Music Program
Michael Stephen Brown, piano
Ludvig van Beethoven: Sonata in F-sharp major, Op. 78
Adagio cantabile - Allegro ma non troppo (F♯ major)
Allegro vivace (F♯ major)
Samuel Adler: A Struggle Between Darkness and Light
Michael Stephen Brown: Four Lakes for Children
I. Lake Alan
II. Lake Spencer
III. Lake Christina
IV. Lake Katrina
Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Modéré – très franc
Assez lent – avec une expression intense
Modéré
Assez animé
Presque lent – dans un sentiment intime
Vif
Moins vif
Épilogue: lent
Intermission
Franz Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 959
Allegro
Andantino
Scherzo. Allegro vivace (A major, 80 bars) — Trio. Un poco più lento
Rondo. Allegretto
Adagio cantabile - Allegro ma non troppo (F♯ major)
Allegro vivace (F♯ major)
Samuel Adler: A Struggle Between Darkness and Light
Michael Stephen Brown: Four Lakes for Children
I. Lake Alan
II. Lake Spencer
III. Lake Christina
IV. Lake Katrina
Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Modéré – très franc
Assez lent – avec une expression intense
Modéré
Assez animé
Presque lent – dans un sentiment intime
Vif
Moins vif
Épilogue: lent
Intermission
Franz Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 959
Allegro
Andantino
Scherzo. Allegro vivace (A major, 80 bars) — Trio. Un poco più lento
Rondo. Allegretto
Music Program
Inna Faliks, piano
Ludvig van Beethoven Fantasy for Piano, Op. 77
Ludvig van Beethoven 6 Bagatelles Op. 126
Andante con moto, cantabile e con piacevole
Allegro
Andante, Cantabile ed espressivo Presto
Quasi allegretto Presto — Andante amabile e con moto
Frederick Chopin Nocturne Op. 27 # 2
Frederick Chopin Scherzo # 1 in b minor Op. 20
Robert Schumann Symphonic Etudes Op. 13
Theme – Andante
Etude I (Variation 1) – Un poco più vivo
Etude II (Variation 2) – Andante
Etude III – Vivace
Etude IV (Variation 3) – Allegro marcato
Etude V (Variation 4) – Scherzando
Etude VI (Variation 5) – Agitato
Etude VII (Variation 6) – Allegro molto
Etude VIII (Variation 7) – Sempre marcatissimo ]
Etude IX – Presto possibile
Etude X (Variation 8) – Allegro con energia
Etude XI (Variation 9) – Andante espressivo
Etude XII (Finale) – Allegro brillante (based on Marschner's theme)
Ludvig van Beethoven 6 Bagatelles Op. 126
Andante con moto, cantabile e con piacevole
Allegro
Andante, Cantabile ed espressivo Presto
Quasi allegretto Presto — Andante amabile e con moto
Frederick Chopin Nocturne Op. 27 # 2
Frederick Chopin Scherzo # 1 in b minor Op. 20
Robert Schumann Symphonic Etudes Op. 13
Theme – Andante
Etude I (Variation 1) – Un poco più vivo
Etude II (Variation 2) – Andante
Etude III – Vivace
Etude IV (Variation 3) – Allegro marcato
Etude V (Variation 4) – Scherzando
Etude VI (Variation 5) – Agitato
Etude VII (Variation 6) – Allegro molto
Etude VIII (Variation 7) – Sempre marcatissimo ]
Etude IX – Presto possibile
Etude X (Variation 8) – Allegro con energia
Etude XI (Variation 9) – Andante espressivo
Etude XII (Finale) – Allegro brillante (based on Marschner's theme)
Music Program
Simon Bürki, piano
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61
Franz Liszt Liebestraum (Love Dream)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) Flieder, Op. 21, No. 5, arranged for piano by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, arranged for piano by Zoltán Kocsis
Sergei Rachmaninoff Hier ist es schön, Op. 21, No. 7, arranged for piano by Arcadi Volodos
Intermission
Sergei Rachmaninoff 10 Préludes, Op. 23
No. 1 in F-sharp minor: Largo
No. 2 in B-flat major: Maestoso
No. 3 in D minor: Tempo di minuetto
No. 4 in D major: Andante cantabile
No. 5 in G minor: Alla marcia
No. 6 in E-flat major: Andante
No. 7 in C minor: Allegro
No. 8 in A-flat major: Allegro vivace
No. 9 in E-flat minor: Presto
No. 10 in G-flat major: Largo
Franz Liszt Liebestraum (Love Dream)
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) Flieder, Op. 21, No. 5, arranged for piano by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, arranged for piano by Zoltán Kocsis
Sergei Rachmaninoff Hier ist es schön, Op. 21, No. 7, arranged for piano by Arcadi Volodos
Intermission
Sergei Rachmaninoff 10 Préludes, Op. 23
No. 1 in F-sharp minor: Largo
No. 2 in B-flat major: Maestoso
No. 3 in D minor: Tempo di minuetto
No. 4 in D major: Andante cantabile
No. 5 in G minor: Alla marcia
No. 6 in E-flat major: Andante
No. 7 in C minor: Allegro
No. 8 in A-flat major: Allegro vivace
No. 9 in E-flat minor: Presto
No. 10 in G-flat major: Largo
The Musicians
Michael Stephen Brown, pianist & composer
A 2025 MacDowell Fellow and 2024 Yaddo Artist, Brown performs recitals and concertos worldwide and is commissioned by leading orchestras, soloists, and chamber music organizations. His honors include the 2026 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, an Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has appeared as soloist with the Seattle, Phoenix, North Carolina, Albany, and Maryland Symphonies, as well as the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Louvre, Wigmore Hall, and Beethoven-Haus Bonn.
