This is a wonderful concert to bring a friend to, especially one who has never been to a solo piano recital. The program has a lot of variety but is not long, and Stephen will offer a little context before each piece so there's always something to listen for.

He programs his recitals with his large family in mind, most of whom aren’t musicians– he wants everyone to feel engaged and leave having had a meaningful, emotional experience, no matter their musical background.

He describes great music as something like a diary entry: a private message from the composer, something personal and meaningful from their emotional world. He chose the pieces on his July 2 program to explore this idea.

Three of Nikolai Medtner's Forgotten Melodies form the heart of the evening. Medtner was a contemporary of Rachmaninov (and, by Rachmaninov's own account, the greatest composer of their time), yet his music isn’t performed so often today. Written in the years just after World War I and the Russian Revolution, these are pieces Stephen hears as acts of memory. "Perhaps as if the composer is remembering a time before these bloody conflicts," he says.

Threaded between them are short preludes from a children's collection by living composer Ronn Yedidia, pieces that, as Stephen puts it, "express so much music in so few notes." The contrast with Medtner is intentional and striking.

Stephen will connect the Medtner and Yedidia works through improvisation, letting the music find its own conversation in the moment. And, to set the stage for all of this, the evening opens with Mendelssohn's early Sonata in E Major. It is lyrical, rarely heard, and a beautiful entry point into the program.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram described Stephen this way: they had nearly given up hope America would produce another great native-born pianist… and then Stephen walked onstage.

It’s not one to miss, we hope you will bring a friend and join us!

Tickets: https://music.ecu.edu/summer/piano-festival/
$25 General | $10 Student | $60 Season Pass
Discounted group tickets for 6+ available via email: pianofestival@ecu.edu