Michael Hersch in “The Sudden Pianist” screening and concert Oct 19
The Sudden Pianist, a documentary by Richard Anderson about composer and pianist Michael Hersch, will be screened at the New York City Independent Film Festival October 19, 2013 at 9:30AM at the Producers’ Club. The film, which was also an official selection for the 2013 American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs, presents an intimate depiction of Hersch, who is widely regarded as one of the most gifted composers of his generation. While he is also considered a leading pianist of our time, Hersch rarely performs in public. The Sudden Pianist provides insight into his mind and works, featuring exclusive interviews and footage of Hersch performing his music, from his 1999 Carnegie Hall recital debut through to the present day. The evening of the screening, Hersch will play selections from “The Vanishing Pavilions,” a piece featured in the film, in the Michael Hersch Portrait Concert at the DiMenna Center for the Arts, marking his second public performance in New York in the last ten years.
The film will be screened at the Producers’ Club the morning of October 19, and the Michael Hersch Portrait Concert will take place in Mary Flagler Cary Hall at the DiMenna Center for the Arts that same evening at 8:00PM. The concert will honor Hersch with a program of his works, including two New York premieres. Miranda Cuckson will open the concert with a performance of Hersch’s in the snowy margins for unaccompanied violin. Then Gary Louie will perform the New York premiere of the composer’s of ages manifest for unaccompanied alto saxophone, followed by Cuckson with Five Fragments. Soprano Ah Young Hong and pianist Michael Sheppard will unite for the first New York performance of How Far the Cradle, and Hersch himself will close the concert with selections from his celebrated 150-minute work, The Vanishing Pavilions.
In his only other public appearance in New York in the past decade, Hersch premiered Suite from the Vanishing Pavilions at Merkin Hall in October 2011. Gapplegate remarked that the solo piano piece “qualifies as one of the essential piano works of this century thus far,” and 15 Minutes called the DVD/CD set from Innova Recordings, which includes The Sudden Pianist and the concert film, Michael Hersch: Live at Merkin Hall, “a wonderful treat.” Details for The Sudden Pianist screening, the Portrait Concert, and additional upcoming performances of Hersch’s works are provided below. A trailer of the film is available at thesuddenpianist.com.
THE SUDDEN PIANIST – a film by Richard Anderson
Official Selection of the 2013 New York City Independent Film Festival
October 19, 2013 at 9:30AM
The Producers’ Club
358 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
(film to be screened as a double feature with A Place for Music, A Place for Everyone)
Limited seating. Tickets are available at:
http://www.nycindiefilmfest.com/shop/products/a-space-for-music-a-seat-for-everyone-the-sudden-pianist
Michael Hersch Portrait Concert
October 19, 2013 at 8:00PM
DiMenna Center for the Arts
Mary Flagler Cary Hall
450 W 37th St
New York, NY
Admission is Free
Other Upcoming Performances, 2013-14
Oct 27
Baltimore, MD
Music in the Great Hall Series
of ages manifest for unaccompanied alto saxophone
Nov 2
Baltimore, MD
Shriver Hall Discovery Series
of ages manifest for unaccompanied alto saxophone
Feb 22
Baltimore, MD
Peabody Symphony Orchestra
along the ravines for piano and orchestra
Mar 28
Saarbrücken, Germany
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
along the ravines for piano and orchestra (German premiere)
June 3
NYC
new work for unaccompanied violin (world premiere; commissioned by NY Philharmonic for 2014 Biennial)
Summer 2014 (date TBA)
NYC
On the Threshold of Winter – an opera in two acts
thesuddenpianist.com
www.michaelhersch.com
www.facebook.com/MichaelHerschMusic
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© 21C Media Group, September 2013