A highly acclaimed piano virtuoso is making a special stop in Squamish to perform a local composer's work next week.
Sara Davis Buechner's local performance is one of three in British Columbia this month, part of a hectic schedule that sees her travelling from and back to Japan.
According to Buechner, the Squamish recital will consist of five pieces that reflect various moods as well as a wide array of cultures and time periods.
The Julliard-trained recitalist, adjudicator and master class presenter will start off the performance with introspective music from the baroque and Classical period by Bach and Mozart.
Buechner will also play a piece by "a fabulous young composer," Squamish resident Jared Miller, who studies under Buechner at the University of British Columbia.
"It's called 'Instincts,' and the piece is a very difficult and primal work which calls for me to play the piano with great speed and strength," Buechner said.
The second half of the recital is more jazz-inflected with pieces by Kouji Taku as well as an arrangement of popular 1920s foxtrot pieces Buechner said are very "Gershwinesque" in style.
Buechner is currently in Japan on sabbatical from U小蓝视频 where she is an associate professor of piano, piano literature and chamber music.
She said she is enjoying her teaching position with the university because the campus is beautiful, the students are bright and the music faculty is extraordinary.
"The music faculty is, in my humble opinion, the best in Canada."
The former New York University faculty member has spent the last 25 years performing as a soloist with prestigious North American orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Saint Louis and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras; the Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton and Calgary Symphony Orchestras.
The classical musician has a repertoire including more than 100 piano concertos and has been profiled on C小蓝视频 Radio and Maclean's magazine, as well as in The New York Times, which specifically pointed to her challenges as a transgendered musician.
With more than a quarter of a century of performing professionally, Buechner said the best piece of advice she can give burgeoning musicians is practice, practice and more practice.
In between teaching and performing, Buechner is busy working on completing several CDs including Volumes 2 and 3 of The Bach-Busoni Edition, scheduled for release in the spring and fall of 2010.
Buechner is scheduled to perform in the United States in March, in New Zealand and Australia in May and will be back on Canadian soil in July.
The solo Buechner performance starts at 8 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 15) at St. John's Anglican Church.
Admission costs $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, $5 for students over the age of 18 and children under the age of 18 are free. Tickets can be purchased at Billie's Bouquet, The Adventure Centre and at the doors before the performance.
