Sean Chen at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Courtesy photoThe first American to medal in the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition since 1997 will kick off the Los Alamos Concert Association’s 70th Anniversary season at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25 in the Duane Smith Auditorium.
Rising young pianist Sean Chen has been praised by the Huffington Post for his “exceptional ability to connect with an audience.” His busy concert schedule has earned him rave reviews throughout the US and a recent European tour included a performance in Amsterdam’s storied Royal Concertgebouw.
Chen’s Los Alamos program will include four short, evocative works by Rachmaninoff contemporary Nicolai Medtner, an interesting side-by-side paring of etudes by Chopin and Debussy, Ravel’s Sonatine, and Rachmaninoff’s technically demanding second piano sonata.
The Cliburn Competition is named for the Texan pianist who created an international sensation when he won first place in the 1958 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, an event that was intended to demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority at the height of the cold war. Held quadrennially in Van Cliburn’s home town of Fort Worth, the competition now rivals its Russian counterpart in prestige.
Tickets for Sean Chen’s performance are available electronically through LACA’s web site, in Los Alamos at CB Fox and Smith’s Marketplace, in White Rock at Smith’s and at the door. In Santa Fe, tickets are available at the Lensic Box Office. Continuing a long LACA tradition, tickets for young people age 6-18 are free and available at the Los Alamos and White Rock outlets and at the door. Children under 6 will not be admitted.
For complete artist, venue and ticket information, visit www.losalamosconcert.org.
