First and Last ... a solo piano recital by Jian Liu.
Dr Jian Liu is well-known to Whanganui audiences and students, having performed for Chamber Music Wanganui on previous occasions and taught many of the senior piano students here as part of his outreach programme for Victoria University's NZ School of Music. On Tuesday, June 13 at 7.30pm, Jian Liu will perform a solo recital as part of the 2017 Celebrity Subscription Series.
This programme is dedicated to the memory of Jack Body, featuring two short New Zealand works, the first by John Psathas, composer for his generation and the second, a last piano work from Jack Body that evokes the street where he lived for 35 years.
The programme then contrasts two pieces each from Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin. One is the first piano piece the composer wrote and the other the last piano piece, in some instances the first and last composition the composer wrote. This is a chance to hear side by side some of the greatest works written for the piano - masterworks written at the height of the composers' abilities - alongside the earliest workings of their imagination.
Described by Rattle Records as "passionate, articulate, deeply expressive, and wholly musical ...", Jian Liu has been gaining a reputation as a well sought-after solo pianist, chamber musician, and educator across the globe. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia and North America. His artistry has been taking him to some of the most prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York, and Paul Hall of The Juilliard School. He has also performed as a featured soloist with orchestras including Symphony Orchestra of National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Yale Philharmonia. Jian's performances have been broadcast by various TV and radio stations including KPHO public radio, CCTV (China), Suisse Romande Radio, Krakow Radio, and Radio New Zealand.
As a dedicated and enthusiastic chamber musician, Jian is the founding pianist of Te Koki Trio, the resident trio at New Zealand School of Music, and the trio has appeared on various chamber series in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Jian has also performed as a guest pianist with world-class musicians. Jian is equally committed to education and has served for four years on the faculty of the Yale Department of Music, and he is currently the Programme Leader of Classical Performance and Head of Piano Studies at New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington, as well as the honorary piano professor at Qingdao University in China.
