Join us for the winter installment of our 2023-24 David L. Abell Piano Master Series as we welcome the renowned pianist Pedja Mužijević.
Homage to Mixtapes
(Mixtape (noun) : a compilation of music recorded from various sources)
Pedja Muzijevic, piano
This program is an homage to homemade recorded compilations on cassettes– sometimes curated and sometimes accidental.
It starts with two naturalized Berliners – C.P.E. Bach who went there in 1738 to become the keyboard player for Frederick the Great and Valentyn Silvestrov who fled his native and war-torn Ukraine in 2022; continues with Gregory Spears of listening to music at different times of the day; and it ends with 19th century romantic fervor of Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin mixed with pointillistic comments by Morton Feldman from 1953.
C.P.E. Bach : Allegretto moderato from Sonata in G major, Wq. 55/6 (1765)
Silvestrov : Waltz and Pastorale from Four Pieces, op. 305 (2021)
C.P.E. Bach : Andante from Sonata in G major, Wq. 55/6 (1765)
Silvestrov : Serenade and Waltz of the Moment from Four Pieces, op. 305 (2021)
C.P.E. Bach : Allegro di molto from Sonata in G major, Wq. 55/6 (1765)
Spears Friday Afternoon from Seven Days (2020)
F, Chopin Preludes op. 28, nos. 7 and 8
Feldman Intermission I (1950)
Schumann Bird As Prophet, op. 82 no. 7
Feldman Intermission II (1950)
Schumann Soaring, op. 12 no. 2
About Pedja:
Pianist and curator Pedja Mužijević has defined his career with creative programming, unusual combinations of new and old music, and lasting collaborations with artists and ensembles. He has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica in Montevideo, Residentie Orkest in The Hague, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica and Shinsei Nihon Orchestra in Tokyo. Pedja has played solo recitals at Alice Tully Hall, 92Y and The Frick Collection in New York, Terrace Theater at Kennedy Center, Dumbarton Oaks, Phillips Collection and National Gallery in Washington, DC, Casals Hall and Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo. His Carnegie Hall concerto debut playing Mozart Concerto K. 503 with Oberlin Symphony and Robert Spano was recorded live and has been released on the Oberlin Music label.
Pedja’s interdisciplinary projects include touring with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project throughout the United States, South America, Europe and Asia and with Simon Keenlyside in Trisha Brown’s staged version of Schubert’s Winterreise at Lincoln Center in New York, Barbican in London, La Monnaie in Brussels, Opera National de Paris, as well as Holland, Lucerne and Melbourne festivals. Combining his two passions, music and food, Pedja performed works by Ravel and Mussorgsky followed by a multi-course dinner prepared by chef David Bouley in his Test Kitchen in New York.
Highlights of 2021/22 season are performances of Framing Time, staging of Morton Feldman’s Triadic Memories with lighting design by Burke Brown and choreography by Cesc Gelabert in Barcelona and Madrid, concerts for Castleton Festival, Bay Chamber Concerts, Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Chamber Music Chicago, as well as Beethoven Fourth Piano Concerto with Battle Creek Symphony and Anne Harrigan for the Gilmore Piano Festival.
Highlights of 2022/23 season are appearances in the chamber music series of St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as workshops entitled What Is a Concert” at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Pedja also returned to perform at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, ME and at Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
Pedja is the artistic administrator at Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York and artistic advisor at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana, where he curates concerts, as well as film shoots for dozens of musicians. He also directs Concert in 21 st Century residency at the Banff Centre, where he explores concert as a format and the ways it can be more relevant today.
This event is made possible thanks to a gift from Barbara Abell who established The David L. Abell Piano Masters Series in honor of her late husband. Pianos were a passion for David, the owner of David L. Abell's Fine Pianos in Los Angeles, which became a hot-spot for musical legends such as Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Andre Previn, George Shearing, Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, and Benny Carter. We are proud to celebrate this program as part of the 2023-24 David L. Abell Piano Master Series.