February 26, 2010
Shai Wosner. Download image.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Music Piano Series will present pianist Shai Wosner at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 21 in UAB's Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. South. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $5 for UAB students and employees with valid ID. Call 205-975-2787 for ticket information.
Wosner attracts international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity and creative insight. With imaginative programming that communicates his intellectual curiosity, Wosner performs a wide-ranging repertoire from Mozart and Beethoven to Ligeti and composers of his own generation. Wosner's virtuosity and perceptiveness increasingly have made him a favorite among audiences and critics alike.
Wosner recently has appeared in recitals throughout the United States and Europe, including London's Wigmore Hall, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and The 92nd Street Y in New York. Orchestral engagements included his critically acclaimed debut with The Cleveland Orchestra, his return to the Atlanta and Houston symphonies, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Fresno Philharmonic, the Indianapolis and North Carolina symphonies. He performs and records extensively as a BBC New Generation Artist, which he was named in September 2007.
In 2005, Wosner won an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and he received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award that led to the joint commission (by the Trust and The 92nd Street Y) of Michael Hersch's Chamber Concerto, a work for piano and 13 players, based on poetry by Zbigniew Herbert.
On the program for his UAB Piano Series performance are Beethoven's Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major, Op. 27 No. 1 and Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight"); Schumann's Fantasy in C major, Op. 17; and Mozart's Fantasy in C minor, K. 475 and Sonata No. 14 in C minor, K. 457.
About the UAB Department of Music
UAB is the first all-Steinway piano school in Alabama. The UAB Department of Music presents more than 150 concerts, recitals, master classes, and lectures each year - many of them free - for more than 400,000 people throughout the region. The department features 17 ensembles.