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Pianist Ivan Ilic presents US premiere of MIT Assistant
Professor Keeril Makan's Afterglow
New York, NY... Paris-based American pianist Ivan
Ilic completes
his critically acclaimed worldwide tour of “mesmerizing” piano
recitals at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a special one-night
only, free performance on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. in Killian
Hall (160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge). For more information, call (617)
253-2826.
In an effort to
promote young American composers, Ilic showcases the U.S. premieres of Afterglow by Keeril
Makan, Assistant
Professor of Music at MIT, and Búgi Wúgi by Argentine-American
composer Fernando Benadon. In addition, the program includes eight of
Debussy’s
Preludes from Book 2; Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasy, Opus 61; and excerpts
from Liszt’s “Years of Pilgrimage”: the Sonnet N. 47,
and the Dante Sonata.
Known for his “unique blend of a Gallic touch, a Slavic soul and
a mathematician’s precision,” Ilic is a young American pianist
gaining international recognition. Since early September, he has toured
25 concerts throughout Europe; each featuring commissioned works from a
range of young composers. Ilic feels a responsibility to introduce contemporary
American music to Europe: “The music of the younger generation of
American composers isn’t travelling enough, and I like to think I
can be a conduit for them, specficially for Makan and Benadon.”
Both works by Makan and Benadon are their first attempts at composing
for solo piano. As with many of his other works, Makan’s Afterglow (2007) combines an exploration of the rich detail inherent in sound with
an unmistakable visceral energy. Described as “mysterious and hypnotic” (Western
Mail), Afterglow received its world premiere in October 2007 at the Welsh
Museum of Modern Art in Machynlleth, United Kingdom.
According to Makan, the piece “focuses on the resonance - the
halo of sound - of the piano after Ilic strikes a note.” Makan's
music has been championed by the Kronos Quartet, the Bang on a Can All-Stars,
and the California Ear Unit, and he is a featured composer at the upcoming
Other Minds Festival 13 in San Francisco.
Strongly influenced by jazz, Fernando Benadon explores a series of rhythmic
escapades in Búgi Wúgi (2006). “I have always been
fascinated by how jazz soloists weave their rhythms in and out of an
underlying steady beat. Like boogie woogie piano playing, Ilic has to
negotiate rapidly changing tempos in his right hand with his left hand’s
steady beat,” says Benadon. Described as “engagingly forward” (New
York Times), Benadon is a scholar of jazz theory and rhythm perception
and is currently the Assistant Professor of Music at American University.
Ivan Ilic is internationally known for his “sheer depth and luxuriance
of sound.” A disciple of the legendary Francois-Rene Duchable,
he took degrees in music and mathematics at the University of California,
Berkeley before leaving for Paris with a Hertz Fellowship from the University.
A few months later he was admitted to the Conservatoire Superieur de
Paris, where he took a Premier Prix in piano performance. At age 20 he
launched a solo recital career that has taken him to Belgium, Ireland,
Serbia, the Czech Republic, America, and throughout France and the United
Kingdom.
Over 55 solo engagements for 2007 include the Phillips Collection (Washington,
DC), St George’s Bristol, the John Field Room (Dublin), the Wales
Millennium Centre (Cardiff), and festivals throughout Europe. Ilic will
give his Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2008, following the commercial
release of his CD of the complete Debussy Preludes. His playing is often
broadcast on television and radio in America, the United Kingdom, France,
Ireland and Serbia. In 2006-07 he was a laureate of the Nadia Boulanger
Foundation in Paris, and the city of Paris sponsored his last recording. |
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