Gershwin & Glass Johnny Walsh, piano HD1080P

Three Preludes (Gershwin, George 1898-1937)
Allegro ben ritmato e deciso Andante con moto
Agitato
Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin, George 1898-1937)
Intermission
The Hours (Glass, Philip 1937-)
The Poet Acts
Morning Passages
“I’m Going to Make a Cake”
An Unwelcome Friend
“Why Does Someone Have to Die?” Escape!
Choosing Life
The Hours
Johnny was raised in New Jersey. He began his piano studies at age four, primarily studying with Judith Consentino of Eastman School of Music, and participated numerous times in the New York State Music Teachers Association concerts, and the Vienna Piano Company showcase concerts. He was the first place winner of the 2006 Warren County Community Singers Scholarship competition, the Nyack College Invitational Scholarship Competition, and the Nyack College 19th Annual Concerto Competition. Performing throughout over 20 U.S. states, in Seoul, South Korea, and in Toronto, Canada. His master class participation has been with David Dubal, Nelita True, Paul Barnes, and John McArthur. Johnny graduated from Nyack School of Music with a BM in Sacred Music (2011). His piano studies were with Tammy Lum of Eastman School of Music. In addition to his full time work as a Service Desk Manager, Johnny is the Style and Design Editor for Out In Jersey magazine, and a budding interior designer. Johnny is thrilled to be presenting Gershwin & Glass again, and is grateful for all of support of those attending.
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Three Preludes are short piano pieces by George Gershwin, which were first performed by the composer at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in 1926. Each prelude is a well-known example of early-20th-century American classical music, as influenced by jazz. Gershwin originally planned to compose 24 preludes for this group of works. The number was reduced to seven in manuscript form, and then reduced to five in public performance, and further decreased to three when first published in 1926. Two of the remaining preludes not published were rearranged for solo violin and piano and published as Short Story. Of the other two, the Prelude in G had been eliminated by the publisher Wyatt[who?] because somewhat similar music had already appeared in Gershwin's Concerto in F. The other was excluded for unknown reasons. Gershwin dedicated his Preludes to friend and musical advisor Bill Daly. The pieces have been arranged for solo instruments, small ensembles, and piano.
Rhapsody in Blue was composed at the piano in 1924, and orchestrated by composer Ferde Grofé for a special concert of American music given by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra at Aeolian Hall on 43rd Street in New York City. The Whiteman concert was conceived as a means to promote native American music. The day chosen for the concert was appropriately enough, Lincoln’s birthday. Other composers whose works were performed that included Victor Herbert, Irving Berlin, and Edward MacDowell. Present at the concert were many famous concert artists and composers, such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler, Leopold Stokowski, Jascha Heifetz, Walter Damrosch, Ernest Bloch, and John Philip Sousa. The Rhapsody in Blue was greeted with a great ovation and has maintained its instant popularity ever since. George Gershwin, the composer of Tin Pan Alley tunes, had made it to the concert hall, and, in the process, had demonstrated to the critics, to other composers, and to the public that jazz and popular music and their composers are worthy of serious study. The piano solo was revised slightly by Gershwin after the concert to give us the work as we know it today. Several orchestral arrangements have been made, and the Rhapsody in Blue has been transcribed for various solo instruments, and has been arranged for ballet and dance groups.
Philip Glass (1937-) Melodic, meditative, minimalist, Glass’ collection of works from The Hours starring Meryl Streep are a conduit for an array of emotions that only the listener may translate for themselves. This orchestral collection was arranged for solo piano by Michael Riesman and Nico Muhly.