The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts Presents Kenny Broberg, Piano

Pianist Kenny Broberg comes to Pepperdine University's Raitt Recital Hall at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 10, 2019 at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts as part of the Recital Series performances of the 2018-2019 season.

Tickets, starting at $28 for adults and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling the box office at 310-506-4522 or visiting arts.pepperdine.edu. For more information about Broberg, please visit kennybroberg.com.

His program includes Bach's Toccata in C Minor, BWV 911; Beethoven's Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, op. 110; Franck and Bauer's Prélude, Fugue et Variation, op. 18; and Medtner's Sonata in E Minor, op. 25, no. 2, "Night Wind."

A native of Minneapolis, Broberg won the silver medal at the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition with performances marked by "an imaginative shaping of themes, revelation of inner voices, and an unfailing sense of momentum" (Texas Classical Review). He continues to build a reputation for fresh interpretations, distinguished by a "bright, pearly tone quality" and "a clean, pellucid beauty" in his sound (Star Tribune).

Also a prizewinner of the Hastings, Sydney, Seattle, and New Orleans International Piano Competitions, Broberg has previously performed as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic, Minnesota, Sydney Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Chamber, Fort Worth Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras, among others, working with conductors Ludovic Morlot, Leonard Slatkin, Nicholas Milton, Nicholas McGegan, Carlos Miguel Prieto, and Stilian Kirov. During the 2017-2018 season, he made his subscription concert debut with the Minnesota Orchestra-stepping in for André Watts days before the performance-which was declared "a highly auspicious debut, marked by poise [and] technical brilliance" (Star Tribune). Other recent highlights include residencies at the Methow Chamber, Strings, and Sunriver Music Festivals, and recitals in Houston, Denver, and Minneapolis, and in Italy and the United Kingdom.

In the 2018-2019 season, Broberg performs at the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal's Festival Virée Classique and makes his return to London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Recital and orchestra engagements will take him to Minneapolis, Kansas City, Madison, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and other cities across North America, and he makes his debut performances in Asia, with appearances in Shanghai and across Japan.

He has been featured on NPR, WQXR, APM's Performance Today, MPR, and ABC (Australia) radio, and several of his performances at the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition were included on CDs released on the Universal Music Australia label. His solo debut album was released in August 2017 on the Decca Gold label, featuring one of his signature works, the Barber Piano Sonata, as well as works by Bach, Schubert, Chopin, and Franck.

The first musician in his family, Broberg started piano lessons at age 6, when he was first fascinated by his mother's upright-a wedding gift from her parents. He studied for nine years with Dr. Joseph Zins before entering the University of Houston's Moores School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree with Nancy Weems in 2016. He currently resides in Parkville, Missouri, under the guidance of 2001 Cliburn Gold Medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch at Park University. Alongside his teachers, he is influenced by the recordings of Alfred Cortot, William Kapell, and Claudio Arrau.

A hockey and baseball athlete in high school, he still enjoys watching and playing sports, in addition to listening to jazz and reading.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from over 1,000 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the Center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Enlow

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