Jonathan Biss

Sunday, October 6, 2024 – 3:00 PM

Mairs Concert Hall, Macalester College

“His reputation as an eloquent interpreter with a powerful technique... has established him as one of his generation’s most serious musical thinkers.”
— New York Times

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Program

SCHUBERT
Impromptus D. 935, no. 1 in F minor & no. 3 in B-flat Major

TYSON GHOLSTON DAVIS
Expansions of Light

Intermission

SCHUBERT 
Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960

Jonathan Biss' notes on the Schubert works
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Tyson Gholston Davis' notes on Expansion of Light
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Probing intelligence and a deep emotional commitment clearly dominate the artistic life of teacher, musical thinker, and performer Jonathan Biss. A third-generation musician and the son of violinist Miriam Fried and violist/violinist Paul Biss, he grew up in Bloomington, Indiana and studied with teachers Karen Taylor and Evelyne Brancart before entering The Curtis Institute to study with Leon Fleisher. 

Many Minnesotans know Biss from his recent Beethoven/5 commissioning project with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, in which each of the five Beethoven concertos was paired with a newly composed concerto. His current project ‘Echoes of Schubert’ pairs solo piano works by Schubert with new compositions by Timo Andres, Caroline Shaw, and Tyson Gholston Davis, whose work Expansions of Light is part of the artist’s 2024 Chopin Society recital. 

His highly regarded 2011 recording of all the Beethoven sonatas showcases his deep understanding of Beethoven’s music, while his online course titled ‘Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas’ has reached more than 150,000 people from nearly every country. He has also written extensively about music and has authored four audio- and e-books, including UNQUIET: My Life with Beethoven (2020).

Biss has soloed with many renowned orchestras, among them the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphonies, and the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras. Most recently, he performed with the symphonies of Saint Louis, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia, and in the UK with the London Philharmonic and BBC National Orchestra.  

Since 2018, Biss has served as co-artistic director alongside Mitsuko Uchida at the Marlboro Music Festival.

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 “a superb pianist and also an eloquent and insightful music writer”

— The Boston Globe

“…a young American pianist who always displays impeccable taste and a formidable technique…”

— The New Yorker

“...it’s hard to think of another pianist who communicates such a sense of sheer delight.”

— BBC Music Magazine

“a pianist whose probing, incisive, and deeply considered performances are consistently challenging and rewarding.”

— San Francisco Classical Voice

“…thoughtful and probing … one of today's foremost Beethoven exponents.”

— Chicago Tribune

“This is a pianist who can actually play a whispered trill, and his work was so focused, so clear that the audience got carried away and applauded after the first movement.”

— Naples Daily News