John Wilson: 
Upon Further Reflection 

“A marvelous musical mad scientist”
-Classical Voice North America
 
On September 30, AVIE Records will release the solo album debut by American pianist John Wilson. Upon Further Reflection features the world-premiere recording of the title track written by Wilson’s friend and mentor, Michael Tilson Thomas, complemented by Aaron Copland’s Piano Sonata and Earl Wild’s virtuoso arrangements of iconic George Gershwin tunes. 
 
The dynamic young pianist John Wilson first encountered Michael Tilson Thomas in 2015 when he was a fellow with the New World Symphony. John’s protégé status quickly evolved to that of close confidant and collaborator, leading to this solo debut album featuring the world-premiere recording of the title track, MTT’s three-movement suite for piano, Upon Further Reflection. MTT explains innumerable influences that are embedded throughout the work, including the piano music of Debussy and Schumann, bossa nova, gamelan, ragas, Monteverdi, Berg and Peggy Lee’s rendition of the song Alley Cat, all of which, MTT says, “flowed together in a way that seemed completely natural... to me anyway.” In 2019, John premiered a portion of Upon Further Reflection that was broadcast live on Medici.TV to an audience of over 50,000. 
 
John embellishes the album’s Americana theme with two titans of the solo piano repertoire – Aaron Copland’s early Piano Sonata – a work lesser-heard than the composer’s other works for solo piano – and Earl Wild’s virtuoso arrangements of seven of George Gershwin’s most iconic tunes. 
 
TRACKLIST
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS (b. 1944) Upon Further Reflection (world-premiere recording) 
Bygone Beguine (1973)
Sunset Soliloquy (Whitsett Avenue, 1963)            
You Come Here Often? (Hello Stranger, 1977)

EARL WILD (1915–2010) 7 Virtuoso Etudes after George Gershwin (1898–1937) 
I. Liza    
II. Somebody Loves Me 
III. The Man I Love                         
IV. Embraceable You
V. Lady Be Good
VI. I Got Rhythm
VII. Fascinatin’ Rhythm
 
AARON COPLAND (1900–1990)  Piano Sonata 

About John Wilson, piano 
With a repertoire ranging from the Baroque to the Contemporary, American pianist John Wilson has performed extensively in North America, with highlights including his recent solo recital debut under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony, playing works by Debussy. His playing was described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “having all the beauty and delicacy one would expect from Debussy”.  
 
Wilson has had the pleasure of being a part of numerous world premieres, performing on the U.S and World premieres of solo piano works by Michael Tilson Thomas, duo works by Timo Andres and Judith Lang Zaimont, and ensemble works by Steve Reich, Reinbert de Leeuw, HK Gruber, and Bernd Deutsch. 
 
As a soloist he has performed with the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio, Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra, and both the New Amsterdam Symphony and Orchestra Camerata Notturna. A regular top prize winner in international piano competitions, he most recently won 1^st prize in the 2019 International Respighi Competition. 
 
A devoted chamber musician and collaborator, he has appeared in chamber ensembles with musicians of the San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and San Diego Symphony, and has appeared in recital with violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Johannes Moser, violinist Anthony Marwood and soprano Audra McDonald. John has recorded for MSR Classics, and performances can be heard on Medici.tv and WQXR.

The Scriabin Mystery

“Larderet makes every chord shine in all its complexity, compellingly builds up the small sound dramas, gives the large pieces that aura of sublime violence.” – Neue Musikzeitung
 
With The Scriabin Mystery, out on September 23, French pianist Vincent Larderet celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Russian composer. Making his AVIE debut, Larderet presents a comprehensive survey of the scope of Scriabin’s output and the evolution of his style, from his early, post-Romantic works influenced by Chopin and Liszt, through to the modernism of the 20th century in his final works. His harmonies famously colored by his synesthesia, Scriabin’s craft was a revolutionary fusion of freedom of expression underpinned by a sense of unity and geometric proportion, his psychologically complex constructions infused with incandescence and mysticism.
 
Scriabin’s music has long held pride of place in Larderet’s repertoire. He offers a broad overview of the composer’s evolution in chronological sequence, revealing the mystery of one of the most visionary composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
 
Scriabin’s life was tragically cut short at the age of 43, leaving his final work, Acte préalable, unfinished. Long thought lost, the sketches were re-discovered by composer and musicologist Manfred Kelkel, who used the material for his composition Tombeau de Scriabine. Vincent includes the Prelude of this work as a touching encore to The Scriabin Mystery.
 
