Thursday, November 15, 2007
8 p.m.
UMBC Fine Arts Recital Hall

Solo Works by Beethoven, Carter, Messiaen, Granados and Liszt

Contact: Thomas Moore
Director of Arts & Culture
410-455-3370
tmoore@umbc.edu

Note: You may view or download this release as a pdf file.

The UMBC Department of Music’s PRIME Series presents pianist John Novacek, an audience favorite who regularly tours the Americas, Europe and Asia as solo recitalist and chamber musician, and has presented more than thirty concerti with dozens of orchestras.

Mr. Novacek’s program will include:
  • Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110
  • Elliott Carter’s Piano Sonata
  • Le baiser de l’enfant-Jésus from the Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus by Olivier Messiaen
  • Quejas, o maja y el ruiseñor from Goyescas by Enrique Granados
  • Franz Liszt’s Rhapsodie Espagnole

John Novacek’s major American performances have been heard in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Symphony Space, Washington’s The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center and Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Hollywood Bowl and Royce Hall, while international venues include Paris’ Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Salle Gaveau and Musée du Louvre, London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre, as well as most of the major concert halls of Japan. He is also a frequent guest artist at festivals, here and abroad, including New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival and those of Cape Cod, Caramoor, Chautauqua, Colorado College, Ravinia, Seattle, SummerFest La Jolla, Wolf Trap, BBC Proms (England), Braunschweig (Germany), Lucerne and Menuhin (Switzerland), Majorca (Spain), Sorrento (Italy), Stavanger (Norway), Toulouse (France) and Sapporo (Japan).

Often heard on radio broadcasts worldwide, John Novacek has appeared on NPR’s Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday and, as both featured guest composer/performer, on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. He is also frequently seen and heard on television, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Entertainment Tonight and CNN International.

John Novacek is a much sought-after collaborative artist and has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Emmanuel Pahud, Truls Mork and Leila Josefowicz. He has given numerous world premieres and worked closely with composers John Adams, John Harbison, George Rochberg, John Williams and John Zorn.

John Novacek took top prizes at both the Leschetizky and Joanna Hodges international piano competitions, among many others. He studied piano with Peter Serkin, Bruce Sutherland and Jakob Gimpel and chamber music with Jamie Laredo and Felix Galimir, and occasionally coached with Gary Graffman and Isaac Stern.

He has recorded over 30 CDs, encompassing solo and chamber music by most major composers from Bach to Bartók, as well as many contemporary and original scores. Mr. Novacek records for Philips, Nonesuch, Arabesque, Warner Classics, Sony/BMG, Koch International, Universal Classics, Ambassador, Pony Canyon, Four Winds, Arkay, Virtuoso and EMI Classics. CD titles include Road Movies (2004 Grammy nomination as “Best Chamber Music Performance”), Great Mozart Piano Works, Spanish Rhapsody, Novarags (original ragtime compositions), Classic Romance, Hungarian Sketches, Intersection, Romances et Meditations and, with Leila Josefowicz, Americana (Gramophone: “Editor’s Choice”), For the End of Time, Shostakovich and Recital (BBC Music Magazine: 5 stars/June 2005’s chamber choice).

Admission
Admission is $7 general, $3 for senior citizens, free for all students, and free with a UMBC ID.
Tickets are available through MissionTix at www.missiontix.com or by calling MissionTix at 410-752-8950.
Tickets will also be available at the door (cash or check only) immediately prior to the concert.

Telephone
Public information: (24 hour recorded message): 410-455-ARTS
Media inquiries only: 410-455-3370

Web
UMBC Arts website: http://www.umbc.edu/arts
MissionTix: http://www.missiontix.com
Online News Releases: http://www.umbc.edu/news

Directions
• From Baltimore and points north, proceed south on I-95 to exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the Administration Drive Garage.
• From I-695, take Exit 12C (Wilkens Avenue) and continue one-half mile to the entrance of UMBC at the roundabout intersection of Wilkens Avenue and Hilltop Road. Turn left and follow signs to the Administration Drive Garage.
• From Washington and points south, proceed north on I-95 to Exit 47B. Take Route 166 toward Catonsville and then follow signs to the Administration Drive Garage.
• Visitor parking is available in the Administration Drive Garage. Visitor parking regulations are enforced on all University calendar days. Hilltop Circle and all campus roadways require a parking permit unless otherwise marked.
Online campus map: http://www.umbc.edu/aboutumbc/campusmap/

Images for Media
High resolution images for media are available online:
http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/hi-res/
or by email or postal mail.