Black C Art Presents Alex Kantchev - Piano Recital

Thursday, December 5th at 7pm, Black C Art is excited to present a special piano recital by Alex Kantchev, our new artist-in-residence. Alex has trained with Dr. Kevin Hampton of the Music Academy of Southeast Missouri University and Dr. Yuko Kato of Southern Illinois University. Currently, he’s a freshman at the University of Florida's School of Music and studying piano performance under the guidance of Dr. Jasmin Arakawa. He has also competed in prestigious piano competitions such as MMTA and MTNA.

THE PROGRAM:

Charles Griffes - ’White Peacock’ 7 min

Sergei Rachmaninoff - Prelude Op. 32 No 10 7 min

Frederick Chopin - Scherzo Op. 39 No 3 8 min

Intermission 5 min

Alexander Scriabin - Sonata Op. 53 no. 5 12 min

Fran Liszt - Transcendental Etude No 10 6 min

The White Peacock is the first piece from the Roman Sketches by Charles Griffes. It is one of his most well-known pieces because of the innovative harmonies and unique ideas. Griffes was an impressionistic composer from New York. He wrote this piece while studying in Berlin. 

Rachmaninoff’s prelude op. 32 no. 10 is from his second set of preludes. Rachmaninoff considered it to be his favorite of all of his preludes. It was inspired by Arnold Böcklin's painting "Die Heimkehr.” 

Chopin’s third scherzo was written in 1839, and it was dedicated to one of his closest pupils, Adolphe Gutmann. It is the third of his four scherzi, similar to his four ballades and impromptus. 

Scriabin’s fifth sonata is the perfect example of his transition to atonality. It was written in 1907, and it was his first one-movement sonata. He considered it to be one of his best works, and his distinctive harmonic language is very clear. 

Liszt published the 12 Transcendental Etudes in 1852, and his 10th is in sonata form. It gained popularity when performed by Evgeny Kissin in 1994, and has since been recorded many times, mostly as part of the whole set. 

This is Alex's second appearance as an Artist in Residence at Black C Art. We hope you'll join us.