Sunday, October 18, 2020 - 3:00 PM
‘One always learns something important about the compositions he performs, about the composers whose works he’s playing, about music as such, from the way he plays.’ So writes The New Yorker of this elegant German pianist who opens the season in repertoire that cemented his stellar international reputation.
Haydn: C-major Sonata, Hob. XVI:48
Beethoven: F-minor Sonata, Op. 2, No. 1
Haydn: E-flat-major Sonata, Hob. XVI:49
Beethoven: 12 Variations on Wranitsky’s Das Waldmädchen, WoO 71
Haydn: D-major Sonata, Hob. XVI:51
Beethoven: E-flat-major Sonata, Op. 7
UNION COLLEGE
MEMORIAL CHAPEL
SCHENECTADY, NY
General Admission seating – doors open 45 minutes before concert.
All kids and college students admitted free at door.
Ticket information and policies
With his distinctive combination of integrity, unique style, surpassing linguistic expressiveness, deep musical insight and assured artistic instinct paired with his charismatic and captivating personality, Christian Zacharias has made a name for himself not only as one of the world’s leading pianists and conductors, but also as a musical thinker. Beginning as a pianist and later moving on to work as a conductor as well, his international career burgeoned through numerous widely acclaimed concerts with the world’s leading orchestras, renowned conductors not to mention several awards and recordings.
Since the 2017/18 season, Christian Zacharias holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, and from 2020 will hold the same position with the Orquestra Sinfonica Do Porto Casa da Musica. After a significant focus on the music of Robert Schumann last season, his focus returns in 2019/20 to themes of “Europe” and to the music of Beethoven as seen in his programs in Paris, Munich, Stuttgart, Bergen, Verona and in Asia.
Zacharias was a long-term Artistic Partner at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and is still deeply connected to the orchestra. He also maintains close ties with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Bamberger Symphoniker. Zacharias also performs recitals in major musical centers worldwide and collaborates with like-minded musicians such as Frank Peter Zimmermann, the Leipziger Streichquartett, and Baiba Skride.
Zacharias’ work in the world of music has earned him numerous awards and prizes, including the 2007 Midem Classical Award "Artist of the Year". The French government also honored him as an "Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" and he was awarded for his contributions to culture in Romania in 2009. In 2016 he was named member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
During his time as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, his recordings with the orchestra garnered widespread critical acclaim among the international press. His most recent recordings feature the four Schumann symphonies and C.P.E. Bach’s Berlin symphonies.
In 2015 and 2017, Christian Zacharias chaired the Jury of the Clara Haskil Competition and as president of the jury of the 2018 Geza Anda Competition conducted the final concert.
