June 22: Ukrainian-American Pianist Inna Faliks performs works by Billy Childs, Timo Andres, Paola Prestini and more at The Wallis
Program features first live performance of critically acclaimed album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel in its entirety
Plus, July 3 recital in Brooklyn and performances in Flagstaff and Madison
A long-awaited recital, the Ukrainian-American pianist Inna Faliks comes to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on June 22, 2022 at 7:30 pm to perform her internationally acclaimed album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel in full for the first time.
The program features the live premieres of nine imaginative and rich new works for the piano commissioned by Ms. Faliks, alongside masterpieces by Beethoven and Ravel. Nine contemporary composers, including Paola Prestini, Billy Childs, Timo Andres, and six on UCLA's faculty - Richard Danielpour, Peter Golub, Ian Krouse, David Lefkowitz, Mark Carlson and Tamir Hendelman - were commissioned to craft responses to Ludwig van Beethoven’s Bagatelles, op. 126 and Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit.
When Ms. Faliks asked Billy Childs to reimagine Ravel’s “Scarbo” (from Gaspard de la Nuit), he latched on to the image of Scarbo as an evil goblin. “It turned into - in my mind - a sadly familiar American storyline, in which a Black man is being pursued,” said Childs. His composition “Pursuit” brings out the urgency of the moment, simultaneously crafting a new work as fiendishly difficult to play as Ravel’s notorious finger-buster.
In this homage to Beethoven and Ravel, the Ukrainian-born American pianist ties together three centuries of music and a range of social commentary and interpretations with her acclaimed artistry and impressive technique. The entire program is featured on her widely critically acclaimed album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel (Navona NV6352; release date June 11, 2021), which features the world premiere recordings of the commissioned works.
Tickets for the June 22 concert at The Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center (9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd.) in Beverly Hills, CA are available at TheWallis.org.
In addition to the June 22 recital at The Wallis, Pianist Inna Faliks can be found across the country this Summer:
June 11 & 12 at Bach Dancing and Dynamite Festival (Madison, WI): Inna Faliks performs chamber music by Roberto Pena, Brahms, Mozart, and Beethoven alongside solo selections from her album Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel.
June 19 at Flagstaff Piano Festival (Flagstaff, AZ): Ms. Faliks performs a solo piano recital.
July 3 at Barge Music (Brooklyn, NY): Ms. Faliks returns to Brooklyn's floating music hall to perform Clara Schumann's passionate and rarely heard G minor Piano Sonata and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.
Calendar Listing
Pianist Inna Faliks
Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel
June 22, 2022 at 7:30 pm
The Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA
Tickets available here
PROGRAM
Peter Golub: Bagatelle
Ludwig van Beethoven: Bagatelles opus 126: Andante con moto, Cantabile e compiacevole
Tamir Hendelman: Bagatelle
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 2, Allegro
Richard Danielpour: Bagatelle
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 3. Andante, Cantabile e grazioso
Ian Krouse: Etude 2a - ‘ad fugam’
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 4, Presto
Mark Carlson: Sweet Nothings
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 5. Quasi allegretto
David Lefkowitz: Bagatelle
Beethoven: Bagatelle # 6. Presto, cut time then Andante amabile e con moto
Pause
Paola Prestini: Variations on a Spell (response to Ondine by Ravel)
Timo Andres: Old Ground (response to Le Gibet by Ravel)
Billy Childs: Pursuit (response to Scarbo by Ravel)
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit Maurice Ravel
“Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages in recital and with many major orchestras, performing with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Keith Lockhart and many others.
Ms. Faliks collaborates with and premieres music by some of today’s most significant composers, including Billy Childs, Richard Danielpour, Timo Andres and Clarice Assad. She is known for her poetry-music series Music/Words, and has worked with a number of prominent poets. She regularly tours her monologue-recital Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist, which tells the story of her immigration to the United States from Odessa (recorded on Delos). Besides Reimagine, her discography includes all-Beethoven and Rachmaninoff/Ravel/Pasternak discs for MSR Classics, and the Master and Margarita project, featuring three world premieres on Sono Luminus.
In addition to her other impressive accomplishments, Faliks is a respected educator and is head of Piano Studies at UCLA. She is also a published writer, with articles and essays appearing in Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, among other media outlets. Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist.