American Liszt Society Festival
The focal point of each year's American Liszt Society calendar of events. Historically, festivals have been held at a wide variety of locations in the United States and Canada. Festivals are typically hosted by a university, a library, a local ALS chapter, or a music performance organization.
Those interested in hosting a festival should contact the President of ALS.
International festivals have been added to provide performance opportunities abroad for ALS members.
Such festivals have been held in China, Budapest, Prague, Brazil, and Italy.
AMERICAN LISZT SOCIETY FESTIVAL AND CONFERENCE 2025
“LISZT AND WOMEN”
Program Consultant: José Raúl López
Master of Ceremonies: Justin Kolb
All sessions in Powell Recital Hall at the Martin Center for the Arts unless otherwise stated.
1320 W State of Franklin Road, Johnson City, TN 37614
Detailed schedule available by Sunday, July 13. All changes are subject to the organizers’ discretion.
DAY 1, Thursday, October 23, 2025
8:30 am Registration opens - Martin Center Front Lobby
9:15 am Welcome and Remarks
Dr. Alan Stevens, ETSU Music Department Chair
Dr. Jay Hershberger, President, American Liszt Society
Dr. Éva Polgár, ETSU Keyboard Area Coordinator, Festival Host
9:30-10:10 am SESSION 1: The Schumanns and Brahms
Works and transcriptions by Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, and Clara Schumann
Performers: Asiya Korepanova, Monica Song, and Alan Woo
10:30-11:05 am SESSION 2: Femme de gloire: Marie Jaëll
Lecture-recital by David Gross
11:15 am SESSION 3: Parallel Harmonies - Adele aus der Ohe and Amy Beach
Performers: Avita Duo (Katya Moeller, violin, Ksenia Nosikova, piano),
Kinga Cserjési, Richard Fountain, Caroline Hong, Hyeseon Jin, Yingzhou Hu, Éva Polgár, and Manuel Vizurraga
12:00 pm Lunch break
2:00-2:40 pm SESSION 4: Liszt’s Musical Settings of Women Poets
Lecture-recital by Elizabeth Packard Arnold, soprano, and Ben Arnold, piano
Location: Caton Recital Hall, ETSU Mathes Hall
3:00-3:35 pm SESSION 5: Women Shaping Modern Music
Works by Emily Koh, Tania León, Ivette Herryman Rodriguez, and Germaine Tailleferre
Performers: Alyssa Conde, Happy Dog Duo (Nathan Cheung and Eric Tran),
José Raúl López, Liza Stepanova, Aleksandra Velgosha
3:50-4:35 pm SESSION 6: Joan Tower - Homage to Beethoven
Lecture-recital by Paul Barnes
4:45-5:00 pm SESSION 7: The Immortal Beloved: Beethoven - An die ferne Geliebte
Performers: Kevin McMillan, baritone, and Gabriel Dobner, piano
7:30 pm Evening Concert
Part I – Liszt and the Modern Muse
Works by Libby Larsen, Tamar Muskal, Ruth Schönthal
Performers: Csanád Barbarics, Emrick Butterfield, Gila Goldstein, Justyna MaÅ›lanka, Marissa Mathia, Louisa Peng, Emma Switzer
Part II – Liszt and Marie d’Agoult
Etudes from Op. 10 and Op. 25 by Chopin
Performer: Kemal Gekić
DAY 2, Friday, October 24, 2025
8:30 am Registration opens - Martin Center Front Lobby
9:00-9:50 am SESSION 8: Letters of a Voyager - Sand, Liszt, and Byron
Lecture-recital by Mark De Zwaan and Ji Hyun Kim
Contributor: Vicente Della Tonia, Jr.
10:05-10:45 am SESSION 9: Women Composers of the American Liszt Society
Featured works by Judith Neslény, Shu Tran, and Nadejda Vlaeva
Performers: Avita Duo, Shu Tran, and Nadejda Vlaeva
11:00 am SESSION 10: Family Ties I - Liszt, Cosima, and Wagner
Among selected works by Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, the Session will feature Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder.
