UGA professor of piano to perform solo piano classics by Chopin, Debussy, Haydn

Evgeny Rivkin, professor of piano at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, will perform a solo recital of works from Chopin, Debussy and Haydn when the Thursday Scholarship Series makes its 2017 debut in Hodgson Concert Hall on January 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Rivkin has performed across the globe, mentored countless musicians in his 21 years at UGA and performed solo recitals in the Hodgson School’s flagship concert series for nearly his entire tenure.

The first piece of the program is Haydn’s Piano Sonata in E-flat major. Written between 1789 and 1790, the work is commonly considered to be the beginning of the Austrian composer’s late, mature style, featuring frequent alternations between staccato and legato and smoother transitions than his earlier works.

Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor completes the first half of the program and displays Rivkin’s talent as he performs one of the 19th century piano virtuoso’s most well-known works. Though the emotional, four-movement sonata has become an influential work, in its time, it was not met with acclaim. Robert Schumann, a contemporary of Chopin’s, even suggested of the sonata that Chopin had "simply bound together four of his most unruly children."

After intermission, Rivkin performs Book 1 of Debussy’s “Préludes,” 12 pieces written in the space of three months between 1909 and 1910. Each of the preludes within the book has a title that describes some aspect of that composition, but those titles were written at the end of the works, suggesting that Debussy wanted readers to develop their own interpretation of the music without being influenced by the titles.

Tickets to the concert are $20 each or $6 with a UGA student ID and can be purchased at pac.uga.edu or the PAC box office. Those unable to attend can watch the concert live on the Hodgson School’s website: music.uga.edu/streaming.

The Thursday Scholarship Series began in 1980 and continues the tradition of “Music Appreciation Programs” started by Hugh Hodgson in the 1930s. Proceeds from contributions and ticket sales to these concerts are among the primary means through which School of Music scholarship funds are raised each year.

The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music sponsors more than 350 performances each year. To view the performance calendar, subscribe to the weekly email concert listing or learn more about the School of Music, go to music.uga.edu.