Event Detail

Pianist Christopher Guzman’s performances showcase a broad range of styles, from the Baroque era to the avant-garde. He is a multiple prizewinner in many international competitions, including the Walter M. Naumburg Competition, the Seoul International Music Competition and the Isang Yun Competition of South Korea. Recently, Mr. Guzman garnered the grand prize and several special prizes at the 10th Concours International de Piano d’Orléans of Orléans, France. As a result, he regularly travels to France to perform in Paris and throughout the Loire Valley. He is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. 

Program: 

Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Minor, BWV 867 (6:30)  J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV 875 (3:00)  J.S. Bach

From 24 Preludes and Fugues  Rodion Shchedrin (b. 1932)
C Major, A Major, and E-flat Major

“Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues” from North American Ballads Frederic Rzewski (b. 1938)

From Voices and Piano - Peter Ablinger (b. 1959)
Hanna Schygulla, Jorge Luis Borges, Billie Holliday

Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C Major, BWV 564 Bach, trans. F. Busoni (1866-1924)

Pianist Christopher Guzman regularly performs for audiences throughout North America, Europe and Asia, as soloist and chamber musician. He is a multiple prizewinner in many international competitions, including the Walter M. Naumburg Competition, the Seoul International Music Competition and the Isang Yun Competition of South Korea. Recently, Mr. Guzman garnered the grand prize and several special prizes at the 10th Concours International de Piano d’Orléans of Orléans, France. As a result, he regularly travels to France to perform in Paris and throughout the Loire Valley. His CD of German and Austrian music from the past one hundred years, Vienne et après, is available on the Tessitures label. Mr. Guzman’s career has brought him to such venues as Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie’s Weill Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall and others. He performs regularly with some of the world’s most exciting soloists including Ilya Gringolts, Antoine Tamestit, David Fray, and Jeremy Denk, among others. He continually performs with members of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He appears regularly on the New York Philharmonic’s chamber music series “Philharmonic Ensembles.” Mr. Guzman’s performances showcase a broad range of styles, from the Baroque era to the avant-garde. He continues to collaborate with many of the nation’s preeminent new music ensembles; his performances have included world premieres by Donald Martino, Nico Muhly, and Paul Schoenfield. The New York Times hailed his performance of Christopher Theofanidis’s Statues as “coiled” and “explosive.”

Born in Texas, Christopher Guzman began studying piano at age nine and violoncello two years later. He worked primarily with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald at the Juilliard School, Anton Nel at the University of Texas at Austin, and the late Patricia Zander at the New England Conservatory. He is currently Associate Professor of Piano at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit christopherguzman.net.