Brown latest composition, The Carnival of Endangered Wonders: A Zoological Fantasy, is a large-scale chamber work co-commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, CMS Palm Beach, La Musica (Sarasota), Music@Menlo, Friends of Music (Kansas City), and Premiere Performances of Hong Kong, and will premiere in 2026. A frequent artist with CMS Lincoln Center, he tours internationally in a duo with longtime musical partner Nicholas Canellakis and collaborates regularly with Pinchas Zukerman, Amanda Forsyth, Arnaud Sussmann, and Kristin Lee. A dedicated educator, he gives lectures and masterclasses around the world.
As a composer, Brown has received commissions from organizations and artists including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, CMS Lincoln Center, the Bridgehampton and Gilmore Festivals, the Maryland Symphony, Osmo Vänskä and Erin Keefe, the SPA Trio, and pianists Anne-Marie McDermott, Jerome Lowenthal, Ursula Oppens, Orion Weiss, Adam Golka, and Roman Rabinovich, as well as soprano Susanna Phillips and cellist Nicholas Canellakis. He recently served as Composer and Artist-in-Residence at the New Haven Symphony and is a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. His symphonic work American Diaries draws on texts by Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes alongside excerpts from his grandfather’s World War II diary.
Selected by András Schiff for an international recital tour, Brown made debuts at Zurich’s Tonhalle and New York’s 92nd Street Y. He appears regularly at major festivals including Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Marlboro, Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Saratoga, Caramoor, Bard, Sedona, Moab, and Tippet Rise.
A prolific recording artist, Brown recently released Twelve Blocks, an album of music written for friends and longtime collaborators, on February 13, 2026. A second recording follows in fall 2026, featuring his Piano Concerto and Vortex for cello and strings with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra. Additional forthcoming projects include Mendelssohn+, featuring premieres by Delphine von Schauroth, and the complete nocturnes of Gabriel Fauré.
Brown earned dual degrees in piano and composition from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Robert McDonald, and Samuel Adler and was awarded the Petschek Piano Award. His mentors have included George Perle, András Schiff, and Richard Goode.
He is the composer for Angeline Gragasin’s upcoming film Look But Don’t Touch and lives in New York City with his two 19th-century Steinways, Octavia and Daria. Known for his engaging commentary on music and distinctive socks, audiences value both his insight and his presence onstage.
A 2025 MacDowell Fellow and 2024 Yaddo Artist, Brown performs recitals and concertos worldwide and is commissioned by leading orchestras, soloists, and chamber music organizations. His honors include the 2026 Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, an Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has appeared as soloist with the Seattle, Phoenix, North Carolina, Albany, and Maryland Symphonies, as well as the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Louvre, Wigmore Hall, and Beethoven-Haus Bonn.
Brown latest composition, The Carnival of Endangered Wonders: A Zoological Fantasy, is a large-scale chamber work co-commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, CMS Palm Beach, La Musica (Sarasota), Music@Menlo, Friends of Music (Kansas City), and Premiere Performances of Hong Kong, and will premiere in 2026. A frequent artist with CMS Lincoln Center, he tours internationally in a duo with longtime musical partner Nicholas Canellakis and collaborates regularly with Pinchas Zukerman, Amanda Forsyth, Arnaud Sussmann, and Kristin Lee. A dedicated educator, he gives lectures and masterclasses around the world.
