Once one of AMFS’s youngest and most promising students, now 17, Aspen alumna Harmony Zhu returns to Aspen after many international performances for a program that will show off her technical and interpretive brilliance. She has already been recognized as "a deeply musical soul and nimble musician…with utter naturalness and probing sensitivity" (Chicago Tribune) and as "an impressive soloist, a sparkling and happy presence…unflappable." (Times Union)

Schubert’s Impromptus are filled with lyricism and profound emotions ranging from anguish to serenity and everything in between. Schumann composed Fantasiestücke, op. 12 during a period when he was prevented from marrying the pianist Clara Wieck by her father. He was so distraught that he dedicated the eight short pieces to another woman, taunting the one he loved. As in Schubert’s Impromptus, the emotional palette is a wide-ranging one. Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit is one of the most ferociously difficult pieces of the piano repertoire. In fact, Ravel intended to make the final movement even more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey, another work that puts pianists to the test. The three-movement work was inspired by three macabre poems by Aloysius Bertrand, and captures their dark spirit in endlessly innovative ways.

Be captivated by one of the most charming and charismatic young soloists you’ll ever hear with this delightful season opener!