British Pianist Paul Lewis Begins Schubert Piano Cycle February 15

   Widely celebrated for his considered and profound interpretations of the classical repertoire, Paul Lewis is recognized internationally as one of today’s most distinctive and poetic pianists. He will perform Schubert’s Sonata no.15 in C, “Drei Klavierstücke,” and Sonata no.17 in D on Tuesday February 15th at 7:30 P.M., in the Mahaney Center for the Arts’ Concert Hall at Middlebury College.

    This concert commences a two-year cycle of Schubert works by the British musician, who performed a similar Beethoven cycle at Middlebury during three seasons from 2005 to 2007. This tour took Lewis to prestigious venues throughout Europe and North America, and his subsequent recordings of the complete Beethoven sonatas for Harmonia Mundi have received unanimous praise throughout the world. Lewis’ next Schubert cycle concert at Middlebury will take place on May 1, 2011.

    Lewis’ many awards have included the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist of the Year Award and the South Bank Show Classical Music Award (2003), a Diapason d’or de l’annee in France (2002), two successive Edison awards in Holland (2004 and 2005), the 25th Premio Internazionale Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena (2006), and Gramophone Instrumental Award and Record of the Year (2008). He is a regular guest at many of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals, and with leading orchestras such as all of the major UK orchestras, The LA Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, and Melbourne Symphony. He has a particularly strong relationship with London’s Wigmore Hall, where he has appeared on more than thirty occasions, and where Middlebury College Performing Arts Series Director Paul Nelson first encountered his exquisite musicianship.

    His recent recording of Schubert’s “Winterreise” with Mark Padmore was Editor’s Choice in the November 2009 issue of Gramophone magazine, was hailed as one of the best discs of 2009 in the Sunday Telegraph, and won a 2010 Gramophone award for best solo vocal recording. Future recording plans feature Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, the complete Beethoven Concertos with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jiri Belohlavek, and the three Schubert song cycles with Mark Padmore, all for Harmonia Mundi.

    Paul Lewis studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, before going on to study privately with Alfred Brendel. Along with his wife the Norwegian cellist Bjørg Lewis, he is artistic director of Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music festival held in Buckinghamshire, UK.

    Lewis’ concert is sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Tickets are $24, with discounts available for Middlebury College students, alumni, faculty, and staff.  For tickets or information, contact the Middlebury College Box Office at http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets or 802-443-6433.