Music FROM the Library: Late Piano Sonatas of Beethoven

The world has been alive with performances of Beethoven’s music in celebration of his 250th birthday. Joining in the celebration, Basalt Regional Library has the pleasure of presenting Amanda Gessler, piano, in a virtual concert of Beethoven’s late piano sonatas Op 109 and Op. 111.

Amanda Gessler is known for her deeply insightful and emotionally charged performances across the United States and Europe. As a First Prize Winner of the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano competition, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in May, 2014. She embraces a broad repertoire and enjoys a special connection with the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Hailing from rural northern Wisconsin, Ms. Gessler found an intense attachment to music at an early age. As the first musician in her family, she discovered Beethoven on a cassette tape featuring piano music with nature sounds in the background, which she played so many times that she had to rewind it by hand. The long winters and isolation provided the perfect setting to develop a deeply personal relationship with the great solo works of the piano literature. She was first noticed as a prizewinner in the Chicago Symphony Concerto Competition at age sixteen, and received a full scholarship to study at the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy. She has since traveled widely and given performances at the Aspen Music Festival, the Duxbury Festival in Massachusetts, the Institute for European Studies in Vienna and the Wilhelm Kempff Foundation Beethoven Course in Positano, Italy. She is a laureate of the MTNA Steinway Young Irish National Television in the documentary film “Beethoven Bootcamp”.

Amanda’s concert will be televised on Grass Roots TV on October 15, 2020 @ 5:30 pm. It will also be available for viewing anytime on FaceBook and YouTube after this date.