Key Pianists Series Presents Pianist Jason Hardink In Weill Recital Hall At Carnegie Hall

American Pianist Jason Hardink Performs Works by Jason Eckardt, Debussy, Xenakis, Liszt, and Messiaen.

The Key Pianists Series, founded in 2015 by Terry Eder, will present pianist Jason Hardink in an unusually rich and challenging program of 20th-century works, complemented by selections from Liszt's Études d'exécution transcendante, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Tuesday evening, February 26, 2019, at 8 pm. Reviewing Mr. Hardink for ConcertoNet Harry Rolnick wrote: "a pianist of such extraordinary power-and memory-that he is difficult to forget" (December 14, 2015).

Key Pianists has attracted numerous positive accolades since its inception. Noted arts journalist Michael Miller most recently had this to say: "An outstanding pianist herself, Terry Eder founded the series to give important players, much admired by their colleagues, more exposure among the general public. I have yet to attend any of these recitals that I did not thoroughly enjoy" (New York Arts, January 24, 2019).

For this program, Mr. Hardink has chosen to feature "[composers who sought] a transcendence of ordinary pianism through new textures and sonorities that often lie at the limit of feasibility." He has a particular connection to these composers, especially Jason Eckardt, whose composition Echoes' White Veil Mr. Hardink first discovered at the age of 25: "The raw power expressed by Eckardt's music so deeply moved me;" writes Mr. Hardink, "that which previously appeared gauche and vapid now revealed a glimpse of the beyond, a spiritual territory brought to light by a deep musical striving for the seemingly impossible."

The complete program follows:

JASON ECKARDT: Echoes' White Veil
Claude Debussy: Images, Book II
IANNIS XENAKIS: Evryali
Franz Liszt: Selections from Études d'exécution transcendante
OLIVIER MESSIAEN: Selections from Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jésus

Tickets at $35 are available for purchase at: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2019/02/26/Jason-Hardink-Piano-0800PM | CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 | Box Office at 57th St and 7th Ave. Student and senior discount tickets are available at the Box Office.

A fearless interpreter of large-scale piano works both modern and historical, Jason Hardink's recent repertoire includes the complete Michael Hersch The Vanishing Pavilions, Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus, the Liszt Transcendental Etudes paired with the Boulez Notations, and Wolfgang Rihm's numbered Klavierstücke, all of which he performs from memory.

Recent performances include his debut at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music as soloist in the North American premiere of Gerald Barry's Piano Concerto with conductor Cristian Macelaru. Events during the 2018-19 season include Andrew Norman's piano concerto Suspend with Thierry Fischer and the Utah Symphony, and performances of Michael Hersch's stunning 2.5-hour solo piano cycle The Vanishing Pavilions at Oberlin Conservatory and Aperio, Music of the Americas.

Much sought after as a chamber musician, Mr. Hardink has collaborated in recital with violinists Augustin Hadelich, Nicola Benedetti, and Phillip Setzer. His performance with Augustin Hadelich of Beethoven's Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major (Opus 30, No. 3) was recently featured on Performance Today. He has appeared on chamber music series all over the U.S., including Music in Context, fEARnoMUSIC, Music on the Hill, Aperio Music of the Americas, Montana Chamber Music Society, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. Hardink has performed solo works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms on period instruments, and he has toured Norway with violinist Tor Johan Bøen performing the Grieg Sonatas for Violin and Piano on an 1853 Blüthner. He has performed concerti with conductors Donald Runnicles, Carlos Kalmar, Brett Mitchell, and he regularly appears at the Grand Teton Music Festival every summer.

Mr. Hardink has commissioned a number of piano works, including Thomas Osborne's And the Waves Sing Because They Are Moving, Bruce Quaglia's Passagio Scuro, and Inés Thiebaut's concerto for piano and small ensemble, Hiraeth. Upcoming commission projects include new solo works by Jason Eckardt and Steve Roens.

A recent performance of Saint-Saens' Le carnaval des animaux with the Utah Symphony, Thierry Fischer, and pianist Kimi Kawashima will be released as a live recording on the Hyperion label. Upcoming recording releases include Jason Eckardt's pulse-echo with the JACK Quartet.

Mr. Hardink has appeared as guest recitalist and adjudicator for both the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and the Oberlin International Piano Competition. A native of Rhode Island and a graduate of both Oberlin Conservatory and the Shepherd School of Music, his former teachers include Robert Boberg and Sanford Margolis. Hardink holds a DMA from Rice University, where he studied with Brian Connelly; his Doctoral thesis "Messiaen and Plainchant" explores the varying levels of influence that Gregorian chant exerted on the music of Olivier Messiaen.

Mr. Hardink resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he holds the position of Principal Keyboard with the Utah Symphony and serves on the piano faculty of Westminster College. He is married to pianist Kimi Kawashima, and they are parents of twin boys, Luc and Derek.

Key Pianists Concert Series was conceived by pianist Terry Eder in 2015 to fill a void in New York concert life: "Many wonderful pianists playing with wisdom, insight, sensitivity and beauty are not heard in New York. These stellar artists, as well as New York audiences, deserve an event to share this extraordinary music-making."

Opening the 2018-2019 season, noted American pianist Norman Krieger-with a "reputation for intelligent virtuosity and solid musicianship" (Jed Distler, Classics Today 2017)-appeared in recital on October 17, 2018, performing Beethoven's "Tempest" Sonata and Brahms's Sonata in C Major, Op.1, as well as works by Henri Lazarof, Chopin, and Michael Fine. Roman Markowicz of ConcertoNet.com wrote of the performance: "[It] was Brahms's youthful sonata that stole the show...Mr. Krieger was excellently equipped to conquer all those hurdles but his performance was not all about athletics: there was a sense of architecture, nuanced tone and, when necessary, even some elegance and grace in the less rushed moments of the finale" (October 17, 2018).

To close out the season, series founder Terry Eder, noted for her "fascinating [performances] full of life and risk" (New York Concert Review, Summer 2006), will perform Schubert's Impromptu in F Minor, Op. 142, No. 1 and Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 28, as well as works by Debussy, Dohnányi, and Kodály, Monday evening, April 8, 2019 at 8 pm.