San Francisco Chapter Sponsors Liszt Bicentenntial Events

San Francisco Chapter sponsored numerous events in honor of the Franz Liszt bicentennial.

"Liszt and His Circle" took place on Monday, October 17, at San Jose State University. Pianists included Michael Boyd, Chih-long Hu, and William Wellborn, who joined Dr. Gwendolyn Mok, Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at SJSU, in a day-long series of events in celebration of Liszt's Bicentennial. The lunchtime concert featured art songs by Liszt, performed by Joseph Frank and Chih-long Hu, and included Chopin-Liszt: "The Maiden's Wish," Beethoven-Liszt: "Mignon," and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15, Rakoczy March, performed by William Wellborn; Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H, performed by Michael Boyd; and Petrarch Sonnets, Nos. 104 and 123, performed by Gwendolyn Mok.

Later that afternoon, there was a master class led by pianists William Wellborn and Michael Boyd.

The evening event was a a Gala Concert held in the Concert Hall of the School of Music. The program included a performance of the 1841 "Album Beethoven," a rare collection of works by Liszt's contemporaries, including Chopin, Mendelssohn, Kalkbrenner, Moscheles, Taubert, Thalberg, Dohler, and Henselt, all performed on an 1868 Erard piano. The program also featured Liszt's transcription of the "Funeral March" from Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony. Boyd, Hu, Mok, and Wellborn were joined by two specially selected students Evan Chow and Yong Yu Gao for the musical event.

Also celebrating the Franz Liszt 200th Anniversary was a Gala presented by the Chapter in conjunction with Old First Concerts. This was an all-Liszt program featuring Michael Boyd, Daniel Glover, Heidi Hau, John Hord, Antonio Iturrioz, Machiko Kobialka, Jerome Lenk, Eliane Lust, Jonathan Mann, Gwendolyn Mok, Victoria Neve, Robert Schwartz, Keith Snell, Hanson Tam, and William Wellborn. The concert was followed by a champagne reception.

The "Classical Music at the Firehouse Arts Center" took place on November 20 in Pleasanton, California. A "Young Artist Recital," presenting winners of the MTAC audition in works by Liszt, took place at 2:00 p.m. At 3:30 pm, Dr. William Wellborn prtesented a lecture-recital dealing with the fascinating evolution of Liszt's keyboard style, with musical examples from the keyboard.

At 5:00 p.m., there was an ensemble concert featuring the Featuring the Varney-Sanchez Duo and friends in performances of Liszt's Les Preludes, Grand Galop Chromatique, Orpheus (Symphonic Poem arr. by Saint-Saëns and feautring Cecilia Huang, Paul Rhodes, and Dominique Piana), as well as selected art songs with Marta Johansen and Robert Schwartz.

The day closed with a solo recital performed by award-winning pianist Peter Toth, who presented Liszt's "Mazeppa," "B-A-C-H," "Legend," "Weinen, Klagen," "Norma," and more.