As a composer, Brown has received commissions from organizations and artists including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, CMS Lincoln Center, the Bridgehampton and Gilmore Festivals, the Maryland Symphony, Osmo Vänskä and Erin Keefe, the SPA Trio, and pianists Anne-Marie McDermott, Jerome Lowenthal, Ursula Oppens, Orion Weiss, Adam Golka, and Roman Rabinovich, as well as soprano Susanna Phillips and cellist Nicholas Canellakis. He recently served as Composer and Artist-in-Residence at the New Haven Symphony and is a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. His symphonic work American Diaries draws on texts by Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes alongside excerpts from his grandfather’s World War II diary.
Selected by András Schiff for an international recital tour, Brown made debuts at Zurich’s Tonhalle and New York’s 92nd Street Y. He appears regularly at major festivals including Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Marlboro, Music@Menlo, Ravinia, Saratoga, Caramoor, Bard, Sedona, Moab, and Tippet Rise.
A prolific recording artist, Brown recently released Twelve Blocks, an album of music written for friends and longtime collaborators, on February 13, 2026. A second recording follows in fall 2026, featuring his Piano Concerto and Vortex for cello and strings with the East Coast Chamber Orchestra. Additional forthcoming projects include Mendelssohn+, featuring premieres by Delphine von Schauroth, and the complete nocturnes of Gabriel Fauré.
Brown earned dual degrees in piano and composition from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Robert McDonald, and Samuel Adler and was awarded the Petschek Piano Award. His mentors have included George Perle, András Schiff, and Richard Goode.
He is the composer for Angeline Gragasin’s upcoming film Look But Don’t Touch and lives in New York City with his two 19th-century Steinways, Octavia and Daria. Known for his engaging commentary on music and distinctive socks, audiences value both his insight and his presence onstage.
Inna Faliks, pianist
Described by The New Yorker as “adventurous and passionate,” Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks is recognized as one of the most poetic and versatile artists of her generation. Known for commanding performances of the standard repertoire, as well as innovative interdisciplinary projects, she has built a music life defined by passion, sincerity, intellectual depth and creative curiosity.
Faliks has performed thousands of recitals throughout the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. She has appeared at many of the world’s leading venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, National Gallery of Art, Salle Cortot in Paris, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, Beijing Center for the Performing Arts and other major halls across China, Oji Hall in Japan and major festivals such as Ravinia, Verbier, Gilmore, Newport Classical.
Since her acclaimed debut with the Chicago Symphony, Faliks has remained a sought-after concerto soloist with leading orchestras in the US and abroad in a variety of works spanning from Beethoven’s complete piano concerti to Clara Schumann, Florence Price, Paul Schoenfield, and Rachmaninoff.
Her interdisciplinary performances include her one-woman show, the monologue-recital “Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist” and her long-running poetry and music project, Music/Words, which features living poets. She is a committed chamber musician, collaborating with major artists such as Rachel Barton Pine, Gilles Apap, Wendy Warner, Hila Plitmann and many others.
A defining element in her artistry is her commitment to contemporary music. Numerous composers have written works specifically for her, and she has given many world premieres. In 2024, she premiered Clarice Assad’s “Lilith” Concerto, which Assad wrote for her. In the 2025-26 season, she gave the world premiere of Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Minimoog Synthesizer and Orchestra with Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto Casa da Musica – the first and only concert pianist in the world to appear on stage as a virtuoso of the Minimoog Synthesizer in a concerto format.
She is a prolific recording artist, with albums ranging from Schumann, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff to innovative projects such as Reimagine Beethoven and Ravel, 9 premieres and the most recent Manuscripts Don’t Burn, featured on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Faliks is an acclaimed author, with a recently published memoir “Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage” (Bloomsbury, 2023) and articles in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.
She serves as Professor of Piano and Head of Piano at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, mentoring the next generation of artists. A Yamaha Artist and internationally respected performer, Inna Faliks continues to shape today’s piano landscape with vision, depth and expressive power.
Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist. www.innafaliks.com
Described by The New Yorker as “adventurous and passionate,” Ukrainian-born pianist Inna Faliks is recognized as one of the most poetic and versatile artists of her generation. Known for commanding performances of the standard repertoire, as well as innovative interdisciplinary projects, she has built a music life defined by passion, sincerity, intellectual depth and creative curiosity.
Faliks has performed thousands of recitals throughout the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. She has appeared at many of the world’s leading venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, National Gallery of Art, Salle Cortot in Paris, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, Beijing Center for the Performing Arts and other major halls across China, Oji Hall in Japan and major festivals such as Ravinia, Verbier, Gilmore, Newport Classical.
