Taylor to Perform Messiaen Masterpiece
For Immediate Release July 1, 2008
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Those who have come under the spell of Olivier Messiaen's otherworldly Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus are often hard-pressed to give a rational account of the experience. Mystical, transfixing, and utterly unique, Messiaen's masterwork is as unforgettable as it is indescribable.
Celebrated pianist Christopher Taylor, who has been lauded for bringing an astonishing intensity and artistry to the works of composers ranging from Bach and Beethoven to Boulez and Bolcom, will perform the entire two-hour Vingt Regards from memory in the inaugural public recital at the Music Academy of the West's newly renovated Hahn Hall at 7:30 pm Wednesday, July 9. Tickets cost $40.
An associate professor of piano at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, Mr. Taylor has inspired awe among audiences worldwide. Critics have hailed him as "one of the most impressive young pianists on the horizon today" (The Washington Post) and "frighteningly talented" (The New York Times). In addition to performances throughout Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, Mr. Taylor he 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.
In related programming, KUSC announcer and Colburn Conservatory faculty member Alan Chapman will discuss Vingt Regards with Mr. Taylor in a free public forum at 7:30 pm on Monday, July 7, at Hahn Hall. The event is the first of this season's new Musical Insights Dialog series at the Music Academy.
Both events are part of the Music Academy's celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of Olivier Messiaen's birth. Drawing on his profound Catholic faith and his intense affinity for the natural world - birdsongs, in particular - Messiaen created an idiosyncratic and intriguing body of work. This month the Academy will present four compositions that reveal this extraordinary composer's exceptional range of sound, color, and musical imagery: Le loriot, featuring pianist and Academy faculty member Jerome Lowenthal (8 pm Tuesday, July 1, at The Lobero); Quartet for the End of Time (8 pm Tuesday, July 8, at The Lobero); Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, featuring Mr. Taylor; and Un Sourire (8 pm Saturday, July 19, at The Lobero).
The Music Academy will present the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom's opera A Wedding, as well as performances by conductors Peter Oundjian and Nicholas McGegan as part of the Academy's 61st Summer Festival. The Academy is presenting 188 events over the course of its 2008 Summer School and Festival, which began June 23 and will conclude on August 16. Additional highlights will include performances by the Canadian Brass and the Takács Quartet, and conducting turns by George Manahan, Anne Manson, and Daniel Hege. 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.
For tickets and information, call 969-8787. Information is also available online at www.musicacademy.org.
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, as well as 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 will broadcast live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn Hall beginning in October. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
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