WORCESTER, Mass. – Sarah Grunstein, internationally acclaimed pianist and assistant professor of music at the College of the Holy Cross, will perform J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. in Brooks Concert Hall. The concert, presented by the Holy Cross Chamber Players and sponsored by the music department, is free and open to the public. Because of the challenging and encyclopedic nature of the work, the Goldberg Variations are rarely heard in concert.
“The Goldberg Variations comprise a rare masterpiece—a culmination of Bach’s supreme craftsmanship and spirituality. The musical experience should not become a museum piece,” says Grunstein. “The 18th-century musical score—particularly the variation genre—was often the point of departure for the improvisatory.”
Grunstein, who has established her credentials internationally as a Bach interpreter and has achieved recognition for her pre-concert talks, will also provide a brief spoken introduction.
“From the first note, Sarah Grunstein commanded the theatre . . . Sarah Grunstein beguiled her audience into complete contemplative stillness . . . a towering and authoritative presence on stage . . . cool meticulous Bach followed by hot-blooded tempestuous Schumann . . . a stunning virtuoso.” (The Chronicle, Australia)
“Bach’s C minor Partita … was admirable; the opening Sinfonia tempestuous, the more intimate Courante and Sarabande imbued with a luminous calm.” (The New York Times)
Last year Grunstein toured Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. In Italy, Grunstein performed the Goldberg Variations as part of the series of the XIV International Music Festival at Rocca Grimalda, Alessandria. At Durham University, England, she presented a lecture-recital “Playing the Changing Face of Chopin’s Score” which included her own improvisation between preludes. She presented master-classes in Australia and for the Piano Forum at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo. At the University of Auckland, New Zealand, Grunstein performed and presented master-classes as “Distinguished Artist-in-Residence.”
Grunstein holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the City University of New York, and bachelor and master of music degrees from The Juilliard School. A member of Holy Cross faculty since 2002, Grunstein has taught at Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music, the City University of New York, Fordham University, and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She is the first elected board member in Performance for the Northeast Chapter of the College Music Society.
At Holy Cross, Grunstein founded and directs the monthly student-faculty Performance Forums, has presented colloquia on her 18th-century fortepiano, founded the Annual Chamber Music Festival, and is co-director of the Chamber Music Program. She has brought Holy Cross performance students to the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Program, and the Frederic Historic Piano Collection where she founded and directs the Holy Cross Historic Piano Festival. It is the first festival in the nation that features undergraduate liberal arts students performing chamber music on historic pianos and engaging in a dialogue with their audience about historical performance practices. In 2009, the festival was broadcast by WBUR, an affiliate of National Public Radio.
In the spring 2010 Grunstein will present a Graduate Studies seminar on the Goldberg Variations for the Piano Performance program at the New England Conservatory, one of the world’s leading music schools.
