Gershwin's An American In Paris
Sat, Nov 7, 2026, 7:30 pm
Alice Tully Hall
2 hours, including intermission
The sound of today’s best pianos—like the Hamburg Steinway concert grands you hear at CMS—is a truly awesome sonority. A great piano can do anything, from roaring like a lion to singing like a soprano. But composers as far back as Mozart realized a pianist could do even more with a partner, and we now enjoy a stunning array of repertoire for pianos side by side. No piano aficionado should miss this concert filled with the camaraderie of five pianists.
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Sonata in C major for Piano, Four Hands, K. 521
(1787)Frédéric Chopin
(1810–1849)Rondo in C major for Two Pianos, Op. 73
(1828)Witold Lutosławski
(1913—1994)Variations on a Theme by Paganini for Two Pianos
(1941)Alexandre Tansman
(1897-1986)Le Train de nuit for Two Pianos
George Gershwin
(1898-1937)An American in Paris for Two Pianos
(1928)
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Alessio Bax
Anne-Marie McDermott
Evren Ozel
Wu Han
Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet enjoys a prolific recording and international concert career. He has performed with the Cleveland, NHK Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and BBC Symphony orchestras, among others, and has collaborated with renowned conductors including Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Ludovic Morlot, Edward Gardner, and Louis Langrée. 2026–2027 season highlights include appearances with the Malmö and Gävle Symphony orchestras, the Malaysian Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony orchestras, and performances of all five Beethoven piano concertos with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, and the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic. He also begins a two-year Haydn series at Wigmore Hall, and appears in recital at the Ravello and Bari Festivals, The Glasshouse International Centre, and Taipei National Concert Hall. Bavouzet has made over 60 recordings in the last 20 years, many of which have garnered multiple Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Diapason d’Or, and Choc de l’Année awards. He is the International Artist in Piano Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Alessio Bax won first prize at both the Leeds and Hamamatsu International Piano Competitions, and has appeared with nearly 200 orchestras, including the New York, London, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras; the Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Cincinnati, Seattle, Sydney, BBC Scottish, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras; the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras; and the Tokyo and NHK Symphonies in Japan. He is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award, and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists. At age 14, Bax graduated with top honors from the conservatory of Bari, Italy. He is a former member of CMS’s Bowers Program and is on the faculty at New England Conservatory. For ten years, Bax has been Artistic Director of the Incontri in Terra di Siena Festival, and is the Artistic Director of the London Festival of Chamber Music at Smith Square Hall in London. He also serves as Co-Artistic Director of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation for emerging pianists.
One of the most dazzling American pianists of her generation, Anne-Marie McDermott has performed concertos, recitals, and chamber music throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. She is an insightful interpreter of Baroque and Classical masterpieces, 20th-century modernism, and music by influential contemporary composers. McDermott has soloed with the New York Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the National Symphony Orchestra. She is currently recording the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Mexico City’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería under Carlos Miguel Prieto. Her recordings also include the complete piano sonatas of Prokofiev, solo works by Chopin, Bach’s English Suites and Partitas, and Gershwin’s works for piano and orchestra. She received a 2024 Honorary Doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. McDermott is the Artistic Director of the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival, and of the McKnight Center’s Chamber Music Festival. Her tenure as Artistic Director of Bravo! Vail Music Festival concluded in summer 2026.
American pianist Evren Ozel, praised for his compelling artistry and technical mastery, is the Bronze Medalist of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where he also received the Mozart Concerto Prize. He has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Fort Worth Symphony under conductors including Marin Alsop and Carlos Miguel Prieto. A recipient of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ozel released his debut album of Mozart concertos with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Howard Griffiths on Alpha Classics in 2025. Ozel is a 2024–27 Bowers Program Artist at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and performs widely in recital, chamber music, and international festivals. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, he studied with Wha Kyung Byun and has worked with Mitsuko Uchida, Sir András Schiff, and others. He is managed by Concert Artists Guild and makes his home in Boston.
Pianist Wu Han, recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year Award, enjoys a multi-faceted musical life that encompasses artistic direction, performing, and recording at the highest levels. Co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2004 as well as Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Silicon Valley’s innovative chamber music festival Music@Menlo since 2002, she also serves as Artistic Advisor for Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music at the Barns series and Palm Beach’s Society of the Four Arts, and as Artistic Director for La Musica in Sarasota, Florida. Her recent concert activities have taken her from New York’s Lincoln Center stages to the most important concert halls in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In addition to countless performances of virtually the entire chamber repertoire, her concerto performances include appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of ArtistLed, classical music’s first artist-directed, internet-based recording label, which has released her performances of the staples of the cello-piano duo repertoire with cellist David Finckel. Her more than 80 releases on ArtistLed, CMS Live, and Music@Menlo LIVE include masterworks of the chamber repertoire with numerous distinguished musicians. Wu Han’s educational activities include overseeing CMS’s Bowers Program and the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo. A recipient of the prestigious Andrew Wolf Award, she was mentored by some of the greatest pianists of our time, including Lilian Kallir, Rudolf Serkin, and Menahem Pressler. Married to cellist David Finckel since 1985, Wu Han divides her time between concert touring and residences in New York City and Westchester County.
