Intégrales by the innovative French-born composer Edgard Varèse, before Mr. Taylor takes the stage for Oiseaux exotiques (accompanied by Academy Wind, Brass, and Percussion Fellows) and Mozart's Piano Concerto in C Major, K. 467 (with the chamber orchestra). The concert is supported by a gift from Linda and Michael Keston.
The Lobero Theatre is located at 33 East Canon Perdido Street in Santa Barbara. For tickets and information, call 969-8787. Information is also available online at www.musicacademy.org.
The Music Academy will present an ambitious production of Ambroise Thomas' charming French Romantic opera Mignon, as well as performances by conductor Leonard Slatkin and pianist Christopher Taylor as part of the Academy's 62nd Summer Festival. The Academy will present 197 events over the course of this year's Summer School and Festival, which begins June 22 and concludes on August 15. Additional highlights will include performances by the Canadian Brass and the Takács Quartet, and conducting turns by Peter Oundjian, George Manahan, Nicholas McGegan, and Alexander Mickelthwate. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events will be presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
Founded
in 1947, the Music
Academy of the West is
among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young
classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the
opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of
internationally renowned faculty artists, guest conductors, and soloists.
Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full
scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major
symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and
university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers
as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara,
the Music Academy of the West presents more than
200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting
artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and
fully staged opera. The Music
Academy began
broadcasting live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn
Hall in October 2008. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
###
