Aleck Karis, piano

The Department of Music presents pianist Aleck Karis in a program featuring three Bach preludes and fugues and two Beethoven sonatas, including the monumental “Hammerklavier” sonata of 1818:

• J.S. Bach — Three preludes and fugues from the Well Tempered Klavier: from Book I, G major; from Book II, C major and E-flat minor/D-sharp minor

• Beethoven — Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 no. 1; and Sonata No 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106 (the “Hammerklavier”)

Aleck Karis has performed recitals, chamber music, and concertos across the Americas, Europe, Japan, and China. As the pianist of the new music ensemble Speculum Musicae he participated in over a hundred premieres and performed at major American and European festivals. His appearances with orchestra have ranged from concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin to those of Stravinsky, Messiaen and Carter. His seven solo discs on Bridge Records are: Chopin/Carter/Schumann, Mozart, Stravinsky, Cage, Feldman/Webern/Wolpe, Poulenc, and most recently, Debussy. His two discs on Roméo Records are Music of Philip Glass and Late Chopin. A Distinguished Professor of music at the UCSD, he studied at the Manhattan School and Juilliard, and his teachers included William Daghlian, Artur Balsam, and Beveridge Webster.