Themes and Variations
Friday, July 5th, Oakland Hills
Artist Max Thill shares the creative process behind his original works, drawn on paper he hand-makes himself according to Renaissance Era techniques, accompanied by music from Franz Schubert and Edward MacDowell, performed by acclaimed pianists Christopher Goodpasture and Audrey Vardanega. The evening explored the interrelated elements between the two mediums within the context of specific themes and variations.
Listen to Recordings from the Performance
The Program
Christopher Goodpasture
Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960 — Franz Schubert
1. Molto moderato
Audrey Vardanega
Woodland Sketches, Op. 51 — Edward MacDowell
In Autumn
By A Meadow Brook
To A Wild Irish Rose
El Rancho Abandanando — Alberto Williams
FEATURED ARTISTS
Christopher Goodpasture
American pianist and Steinway Young Artist Christopher Goodpasture is establishing himself as a bold and imaginative programmer of the classical repertoire.
Christopher has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Koerner Hall in Toronto, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Weill Recital Hall in New York City, as well as the festivals of Ravinia, Aspen, Caramoor, Sarasota, and Port Townsend. Additionally, he received top prizes at the Serge Koussevitszky Competition for Pianists and the Washington, Dallas, Iowa and Seattle international piano competitions.
From 2018-20, Christopher was a member of the New York-based Ensemble Connect, a fellowship program of Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School, emphasizing chamber music, audience engagement, and mentorship for young musicians. He has an active interest in commissioning contemporary music, an endeavor that has led to residencies at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and resulted in original works and premieres by George E. Lewis, Douglas Knehans, Jules Matton, and jazz pianist Benoît Delbecq.
Max Thill
Max Thill is an artist, papermaker, and art conservator from Berkeley, California. He is a self-taught artist and a graduate of the University of Chicago, with a degree in philosophy.
His work in oil paint and drawing seeks to recover the in-person, fleshy actuality of the world on handmade, Renaissance-style paper. His work combines control and mastery with the uncontrollable beauty of traditional materials. Unlike the perfect smoothness of a modern paper, the textured surface of handmade paper (a permanent feature from its birth between coarse woolen felts) can never disappear for the artist. Turning away from the ersatz perfection of the machinic, Max’s work seeks to draw out those features that are essential and irreducible in his materials and subjects.
Audrey vardanega
Praised as a “[musically] eloquent” (San Francisco Classical Voice) player “with the kind of freedom, authority, and strength…that one expects from the world’s finest pianists” and a “bewitching musical presence” (The Piedmont Post), American pianist and arts entrepreneur Audrey Vardanega (b.1995) has performed as a solo and collaborative pianist across Europe, China, and the United States. In response to her passion for bringing artists together for opportunities for performance, the creation of new work, and interdisciplinary collaboration, Audrey founded Musaics of the Bay in 2019. Musaics is a nonprofit chamber music series dedicated to connecting musicians, composers, and visual artists for collaborations, residency programs, mentorship, and the creation of new work in the Bay Area and beyond. From March 2020 to April 2021, Musaics of the Bay presented "The Stay-at-Home Symposium," commissioning over 75 new works of music inspired by community-submitted artwork. The Symposium involved over 100 artists from around the world, including performers, composers, poets, filmmakers, painters, photographers, and more, for virtual collaboration.