LEGENDARY PIANIST MENAHEM PRESSLER, 87, TO PERFORM AT SOTTILE THEATRE
Menahem Pressler will perform at the College of Charleston School of the Arts’ International Piano Series on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 at 8:00 p.m., at the Sottile Theatre, 44 George Street. He will play Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31 in A-Flat, Claude Debussy’s Estampes, and Franz Schubert’s Sonata in B-Flat, D. 960. Tickets are $20 for general admission. College of Charleston faculty and staff may purchase two tickets for the price of one, and students and those under 18 years old are admitted free of charge. Credit card reservations and more information are available by calling 953-6575, or by visiting http://www.internationalpianoseries.org.
Recognized by the French and German governments with the highest honors those countries award to civilians, Menahem Pressler was made a Commander of Arts and Letters by France, and from Germany received the Federal Cross of Merit. A founding member and the pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio for all of its 51 years, he has established himself among the world’s most distinguished and among the world’s most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans more than six decades. Both an outstanding chamber and solo performer, Mr. Pressler’s talents have brought him to all of the world’s major music venues. His overwhelming knowledge of piano and chamber music literature has also gained him an international reputation as a remarkable teacher.
In 1994 Mr. Pressler was honored with Chamber Music America’s Distinguished Service Award and in 1998 he received Gramophone’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Pressler is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received numerous awards, including four Grammy nominations, Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year with the Beaux Arts Trio, and the German Recording Award. In 2011 he was named the winner of the International Classical Music Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1955 he co-founded the Beaux Arts Trio with Daniel Guillet and Bernard Greenhouse, one of the most enduring and widely acclaimed chamber music ensembles and has been credited with giving rise to the enormous popularity of the piano trio repertoire. In addition to over fifty recordings with the Beaux Arts Trio, Mr. Pressler has compiled over thirty solo recordings, ranging from the works of Bach to BenHaim, and has recorded almost the entire chamber literature with piano on the Philips label.