TRACKLIST  
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN (1872–1915) 
Etude in C sharp minor Op. 2 No. 1
Etude in F sharp minor Op. 8 No. 2
Etude in B flat minor Op. 8 No. 11
Prelude & Nocturne for the left-hand Op. 9 
Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 19 ‘Sonata Fantasy’ 
Etude in C sharp minor Op. 42 No. 5
Piano Sonata No. 7 Op. 64 ‘White Mass’
Piano Sonata No. 9 Op. 68 ‘Black Mass’              
‘Vers la flamme’ Op. 72 Poeme              
5 Preludes Op. 74 

MANFRED KELKEL (1929–1999) 
Tombeau de Scriabine Op. 22: 5.14 

DIGITAL BONUS TRACKS 
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN 
2 Danses op. 73

About Vincent Larderet, piano
Steinway Artist Vincent Larderet has attracted international recognition for the exceptional intensity of his performances. Praised as ‘one of the best pianists of our time’ (Neue Musikzeitung, Germany), for his ‘very lyrical playing’ (Crescendo Magazine, Belgium) and his ‘multi-timbred’ sound (Fanfare, USA), he ‘makes the piano equal to an orchestra’ (Classica, France) with a wide range of ‘fascinating pianistic colours’ (PIANO News, Germany). His very personal and deeply inspired interpretations ‘of utter integrity’ while including a ‘rare melding of the intellectual with the visceral’ (International Piano, UK) are often compared to piano legends such as Arrau, Michelangeli, Pollini, Zimerman and Brendel. Nominated for the ‘International Classical Music Awards’ and ‘Classical Revelation’ by Adami winner at MIDEM in Cannes, he is considered one of the leading French pianists of his generation. Internationally renowned as a Ravel specialist, he worked in Paris with Carlos Cebro, who instilled in him the stylistic and musical tradition of Vlado Perlemuter and studied Ravel’s complete works on Perlemuter’s personal scores annotated during Perlemuter’s collaboration with the composer. He graduated from Lübeck’s Musikhochschule (Germany) with the famous pianist Bruno-Leonardo Gelber and was a prize-winner in several international piano competitions including Maria Canals in Barcelona, AMA Calabria (Italy) and Brest (France). He is also a beneficiary of the ‘Orpheum Foundation for the Advancement of Young Soloists’ in Switzerland.
 
He has performed worldwide at prestigious venues, international festivals and concert series including the Zurich Tonhalle, Barcelona Palau de la Música, Washington Kennedy Center, Tokyo Toppan Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Potton Hall and London Kings Place (UK), Romanian Athenaeum, Cannes Palais des Festivals, Cité de la Musique, Salle Gaveau, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Festival Pianistico Busoni, Le French May, Piano Texas, Fantastic Pianist Series, Besançon Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron and La folle journée. He is also heavily focused on chamber music, performing alongside distinguished artists including E. Bertrand, Y.B. Chu, M. Dalberto, S. Gabetta, P. Sporcl and the Debussy Quartet. The renowned conductors and orchestras which whom he has recently collaborated include S. Brotons, G. Cataldo, D. Kawka, E. Lederhandler, G.G. Ráth, S. Tsialis, R. Trevino, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Sinfonia Varsovia, A. Rubinstein Philharmonic, Filarmonica George Enescu, Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, Orquestra Simfònica del Vallés, Czech Virtuosi, Ose Symphonic Orchestra and City Chamber Orchestra of HK. He has been a member of the jury at various international competitions in addition to regular masterclasses worldwide.
 
His performances have been broadcast on major Radio or TV channels. His recordings released by ARS, Chandos Artist Showcase, NAXOS and PIANO CLASSICS have received outstanding international critical acclaim as well as winning many prestigious Awards. He has given the major world premieres of several works by Debussy, Ravel and Schmitt. Mr. Larderet is also a co- founder of the Piano au Musée Würth international festival in France which he managed as artistic director until 2017.

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Journalists and Program Directors:
The Scriabin Mystery: Listen HERE.  Download the Promo Audio & Booklet HERE
Upon Further Reflection: Listen HERE. Download Promo Audio & Booklet HERE
 
To request CD copies of either title for review or radio airplay, please contact:
Rebecca Davis – Rebecca Davis Public Relations
rebecca@rebeccadavispr.com – 347.432.8832