Since her acclaimed debut with the Chicago Symphony, Faliks has remained a sought-after concerto soloist with leading orchestras in the US and abroad in a variety of works spanning from Beethoven’s complete piano concerti to Clara Schumann, Florence Price, Paul Schoenfield, and Rachmaninoff.
Her interdisciplinary performances include her one-woman show, the monologue-recital “Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist” and her long-running poetry and music project, Music/Words, which features living poets. She is a committed chamber musician, collaborating with major artists such as Rachel Barton Pine, Gilles Apap, Wendy Warner, Hila Plitmann and many others.
A defining element in her artistry is her commitment to contemporary music. Numerous composers have written works specifically for her, and she has given many world premieres. In 2024, she premiered Clarice Assad’s “Lilith” Concerto, which Assad wrote for her. In the 2025-26 season, she gave the world premiere of Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Minimoog Synthesizer and Orchestra with Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto Casa da Musica – the first and only concert pianist in the world to appear on stage as a virtuoso of the Minimoog Synthesizer in a concerto format.
She is a prolific recording artist, with albums ranging from Schumann, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff to innovative projects such as Reimagine Beethoven and Ravel, 9 premieres and the most recent Manuscripts Don’t Burn, featured on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Faliks is an acclaimed author, with a recently published memoir “Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage” (Bloomsbury, 2023) and articles in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.
She serves as Professor of Piano and Head of Piano at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, mentoring the next generation of artists. A Yamaha Artist and internationally respected performer, Inna Faliks continues to shape today’s piano landscape with vision, depth and expressive power.
Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist. www.innafaliks.com
Simon Bürki, pianist
Simon Bürki was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and was encouraged to make music by his grandmother, who served as the catalyst for the thirst for knowledge that sustained his continued musical development.
He began piano lessons at the age of five at the Classic and Jazz Music School in Kiev with Rada Zagorskaya, where he studied parallel to his education in a state school in Switzerland. After some years of studies, his progress was accelerated by regular masterclasses with Boris Fedorov, a professor at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kiev. In 2011, Simon’s gifts were recognized at the Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists, where he successfully achieved three laureate prizes in all three age categories. By the age of 12, he was invited to perform the 20th Mozart Concerto in D minor, with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the Tonhalle Zürich in Switzerland.
In 2013, his career got a real kick-start as he became a laureate of the music competition for young pianists in Kiev under the patronage of Denis Matsuev and was invited to perform at the Annecy Classic Festival in France. 2015 Simon entered the Central Music School in Moscow and where he studied in the class of Farida Nurizade.
In 2017 Simon entered the new stage in his career, when he won the first place in several competitions in a row, including the 5th International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar (Germany), A Step Towards Mastery in St.Petersburg (Russia), as well as the second place in the 1st Ricard Viñes International Piano Youth Competition in Lleida (Spain) and the 3rd place in the 1st International Piano Competition Kyiv (Ukraine, age category under 32). He also competed as the semi-finalist in several competitions in France and Spain for musicians under 36. He has been invited to perform in Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, France and Austria.
Simon currently studies at the Juilliard School in New York with Sergei Babayan.
Simon Bürki was born in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and was encouraged to make music by his grandmother, who served as the catalyst for the thirst for knowledge that sustained his continued musical development.
He began piano lessons at the age of five at the Classic and Jazz Music School in Kiev with Rada Zagorskaya, where he studied parallel to his education in a state school in Switzerland. After some years of studies, his progress was accelerated by regular masterclasses with Boris Fedorov, a professor at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kiev. In 2011, Simon’s gifts were recognized at the Horowitz International Competition for Young Pianists, where he successfully achieved three laureate prizes in all three age categories. By the age of 12, he was invited to perform the 20th Mozart Concerto in D minor, with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the Tonhalle Zürich in Switzerland.
In 2013, his career got a real kick-start as he became a laureate of the music competition for young pianists in Kiev under the patronage of Denis Matsuev and was invited to perform at the Annecy Classic Festival in France. 2015 Simon entered the Central Music School in Moscow and where he studied in the class of Farida Nurizade.
In 2017 Simon entered the new stage in his career, when he won the first place in several competitions in a row, including the 5th International Franz Liszt Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar (Germany), A Step Towards Mastery in St.Petersburg (Russia), as well as the second place in the 1st Ricard Viñes International Piano Youth Competition in Lleida (Spain) and the 3rd place in the 1st International Piano Competition Kyiv (Ukraine, age category under 32). He also competed as the semi-finalist in several competitions in France and Spain for musicians under 36. He has been invited to perform in Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, France and Austria.
Simon currently studies at the Juilliard School in New York with Sergei Babayan.
