Concert View: Pedja Muzijevic, piano

As a recitalist and symphony soloist, pianist Pedja Muzijevic has defined his career with creative programming, unusual combinations of new and old music, and lasting collaborations with artists and ensembles. His Carnegie Hall concerto debut playing Mozart Concerto K. 503 with Oberlin Symphony and Robert Spano was recorded live and released on the Oberlin Music label. Additionally, Pedja has toured with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project throughout the world. His solo recordings include Haydn Dialogues (live recording of a recital program of four Haydn sonatas interspersed with works by Jonathan Berger, John Cage and Morton Feldman) and Sonatas and Other Interludes (juxtaposing Sonatas and Interludes by John Cage with composers ranging from W. F. Bach and Scarlatti to Liszt and Schumann).
 

Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, he studied at the Academy of Music in Zagreb before coming to the U.S. to continue his education at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School. His mentors included pianists Joseph Kalichstein and Jerome Lowenthal, harpsichordist Albert Fuller and violinists Robert Mann and Joel Smirnoff. Pedja is the artistic administrator at Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York, artistic advisor to Tippet Rise Arts Center, and also directs a residency at the Banff Centre in Canada called Concert in 21stCentury. In all these roles he looks at the concert experience, both in programming and presentation and questions what can we do to make it more relevant today. He lives in New York City and, in his free time, he enjoys cooking for friends and seeing performances in all disciplines.
 

Website: http://pedjamuzijevic.com/web/splash.aspx
 

PROGRAM: Haydn Dialogues
J. Haydn Sonata in G major, Hob. XVI:40 (1784)
J. Cage Prelude and Spring from The Seasons (1947)
J. Haydn Sonata in G minor, Hob. XVI:44 ((1771-73)
D. Fulmer “whose fingers brush the skies” (2014)
J. Haydn Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50 (1794)