Russell Sherman Tackles Beethoven, September 26 in NEC's Jordan Hall

[music composer]

Distinguished Artist-in-Residence Russell Sherman Tackles Beethoven, September 26 in NEC's Jordan Hall

Russell Sherman

For Immediate Release:
August 6, 2007

"To play the piano is to consort with nature. Every mollusk, galaxy, vapor, or viper, as well the sweet incense of love's distraction, is within the hands and grasp of the pianist..."—Russell Sherman, Piano Pieces

Pianist Russell Sherman, NEC’s Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, will revisit the Beethoven Sonatas on his Jordan Hall recital, September 26 at 8 p.m. The first American to record all 32 of the Sonatas plus the five Beethoven Piano Concertos, the pianist will play four works drawn from early to late periods: Sonata in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2, "Tempest", Sonata in E Major, Op. 109, Sonata in E Minor, Op. 90, and Sonata in F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata.” The concert is free and open to the public.

”Playing Beethoven is like wrestling in the great sandbox of childhood and heaven with the ultimate Sumo soldier of humanity-an irresistible opportunity. No matter how many times, I get flattened.” –Russell Sherman on WBUR’s The Connection.

Sherman, who performed Beethoven earlier this summer at New Hampshire’s Monadnock Music festival, will include that composer as well in a fall tour of Korea and China. Later this year, he returns to Boston’s Emmanuel Music (directed by his former student Craig Smith ’69, ’72 M.M.) where he will play the Bach English Suites in three concerts, Jan. 26, Feb. 2 and 9 as part of that music series’ all-Bach season. He will be joined in those concerts by three of his former NEC piano students Minsoo Sohn, Katherine Chi, and Hae Sun Paik.

A native New Yorker, Sherman studied piano with Eduard Steuermann and composition with Erich Itor Kahn. He made his debut at Town Hall at age 15. He has been acclaimed as a soloist with many major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has presented recitals throughout the U.S., Europe, South America, the Far East, and the former Soviet Union. His book of short essays on piano playing and allied activities, Piano Pieces, is published by Farrar Straus Giroux.

"By training and by personal good fortune the piano is my weapon, that all-purpose instrument capable of reproducing the patterns and colors of exotic rugs, rugged mountains, and mounted butterflies. Never was a man happier with this accident and metaphor of life that fell into his hands." –Russell Sherman, Piano Pieces

For further information, check the NEC Website or call the NEC Concert Line at 617-585-1122. NEC’s Jordan Hall, Brown Hall, Williams Hall and the Keller Room are located at 30 Gainsborough St., corner of Huntington Ave. St. Botolph Hall is located at 241 St. Botolph St. between Gainsborough and Mass Ave.