BAM presents NY premiere of Philip Glass’ complete piano etudes
Philip Glass, one of the most influential contemporary American composers, conceived his solo piano etudes as a set of 20 works, which he began to write in 1994.
On Dec. 5 and 6 at BAM, Glass and nine stylistically diverse pianists will perform the etudes consecutively, marking the New York performance premiere of the complete set of works. Philip Glass will begin each performance with Etudes #1 and #2. The additional performers, each of whom has prepared four etudes, will perform an alternating pair each evening, changing the order of performers as well as the interpretations of the pieces.
The final three etudes were commissioned by the Perth International Arts Festival in 2012. According to Glass, “…I anticipated that the sequence of Etudes #1 through 20 when played in its entirety would provide a musical shape of its own.”
“The Etudes” will be performed by composers Timo Andres, Anton Batagov, and Nico Muhly; jazz pianist Aaron Diehl; Grammy-nominated composer-conductor Tania León; longtime Glass interpreters Maki Namekawa, and Sally Whitwell; new music champion Bruce Levingston, and classical pianist Jenny Lin.