Performers: Gabriel Dobner, Kevin McMillan, Derek Parsons, Philip Powell
12:00 pm Lunch break
2:00-3:15 pm SESSION 11: Fanny Hensel 220 - Das Jahr, H. 385
Performers: Kate Boyd, Michael Boyd, Hyejin Cho, Maria Clapp, Jun-Hee Han,
Joseph Kingma, Tiantian Liang, José Raúl López, Robert Scott Satterlee, Liza Stepanova, Vicente Della Tonia, Jr.,
3:45-4:05 pm SESSION 12: Family Ties II: The Mahlers
Selection from Gustav and Alma Mahler’s songs
Performers: Denise Gamez, mezzo-soprano, and Daniel Paul Horn, piano
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4:15 pm SESSION 13: Women’s Voices from Russia, Ukraine and Beyond
Lecture-recital by Dmitry Rachmanov
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5:00 pm Dinner break
7:30 pm Evening Concert – Harmonies poétiques et religieuses
In memoriam Luiz de Moura Castro
Performers: Alexander Djordjevic, Sergio Gallo, Lindsay Garritson, Jay Hershberger, Gergely Kovács, Jeffrey LaDeur, Anthony Lee
DAY 3, Saturday, October 25, 2025
9:00 am Registration opens - Martin Center Front Lobby
9:30-10:00 am SESSION 14: Composing Under Liszt’s Influence - His Female Pupils
Works by Agathe Backer Grøndahl and Sophie Menter.
Session introduction by Khang Nguyen.
Performers: David Brickle, Hyeseon Jin, Junghwa Lee and Khang Nguyen
10:10-10:30 am SESSION 15: Glanes de Woronince
Performer: Tomasz Kamieniak
10:45 am SESSION 16: Laureates of the 2024 Los Angeles International Liszt Competition
Introduction: Dr. Katherine Hickey, LAILC co-director
11:30 pm Lunch break
1:30-2:30 pm SESSION 17: Liszt and the Fabulous Flower from Brazil
Lecture by Alan Walker
2:45-4:00 pm SESSION 18: Women in Liszt’s Opera Paraphrases
Program featuring Liszt's concert paraphrases based on opera themes by Händel, Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner
Performers: Alexandre Dossin, Matthew Gianforte, Gila Goldstein,
Daniel Paul Horn, Priscila Navarro, Meeyoun Park, and Steven Spooner
5:00 pm Closing Banquet – Carnegie Hotel, ballroom TBA. Doors open at 4:30 pm
Why Attend a Liszt Festival?
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Franz Liszt was perhaps the most misunderstood musician in the history of our art. His image has been used as a model of showmanship and shallow virtuosity. In fact, one important source on the history of piano playing includes a chapter on Liszt entitled
"Thunder, Lightning, Mesmerism, and Sex"! (Harold Schonberg, The Great Pianists.)
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One has only to read a few pages of Alan Walker's monumental three-volume biography of Franz Liszt before realizing that, in truth, Liszt was a deep thinker, and he had a profound effect on the musical minds of his day.
His inspiration, genius, and generosity influenced the development of musical thought well into the twentieth century.
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His was an attitude of service to his fellow musicians and to humanity.
The paradox of the notoriety of his worldly existence has, for over a century, obscured the deep religious conviction evident in his music.
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The Annual Conferences, also known as Festivals, of The American Liszt Society, hosted by various universities or other organizations throughout North America, provide an opportunity to learn more about this fascinating musician through lectures, recitals, master classes, and concerts.
Often, a sumptuous banquet and informal receptions are included in the itinerary, which most often covers a three-day time span. Perhaps equally important is the camaraderie enjoyed by Festival participants and the new musical friendships that are established as an outgrowth of the event.
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Each Conference/Festival has a theme that presents Liszt's music and the music of his contemporaries and successors in public venues.
Some Liszt Festival themes have included "An Exploration of the Italian Aspect of Liszt: Spirituality, Italian Art and Poetry, and Virtuosity,"; "The Works for Piano and Orchestra,"; "Heaven on Earth: Exploring the Sacred in Music,"; "A Celebration of Liszt and Matthay"; "Liszt in Paris"; "Anniversaries and Connections"; "Liszt in Weimar"; "Liszt and the Future"; "Celebrating Liszt and Chopin"; "Liszt as Missionary,"; "Liszt and Hungary,"; and "Liszt and His Pupils." to name just a few.
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The yearly Conference/Festival and its partner events will appeal to scholars, performers, and music lovers of all ages,
from professional musicians to young students.
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Hopefully, by attending these festivals, an image of Liszt will emerge for you that will contribute to a reassessment of his treasury of uplifting music, his importance in the dissemination of music throughout Europe in the nineteenth century, and his beneficence that allowed both the mighty and the meek to attain a higher spiritual and musical good. We sincerely hope it will be possible for you to join us in an unforgettable musical experience!