An afternoon of solo piano with Junwen Liang

Selections from Les Rêves de Colombine, Op. 65 Amy Beach
Valse Amoureuse
Sous les Étoiles
Danse d’Arlequin

Clouds Florence Price
Adoration
Étude (1932)

From Three Visions William Grant Still
Summerland

From Rodgers & Hammerstein Transcriptions Stephen Hough
The King and I: Hello, Young Lovers
The Sound of Music: My Favorite Things

Étude No. 6 Philip Glass

“The Banquet” Sonata for Piano Tan Dun
The Mask
After Tonight
Sword Dance
Only for Love

This program explores the remarkable breadth of American piano music across the twentieth and twenty first centuries, beginning with composers who helped define an American classical voice. Amy Beach was among the first American women to achieve international recognition as a composer, and her "Les Rêves de Colombine" brings late Romantic lyricism and imagination to a series of miniature character pieces. Florence Price and William Grant Still emerged as pioneering Black American composers whose music brought new cultural perspectives into the concert tradition. Price’s atmospheric "Clouds", lyrical "Adoration", and virtuosic "Étude" reveal different facets of her musical language, while Still’s beloved "Summerland" evokes a serene and deeply expressive landscape.

The second part of the program turns toward the intersections of classical music, popular culture, and an increasingly global American musical identity. Pianist and composer Stephen Hough transforms familiar songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein into sophisticated concert works, while Philip Glass represents the influential minimalist movement that reshaped American music in the later twentieth century. The program culminates with Chinese American composer Tan Dun’s "The Banquet Sonata, music born from his score for the 2006 film The Banquet. Drawing together dramatic storytelling, cinematic color, and musical traditions from East and West, the sonata brings the program to a powerful conclusion and reflects the many cultures and artistic traditions that continue to shape American musical life.