On Sunday, Feb. 9 from 3 to 4:30 p.m., the public is invited to a piano performance by distinguished guest artist Lydia Artymiw, performing a diverse program of works by Mozart and Schumann, along with a selection of works by Ukranian composers. This performance, held in the Carleton College Concert Hall, is free and open to the public.
“Lydia Artymiw has such a satisfying musical soul; she is a pleasure to hear,” wrote Bernard Holland in a recent New York Times review. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Prize, Philadelphia-born Lydia Artymiw is considered one of the most compelling talents among pianists of her generation.
She has performed with over one hundred twenty orchestras world wide, with many of the leading conductors of our time. American orchestral appearances include the Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, and with such orchestras as Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Minnesota, St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Solo recital tours have taken her to all major American cities and to important European music centers, such as London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Milan, Cagliari, Rome, Zürich, Vevey, Basel, Helsinki, Talinn, and throughout the Far East (Taiwan, China, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines).
Critics have acclaimed her seven solo recordings for the Chandos label, and she has also recorded for Bridge, Centaur, Pantheon, Artegra, and Naxos. Her debut recording for Chandos (Variations) was a Gramophone Magazine “Critic’s Choice,” her Mendelssohn CD was hailed by both Hi-Fi News and the Monthly Guide to Recorded Music as “Best of the Month,” and Ovation Magazine honored her Schubert recording as “Recording of Distinction.” Her CD of the Tchaikovsky Seasons (released by Chandos in 1982) is still in print and has sold over 25,000 copies.
An acclaimed chamber musician, Artymiw has collaborated with such celebrated artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Wiley, Richard Stoltzman, Alexander Fiterstein, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, Kim Kashkashian, John Aler, and Benita Valente. Along with Arnold Steinhardt (first violinist of the Guarneri Quartet) and Jules Eskin (principal cellist of the Boston Symphony), she was a member of the Steinhardt-Artymiw-Eskin Trio for over ten years.
In 2014, Lydia Artymiw celebrates her 25th year as Distinguished McKnight Professor of Piano at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. Artymiw’s studio, with 40 Doctoral graduates, is one of the most successful at the School of Music, and her students are active as concert pianists and professors in renowned colleges and universities throughout the US, in Canada, Korea, and Taiwan. Artymiw also received the “Dean’s Medal for Outstanding Professor” in 2000.
This rare appearance at Carleton College is made possible by The Laudie D. Porter Memorial Fund, established in 1986 by the family and friends of Laudie Porter, Assistant Professor of Flute at Carleton from 1968 until her death in 1986. Not only did Laudie teach flute to hundreds of Carleton students, she also endeavored to supplement her teaching by bringing to the campus outstanding musicians and other artists. The fund is used each year to bring to campus a distinguished performing or creative artist for a visit devoted both to performance and discussion. The first choice each year should be for women practitioners in the arts.
This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Music. For more information, including disability accommodations, please call (507) 222-4475. The Carleton College Concert Hall is located on First Street between Nevada and Winona Streets in Northfield.
