Dear Friends,

I hope you are enjoying the Summer of 2023 to its fullest! Here are some updates and news you might like to know about:

1. My newly re-formed Sheridan Solisti Trio ( Cyrus Forough, violin and Nazar Dzhuryn, cello) will be performing this Fall in concerts in the Chicago area! We will be performing works by Schubert and Brahms as well as contemporary works by Ilya levinson and Elbio Barilari.
2. As solo recitalist, I am preparing for a solo recital on October 13th featuring my Four Centuries of…

Dear Friends and Fans,

It is time for a long overdue website makeover! I would love to know what you like about my site and what you don't like about it. What colors and images and features you might like to see on a new site, and what existing content you would like me to preserve. 

Your feedback and opinions matter to me! So, please respond and leave comments as you are able!

Thank you so much for your interest! And stay tuned for the resumption of my talkshow, Merdinger's Musings and Steinway Sundays!

In…

I am pleased to announce that I have signed on to new, exclusive management and representation in Europe by invitation of Vida Art Management. I look forward to returning to Europe for concerts- as soon as things "open up"! 

Second, I am proud to announce my appointment as a Member of the Advisory Board and Artistic Consultant for Immedia.co, a new startup Livestream Media company based in Silicon Valley! My Merdinger's Musings blog will now also be a weekly Livestream on Immedia.co at 2pm CDT every Monday…

I am pleased to announce that my new CD, American Melting Pot, has been honored with two prizes in it's pre-release format! The Clouzine International Music Competition awarded it "Best Classical Album" and The Global Music Awards awarded it a GOLD Medal- only 9 CD's to win that honor in the November 2019 round.

With this kind public recognition, I put the CD into production and the physical CD's will be here in about a week- will update you with more details soon!

Susan

As the CSO Strike continues to weigh on the musicians of the CSO, the Chicago Classical Music community and Classical Music lovers around the world, I have been reading with great interest a lot of commentary on the situation at hand. I have noted a gradual shifting away of support from the musicians towards the management. and a general lack of patience with this process.

I want to go on record as saying that I am 100% in support of the CSO Musicians, even as I can rationally agree with some of the points…

As I get ready to perform Brahms' monumental Piano Concerto No.2 on May 5th with the Northbrook Symphony, I figured my fans might want some insight into the process that I go through to prepare a concerto for performance. 

I will tell you first that it is at once a challenge and a pleasure to play a concerto with an orchestra. The Van Cliburn Silver Medalist Santiago Rodriguez once told me backstage after one of his concerts that "concertos are the bread and butter" of a pianist's career. So, what exactly…

Coming up next week I will perform a new recital program entitled "Four Centuries- Sonatas". At my November 4th recital at the Northbrook Public Library I will present this program with some discussion about what the definition of Sonata is, and what are the common attributes of a sonata or sonata form. The works I will play span four centuries, hence the title. For openers I will start with two Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti- each a little gem! This will be followed by two fairly famous sonatas- Beethoven's…

“Colors,” music of Vitali, Janáček, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Debussy – Jessica…

Being a professional musician requires a great deal of sensitivity and high emotional IQ,  no doubt. No greater test of one's ability to control one's emotions in a performance occurs when one is called upon to play at a wedding, funeral or memorial service. Early in my career, I played a ton of wedding gigs. I didn't like it much, and resented often being  simply "background" music. However, over the years I have come to realize that weddings and funerals present a similar intensity of emotion- from the…