Free and open to the public!
Social Time: ~7:15PM PST / Presentation begins: 7:30PM PST
Presenter: Dr. Stephen Lewis, Pianist and Composer
In honor of his 150th anniversary in 2024, I'll be performing a recital of all of Arnold Schoenberg's solo piano music (along with Berg and Webern) in September at my home studio on 9/20 and 9/21.
In this presentation, I’ll talk more in depth about a few of these innovative and expressive pieces, focusing on the compositional elements in Schoenberg’s music at different periods of his creative output. Schoenberg has had an enormous influence on how classical composers have approached composition ever since his day, regardless of what harmonic language one employs. I’ll perform a few selected pieces from my recital and, using that music as a basis, discuss topics including organic development, compositional systems, meaning and authenticity, and the necessity of understanding the underlying conceptual metaphors we access and reproduce when we compose music.
Hopefully, everyone will leave having gained a deeper (or perhaps an initial) appreciation for Schoenberg’s complex, demanding, yet achingly human and expressive music.
Dr. Stephen Lewis (NCTM) is a pianist , composer, conductor, and music teacher living in Portland, Oregon. Stephen’s compositions explore the boundaries of musical meaning, as well as alternative perceptions of time. His style involves an eclectic blend of influences: the European avant - garde, American experimentalism, Expressionism, Modernism, the European Renaissance, and contemporary avant - garde rock, among others. His works include opera, orchestral music, chamber music, solo works, and experimental works (open instrumentation). As a concert pianist, Stephen performs traditional piano music with a composer’s urgent, expressive power, while bringing to avant - garde and experimental music a classical concert pianist’s devotion to beautiful sound.
Stephen has performed with the Oregon Symphony, 45th Parallel Universe, Third Angle, Fear No Music’s Young Composers Project, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and Cascadia Composers. He has performed in venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Miller Theater, Severance Hall, and the San Diego Museum of Art. As a composer, Stephen has been commissioned by Red Fish Blue Fish, Diagenesis Duo, the Wellesley Composers Conference, and soundSCAPE.
Stephen teaches private piano and composition lessons from his home studio in southeast Portland. He also coaches professional musicians, music teachers, and composers in learning advanced repertoire and skills and in completing major creative projects. Stephen earned a D.M.A. in Contemporary Piano Performance in 2017 , and a Ph.D. in Composition in 2015 from the University of California San Diego . He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Composition and Piano Performance) in 2006 .
Read more at his websites: chopinois.com (teaching) and stephenlewiscomposer.com (artistic).