Jason Caesar Consolacion
This weekend's 13th annual International Piano Festival will begin Friday. Recitals and master classes will be held until Sunday at the Moores School of Music.
The first featured performer will be M.D. Anderson Professor Horacio Gutierrez, making his Houston recital debut 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Moores Opera House.
Gutierrez has appeared regularly with the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Concertgebouw and in New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Princeton and St. Louis. The critically-acclaimed pianist is a recipient of the 1982 Avery Fisher Prize and has been nominated for a Grammy for his Telarc recording of Rachmaninoff's Concertos Nos. 2 and 3. The MSM professor will also be holding a master class at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Performing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday will be the founder of the International Piano Festival, Abbey Simon. The pianist has been awarded the National Orchestral Award, the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal and the Walter W. Naumburg Award for his various accomplishments.
Simon is also recognized as one of the most recorded classical artists of all time. His recordings include works of Ravel, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Schumann. He has been a member of the MSM faculty since 1977. Simon will hold his master class at noon Sunday.
Finally, guest pianist Angela Cheng will be featured in Sunday's recital at 4 p.m. in the Moores Opera House. A native of Hong Kong, Cheng is recognized around the world as one of the best young artists in music today.
In addition to winning several awards and competitions, she has performed with the orchestras of Boston, Montreal, Toronto, St. Louis, Houston, Indianapolis and Israel and has presented solo recitals in New York, London, Salzburg, Toronto, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Vancouver. She has also recorded various works of Mozart and Schumann. Cheng will conduct a master class at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Tickets are available in packages or by individual event. For more information, call (713) 743-3167. All master classes will be held at Dudley Recital Hall.
The Houston Grand Opera will be presenting Billy Budd at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Tuesday at Brown Theater, Wortham Center. The opera by British composer Benjamin Britten is based on the novel of the same name by Herman Melville.
What does this have to do with MSM? Seven current MSM students and three alumni appear in the show. "The opera," says MSM vocal major Tony Martinez, "centers around the struggle between the charismatic ability and the evil Claggart ... and someone dies."
Blake Wilkins, percussionist - Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., Moores Opera House. The faculty recital will include works by Morton Feldmen, Claude Debussy and Richard Rodney Bennett for a variety of percussion instruments. Tickets are $5 ($3 for students) at the door.
Let me take this opportunity to apologize to Dr. Betsy Weber for misspelling her name in last week's Music Notes. I carelessly put too many B's in her name (Webber instead of Weber) while all of us know that Dr. Weber is so perfect, she only needs one. I only hope she can find it in her big heart to forgive me. Love ya, Doc!!