Chopin: Spirit of Poland

Event price: $20 per person at the door, free age 16 and under

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Classical pianist Brian Ganz opens the 2019 Arts in the Woods music series at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis with an all-Chopin recital featuring the composer’s iconic Polish dances, polonaises, and mazurkas. In “Chopin: Spirit of Poland,” Ganz will preview selections from this year’s February 2 program at Strathmore Music Center with the National Philharmonic Orchestra.At the Annapolis preview on January 6, the pianist will play and discuss several selections from the Strathmore program, take Chopin requests, answer questions, and share details about the “Extreme Chopin” project.  A post-performance reception is included in the ticket price.  A former Annapolis resident, now living in Virginia, Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. A laureate of the Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud and the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competitions, he has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the St. Louis Symphony, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Philharmonic, the National Symphony, and the City of London Sinfonia, and has performed with such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Piotr
 Gajewski. The Washington Post has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance but also moved by his search for artistic truth.” For many years Ganz has made it his mission to join vivid music making with warmth and intimacy on stage to produce a new kind of listening experience in which great works come to life with authentic emotional power. In addition to teaching future artists at Peabody Conservatory and St. Mary's College of Maryland, Ganz is the artist­-editor of the Schirmer Performance Edition of Chopin’s Preludes (2005) and is widely recognized for his “Extreme Chopin” project begun at Strathmore Music Center in 2011. The January 6, 2019, performance at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis begins the sixth year of the Arts in the Woods music series. Classical performances are held every other month, usually on the first Sunday.