On February 24 at 8PM, DCINY presents 19th-century piano technique expert Christina Kobb in a performance of her program titled Keys to Romance. The Norwegian pianist and scholar makes her Carnegie Hall debut performing an evening of Romantic piano works by Schubert, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Grieg, and Liszt.

For fifteen years, Christina Kobb has been specializing in historical pianos and performance practice. During her soon-to-be finished PhD at the Norwegian Academy of Music, she has developed a theory on how to reconstruct 19th-century piano technique from old treatises and manuals. In July 2015, The New York Times published an article presenting her work (see also the video below).

Michael Miller, Editor of New York Arts, interviewed Ms. Kobb in 2016. To hear a podcast of this interview click here.

The upcoming recital is a practical demonstration of her reconstructed 19th-century piano technique. However, the program will, for practical reasons, be performed on a modern Steinway grand piano. Although the perfect instrument would be a Viennese grand of 1835, much of the changes in phrasing caused predominantly by her reconstructed technique, are perfectly audible even on a modern piano. In fact, perhaps we must deduce that piano technique has changed as much as the instrument?

Kobb is the recipient of the Nils Larsen bequest 2016 and has been sponsored by All Classical Portland for this upcoming performance.

Program
C. Schumann – Toccatina from Soirées Musicales, Op.6
Schubert – Piano Sonata in A Minor, D. 537
Grieg – Drei Phantasiestücke (later publ. as Vier Stücke, Op. 1)
C. Schumann – Selections from 4 Pièces caractéristiques, Op.5
R. Schumann – Piano Sonata No. 1, op. 11
R. Schumann/F. Liszt – “Widmung”

DCINY Artist Series – Christina Kobb
Friday, February 24, 2017
8:00pm
Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall
Christina Kobb, Piano

About Christina Kobb

Christina Kobb holds degrees (Cand. Mag. in piano teaching, BA fortepiano performance) and MA from the Norwegian Academy of Music, Royal Conservatoire of The Hague (BA, MA (cum laude) of fortepiano performance, with professors Bart van Oort and Stanley Hoogland, and was honoured to receive a one-year studentship to the renowned Cornell University to study with professor Malcolm Bilson (2009/10).

A keen educator, Christina has been teaching classes at the Norwegian Academy of Music for the last years, and she was appointed Head of Theory at Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo in 2013. However, she recently left this position to pursue her performance and research career.

Over the last years, Christina has presented her research at international venues like the renowned Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in California (November 2015) and at Harvard University (May 2016, Quincy House). At the same time, she has developed more informal lecture recitals aimed at the general, music loving audience and started her own piano salon in her home. As a co-founder of the international online journal Music+Practice(www.musicandpractice.org), she works as a writer and editor.

Christina has appeared at various occasions in Norway, England, The Netherlands and the U.S. with solo recitals and chamber music concerts. She is the proud recipient of Pianist Nils Larsen’s bequest of 2016. Earlier in her career, she won the accompanist prize of The John Kerr Award for English song (2006) at Finchcocks Musical Museum in Kent, England, and she received the Muzio Clementi Award (2008). In 2007, she was awarded the coveted TICON scholarship.

About Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY)

Founded in 2007 by Iris Derke and Jonathan Griffith, with its first public concert presented in January of 2008, DCINY is a leading producer of dynamically-charged musical entertainment in renowned venues. With its unforgettable, world-class concert experiences, empowering educational programs, and global community of artists and audiences, DCINY changes lives through the power of performance. Commemorating their 10th Anniversary season in 2018, DCINY is proud to have presented life-changing performances for over 40,000 performers and 170,000 audience members since its inception.

In addition to being selected three times to the Inc. 5000 listing, DCINY also recently received national recognition with the 2014 and 2015 American Prize in conducting – professional orchestra division to DCINY Artistic Director Jonathan Griffith and the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra, and the 2015 American Prize in Arts Marketing to DCINY General Director Iris Derke and the DCINY Team.

As of 2016, over 35,000 performers representing 41 countries and all 50 US states have participated in a DCINY production. DCINY has catered to over 170,000 audience members since the inception of the company and has produced 17 world premieres and over 190 concerts, as of 12/31/2016.