36TH SEASON
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, February 19, 2016
Contact: Nancy Bertossa
(415) 677-0328 or nancy@sfperformances.org
SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES PRESENTS
PAUL LEWIS, PIANIST
Solo recital performing Brahms, Schubert, Liszt
TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016, 7:30PM | $40/$55/$70
Herbst Theatre
Paul Lewis
YouTube video
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Thursday, February 18, 2016. San Francisco Performances (SFP) presents pianist Paul Lewis in a solo piano recital
Tuesday, March 8, 7:30pm at Herbst Theatre. This is the pianist’s second appearance with San Francisco Performances. He made his Bay Area
debut in 2006.
The New York Times asserts a golden age of pianists in the present and counts Paul Lewis “among those who have left a profound
impression in recent performances.” This esteemed British pianist’s perceptive and powerful surveys of Beethoven and Schubert
sonatas are among the most highly regarded in recent years, “An unmissable benchmark” (Gramophone).
Paul Lewis is internationally regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. His recent cycles of core piano works by
Beethoven and Schubert have received unanimous critical and public acclaim worldwide, and consolidated his reputation as one of the
world’s foremost interpreters of the central European classical repertoire. His numerous awards have included the Royal Philharmonic
Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year, two Edison awards, three Gramophone awards, the Diapason D’or de l’Annee, the Preis Der
Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana, and the South Bank Show Classical Music
award. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Southampton.
He performs regularly as soloist with the world’s great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, London
Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony, NHK Symphony, New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, and the Royal Concertgebouw,
Tonhalle Zurich, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Philharmonia, and Mahler Chamber Orchestras, in collaboration with such conductors as Sir
Colin Davis, Stephane Deneve, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Bernard Haitink, Pablo Heras-Casado, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Sir
Charles Mackerras, Andris Nelsons, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Robin Ticciati. He is also a frequent guest at the world’s most prestigious
festivals, including Lucerne, Mostly Mozart (New York), Tanglewood, Schubertiade, Salzburg, Edinburgh, La Roque d’Antheron,
Rheingau, Klavier Festival Ruhr, and London’s BBC Proms where in 2010 he became the first pianist to perform a complete Beethoven
piano concerto cycle in one season.
In June of 2015 Lewis made worldwide news when he was forced to pull out of a concert after being attacked by an angry seagull. The
bird swooped down and hit him as he was leaving the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsal hall which caused him to
stumble and sprain a finger of his right hand. The Liverpool headlines reported “The Birds are Bach! Concert pianist sprains finger in
vicious seagull attack.”
Paul Lewis’ recital career takes him to venues such as London’s Royal Festival Hall, Alice Tully and Carnegie Hall in New York, the
Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Berlin
Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, Tonhalle Zurich, Palau de Musica Barcelona, Oji Hall in Tokyo, and Melbourne’s Recital Centre.
His multi-award winning discography for Harmonia Mundi includes the complete Beethoven piano sonatas, concertos, and the Diabelli
Variations, Liszt’s B minor Sonata and other late works, and all of Schubert’s major piano works from the last six years of his life,
including the three song cycles with tenor Mark Padmore. Lewis will return to SFP on April 14, 2016 to perform with Padmore. Future
recording plans include the Brahms D minor piano concerto with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding, and solo
works by Mussorgsky and Schumann.
Paul Lewis studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before going on to study privately with Alfred
Brendel. Along with his wife the Norwegian cellist Bjørg Lewis, he is artistic director of Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music
festival held in Buckinghamshire, UK.
Program:
SCHUBERT: Sonata in B Major, D. 575
BRAHMS: Ballades, Op. 10; Intermezzi, Op. 117
LISZT: Dante Sonata
Tickets for Paul Lewis are $40/$55/$70. For more information, visit sfperformances.org or call 415.392.2545.
About San Francisco Performances:
San Francisco Performances is recognized as one of the leading presenters in the world. Founded by Ruth Felt in 1979 with a season of seven
concerts, the organization is now in its 36th season and proudly features more than 50 mainstage performances of chamber music, recitals,
contemporary dance, guitar, vocal, and jazz. Through the years, SF Performances has presented more than 100 premieres and San Francisco
debuts, introducing such acclaimed artists in recital as composer/pianist Thomas Adès, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, as well as
presenting single choreographer-led international dance companies such as Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva from Israel and Company Wayne McGregor.
Through successful partnerships with artists, Bay Area schools and community organizations, SF Performances has also established one of the
most recognized and respected performing arts education programs in the country. Anchored by the artist residency program that brings artists into
classrooms and community workshops, the arts education projects help expose new audiences, young and old, to the great performers of our time.
SF Performances outreach promotes active engagement with the performing arts, deepening the experience while opening events to diverse
audiences.
CALENDAR EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE:
(Please include our name as the presenter and check to be sure you have our updated website address--many thanks!)
SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMANCES PRESENTS
PAUL LEWIS, piano
WHEN: Tuesday, March 8, 7:30pm
WHERE: Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave (at McAllister), San Francisco
PROGRAM: SCHUBERT, BRAHMS, LISZT
TICKETS: $40/$55/$70
CONTACT: (415) 392.2545; sfperformances.org
For high-resolution images, contact Nancy Bertossa at nancy@sfperformances.org
or visit
http://sfperformances.org/press/1516/PaulLewis.html
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