Loft

William Hobbs: Hatzis, Sorabji, Liebermann, & Beethoven

Flatiron, New York

Sun, October 15, 2023, at 5:00 PM, EDT

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: Don't bring your own drinks
: Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks provided
Wheelchair access: Wheelchair Accessible

This is a groupmuse

A live concert in a living room, backyard, or another intimate space. They're casual and friendly, hosted by community members.

Host

Jonathan D. Superhost

5 PM Doors & Pre-Reception
6 PM Performance
7:15 PM Post-Reception

William Hobbs: Hatzis, Sorabji, Liebermann, & Beethoven

Gotham Arts in collaboration with Groupmuse is delighted to present an intimate private solo recital by pianist William Hobbs featuring music by Christos Hatzis, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, Beethoven, and one of America's most important living composers Lowell Liebermann, who will be in attendance.

Wine will be served.

Program

BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109 (1820)
LIEBERMANN Gargoyles, Op. 29 (1989)
HATZIS Through a Glass Darkly (2005)
SORABJI Djâmi (Nocturne) (1928)

About the Artist

Born in Austin, Texas, William Hobbs received his Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance summa cum laude from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Master of Music in Piano Performance, Research and Literature from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

As soloist, Mr. Hobbs was featured with orchestras and ensembles such as the Gulbenkian Foundation Orchestra in Lisbon, Portugal (Mozart) and the University of Colorado Wind Ensemble (Stravinsky, Messiaen). As recitalist, he has been featured in festivals like the Hamptons Music Festival (Southampton NY) and the Chester Music Festival (Chester, England). He has performed full and partial recitals in over a dozen countries, including the United States, England, Korea, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Malta, Poland and others. As chamber musician, he has collaborated with many of today’s top performers, including Yo- Yo Ma, Ida Kavafian, James Galway, and many others.

As collaborative pianist and conductor, Mr. Hobbs works at many of the world’s major opera houses, including the Opéra National de Paris, the Salzburg Festival, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington Opera and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

Mr. Hobbs joined the Piano and Voice Faculty at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey in Fall 2010. He joined the Vocal Arts Faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in 2014, and taught at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York from 2018-2020. He is currently on the faculties of the the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University (Montclair, New Jersey), and the Peabody Institute (Baltimore, Maryland).

Mr. Hobbs can be heard in recordings of of music by Lowell Liebermann, Xavier Montsalvage, Dave Soldier, Christos Hatzis, and Kaikhosru Sorabji. He served as Music Director for the Opera America Songbook, which celebrated the opening of the National Opera Center in New York City. He also was the Producer for a recording of songs by Ricky Ian Gordon for Bright Shiny Things recordings, with soprano Jennifer Zetlan and the composer at the piano.

What's the music?

William Hobbs Piano

Beethoven: Sonata in E major, Op. 109 (1820)
Lowell Liebermann: Gargoyles, Op.29 (1989)
Christos Hatzis: Through a Glass Darkly (2005)
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji: Djâmi (Nocturne) (1928)

Where does this music come from?

You are invited to join us for a pre-release party of Face to Face, recorded by pianist William Hobbs and to be released this Fall on Blue Griffin records. The CD features works by Greek-Canadian composer Christos Hatzis (born 1953) and English-Parsi pianist-composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892-1988).

Hatzis has a remarkable gift for writing "concept" pieces in which the concept is both clearly audible on the first hearing and worked out in such a way that it becomes more compelling with repeated listening. The selection performed at this recital, entitled "Through a Glass Darkly," was inspired by medical diagnoses among some of Hatzis's family members. It is an astonishing meditation on memory loss, dementia, and the attendant anxieties about loss of selfhood in its myriad forms. Sorabji is represented by his Nocturne "Djâmi," inspired by the 15th century Persian poet Jami. It is one of a small number of compositions by the English-born Sorabji that explore his geographically and emotionally distant father's Persian heritage. This exotic and atmospheric nocturne might easily be heard as an attempt by a mixed-race person to connect with a culture that may well be hard-wired into their DNA but is tantalizingly absent from their day-to-day life.

These selections from the forthcoming CD will be presented alongside Beethoven's serene late Sonata in E major, Op.109 and Gargoyles, a contemporary pianistic tour-de-force in the virtuoso tradition by Lowell Liebermann, one of America's most important living composers, who will be present at the performance!

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Location

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