Sterne Virtuoso Artist Schub to complete residency

Pianist André-Michel Schub performed in California, Texas, and Baltimore last month with an assortment of internationally acclaimed musicians, but his month, he'll perform a solo recital at Skidmore, including in his program a major work he'll play with a student string quartet.

The event will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 22, in Filene Recital Hall. General admission to the public performance is $5, or $2 for seniors and students.

Selected as a guest artist in Skidmore's Sterne Virtuoso Series, Schub is the first such musician to ask specifically to perform with some of the students he has coached during his visits. In November, Schub devoted half his recital program at the college to performing works by Schubert and Brahms with a quartet of string students, inviting them to rehearse with him at Lincoln Center in preparation for the event.

"I've had nothing but pleasant surprises in my visits to Skidmore," says Schub, who came to international attention in 1981 after winning grand prize in the Van Cliburn Piano Competition. Prior to that event, he rose rapidly in the classical world as a winner of the Naumberg International Piano Competition in 1974, and the Avery Fisher Recital Award in 1977. The New York Times said in 1984 that Schub "has an impeccable technique, combining unfailing digital accuracy with seamlessly even scales and a bejeweled tone." Schub studied with the late, legendary pianist, Rudolph Serkin at Curtis Institute of Music.

Schub admits that he had never before performed with students he worked with in residencies before coming to Skidmore, but has found it a very positive experience.

"From the time of our first meeting last fall, to the concert, their playing rose many levels," he says proudly. "I was inspired to see everybody doing their best, and the result was extremely pleasant."

In the concert on April 22, Schub will perform Schumann's "Carnaval," Debussy Preludes, and Chopin's Third Scherzo—all works for solo piano.

He'll also join four Skidmore students in playing a movement from Dvorák's A-Major Piano Quintet, which the pianist says is "like a breath of fresh air every time I hear it."

Also, the pianist will play Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 1 with Michael Emery, a senior artist-in-residence at Skidmore, and faculty coach for the quartet. The string students performing with Schub are Mugi Ayurzana and Brandon May, violins; Alyssa DeStefano, viola; and Daniel Vidali, cello.

Characteristically generous with his time and talent, Schub also will the piano part for one work in a senior recital by student clarinetist Jonathan Greene. Violinist Ayurzana will perform with Greene and Schub in Bartok's "Contrasts," originally commissioned for performance by the great clarinetist Benny Goodman. The recital is free and open to the public, at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 21, in Filene Recital Hall.

"It's quite virtuosic for those two parts (clarinet and violin)," said Schub, who often performs the same piece with world-class musicians such as violinists Ada Kavafian and Cho-Liang Lin and clarinetist David Shifrin.

"No matter who plays it, it's always challenging," Schub says, noting that many years ago, people considered the piece "unplayable."