Unbelievably, it has been 40 years since the late Knoxville pianist and educator, Evelyn Miller, created her Young Pianist Series. In those ensuing years since 1980, the international classical music world has changed, with Knoxville’s place in it growing in remarkable ways. Evolving concepts of marketing to a changing audience are certainly responsible for much of this transformation, raising the bar of competition. Marketing has also changed the ways and means available to musicians looking to break into the ranks of international solo performance. While the idea of “youth” has not changed, our expectations in youthful performers most assuredly has.
YPS continues to maintain its two-prong mission: provide pianists under age 35 who are on the verge of international careers with recital opportunities and give Knoxville audiences the opportunities to hear breakout artists in recital.
The 40th season of YPS kicks off its three-recital series on Sunday, January 27, 2019, with the Hungarian pianist László Váradi. From an early age, Váradi was immersed in the study of music, attending the Liszt Academy Budapest, then graduating from the Béla Bartók Music Secondary School. He received a BA in piano from the Liszt Music Academy and is currently pursuing a MA in piano.
From his bio:
Váradi has been a prize winner in numerous international piano competitions, such as the Novak-Czikker International Piano Competition (2011), Ferenczy György National Piano Competition, Chopin International Piano Competition and X. Rosario Marciano Piano Competition Wienna. In November 2018, he will compete in the Franz Liszt International Music Competition in Los Angeles, USA. He has received special awards for his excellence, including Junior Prima Award (2014), Special Prize of Virtuosos Talent Show for Classical Musicians (2016), Special Prize of the Filharmonia Hungary (2016), and Freeman of City of Jászkisér (2017). In 2017, he was awarded a 5-month-long fellowship from the New National Excellence Program.
Váradi has selected a program of works from Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt—
• Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in f-minor ‘Appassionata’, Op. 57
• Schubert, F. (arr. Liszt, F.): Ständchen (“Leise flehen meine Lieder”)
• Schubert, F. (arr. Liszt, F.) Der Müller und der Bach (“Wo ein treues Herze”)
• Liszt: Vallée d’Obermann from Années de Pèlerinage
• Liszt: Aprés une lecture de Dante (Dante Sonata)
All of the Sunday afternoon YPS recitals are held in the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall of the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on the University of Tennessee campus at 2:30 PM. Tickets may be purchased in advance from the YPS website or in the lobby of recital hall on Sunday. Season tickets are $65.00, with individual recitals priced at $25.00. All student admissions are FREE (college-age students must show valid student ID). Parking is available in Lot 23 behind the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
