In This Story
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, might just be Jeremy Denk’s favorite piano concerto. It’s the favorite of many pianists, he concedes, in a YouTube video breaking down his interpretation of the piece. But there’s good reason. The concerto can be seen as a “musical thought castle,” blending “playfulness and seriousness together… [creating] meaningful synthesis.” It’s a “brew of wits and the most profound emotion.” It's the piece he’ll play alongside the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO), onstage at the Center for the Arts on November 23 at 8 p.m.
Denk is one of the nation’s foremost pianists, "one of the most thoughtful and reliably interesting artists of our time" (Cleveland Plain Dealer)—a frequent performer at Carnegie Hall, and a collaborator with renowned orchestras like the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. His YouTube videos are exemplary of the thoughtful and witty writing about music Denk is also known for. “Learning to play the piano is learning to reason with your muscles,” Denk wrote in a 2013 New Yorker article titled ‘Every Good Boy Does Fine.’ But that’s just the beginning. Denk expanded on his own musical and personal journeys in his 2022 New York Times bestselling memoir with the same title.
Denk’s relationships with his teachers are a significant theme throughout the book. He’ll also share some of his own knowledge with four George Mason University Dewberry School of Music students during a masterclass on November 21, which is open to the public. Denk’s Center for the Arts concert will also feature the regional premiere of Quinn Mason’s She Dreams of Flying, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. We hope you’ll join in for what’s sure to be an evening of lively music, performed with warmth and spirit.
On November 23, a pre-performance discussion with pianist Jeremy Denk, composer Quinn Mason, and FSO Maestro Christopher Zimmerman, moderated by Mason Dewberry School of Music Professor John Healey, will take place in Monson Grand Tier, which is located on the third level of the Center for the Arts Lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.