Performance:

Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Rudder Theatre on the TAMU campus

James Dick—Piano

Recognized as one of the truly important pianists of his generation, pianist James Dick brings keyboard sonorities of captivating opulence and brilliance to performances that radiate intellectual insight and emotional authenticity. Dick's early triumphs as top prizewinner in the Tchaikovsky, Busoni and Leventritt International Competitions were a mere prelude to an eminent career highlighted by acclaimed recitals and concerto performances in the world's premier concert halls, including New York's Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall and 92nd Street "Y", London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, le Theatre du Chatelet and Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, the Kennedy Center and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

Dick has performed with the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony and many other major orchestras, with such conductors as Eugene Ormandy, John Barbirolli, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Eiji Oue, Robert Spano, Christopher Hogwood, Stefan Sanderling, James de Preist, Pascal Verrot, JoAnn Faletta, Peter Bay, Andrey Boreyko, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Heiichiro Ohyama, Lan Shui, Lawrence Foster, Sergiu Commissiona, Alain Lombard, Jerzy Semkov. In chamber music, he has been guest soloist with the Cleveland, Tokyo, Parisii, Ravel, Debussy, Eusia and Cassatt Quartets and the Dorian and Moragues Wind Quintets, concertizing as well with Erick Friedman, Yo-Yo Ma, Regis Pasquier, Young Uck Kim, Raphael Hillyer, Rostislav Dubinsky, Martin Lovett, Guy Deplus, Håkan Rosengren and Carol Wincenc. Extremely active in England where he studied extensively with Sir Clifford Curzon, Dick was elected an Honorary Associate of London's Royal Academy of Music; in 1994 he received the signal honor of being named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture. Mr. Dick is the 2003 Texas State Musician. He is also an International Sterling Patron of the Mu Phi Epsilon Fraternity.

James Dick is a fervent supporter of new music. He commissioned Benjamin Lees, Dan Welcher, Malcolm Hawkins and Chinary Ung to write respectively "Etudes", "Shiva's Drum", "Rasmandala" and "Rising Light" for piano and orchestra. In February 1998, James Dick premiered "Flights of Passage: From Silent Sun to Starry Night" by Claude Baker. This piece is inspired by poems by Walt Whitman. It was performed in New York (Alice Tully Hall), Paris (Salle Gaveau) and London (Purcell Room). On October 31, 1999, in Washington, DC, he premiered "The Birth of Shiva" by Dan Welcher, a fantasy for piano solo after "Shiva's Drum."

James Dick remains committed to music education. In 1971, he established the International Festival-Institute at Round Top. This educational project, one of the most distinguished in the United States, welcomes Young Artists looking for developing their skills in solo, chamber music and orchestral repertoire.