Pianist Taylor to open Faculty Concert Series for spring

Beethoven, Ligeti and Chopin, as interpreted by world renowned pianist and UW–Madison professor of music Christopher Taylor, will open the School of Music’s Faculty Concert Series for the spring semester.

Taylor will play Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 9 in E major,” “Etudes from Book II” by Gyorgy Ligeti and “12 Etudes, Op. 25” by Chopin. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, in Mills Hall of the Mosse Humanities Building.

Meanwhile, Taylor reports that he will be getting ready for some new projects in coming months. He will spend this summer touring in the company of the school’s two-manual (double keyboard) Steinway, built in 1929 and generally believed to be the only Steinway of its kind ever built. Taylor is well acquainted with it, having performed Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” on it in 2005. Before Taylor’s recital, it was last played by the late Gunnar Johansen, School of Music artist in residence between 1939 and 1976. The piano is currently being restored.

Taylor also intends to perform all of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas, probably over the course of 10 evenings in spring 2008. Tickets for the Jan. 27 performance are available in advance through the Wisconsin Union Theater Box Office, 262-2201. They are $11 general/$8 for seniors or students.