Thursday, Oct 10, 2013
He will lead a master class and present a recital of works by Scarlatti, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin and Fairouz
Hailed for his distinctive and compelling performances, pianist Steven Spooner will visit Westminster Choir College on Saturday, October 19. At 2 p.m. he will lead a master class with Westminster piano students in Williamson Hall, and a 7:30 p.m. he will perform a solo recital in Bristol Chapel. Admission is free.
The recital program will feature compositions by Domenico Scarlatti, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Mohammed Fairouz. He will also perform some of his own compositions.
Passionately devoted to solo recital, Steven Spooner has performed in such prestigious venues as the Salle Cortot in Paris, Holland’s Vredenburg Centre, Budapest’s Great Hall of the Liszt Academy, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Rome’s Santa Cecilia and Singapore’s Esplanade. During the past season he reinvented the solo recital format by allowing audiences to vote for one of several programs he had prepared.
His enthusiasm for new music has produced an ongoing collaboration with renowned composer Mohammed Fairouz to premiere and record several of his works during the next few seasons. Spooner is an active collaborator, and he has performed with a diverse and distinguished list of musicians including, the Borromeo Quartet, violinist Renaud Capuçon, Silk Road Ensemble Bassist Daxun Zhang, trombonist M. Dee Stewart and baritone Chris Thompson. His recent orchestral engagements include performances of the Schnittke Concerto with the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin during its tour of North America and with the Danubia Symphony Orchestra, Sao Paulo Chamber Orchestra, Topeka Symphony, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Crescent City Symphony, New Orleans Civic Symphony and Ozark Chamber Orchestra.
He has served as guest artist-in-residence at Paris Conservatory Summer Sessions, and he has been appointed to the artist faculty of the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, the International Institute for Young Musicians, Musicfest Perugia, the Adam Gyorgy Castle Academy in Budapest and the JCoM Fest in Jakarta. He is increasingly in demand for his humorous, engaging and energetic master classes at major music institutions around the world. Spooner currently serves on the piano faculty at the University of Kansas and specializes in workshops and lectures on fingering, aspects of style, and a variety of performance and pedagogical topics.
Westminster Choir College of Rider University is grateful for the generous support of Dr. Helmuth H. Fuchs of this program.