Sitka Music Festival: 55th Summer Music Festival
Subscription Concert 7 America250: Awadagin Pratt in Recital – American Composers
Awadagin Pratt, Piano
Friday, June 26, 7 p.m. – Harrigan Centennial Hall
Program
Florence Price – Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho
George Walker – Sonata No. 1, “Theme and Six Variations”
R. Nathaniel Dett – 8 Bible Vignettes
Lou Harrison – “Ground” from A Summerfield Set
Henry Cowell, John Cage & Virgil Thomson – Party Pieces 3, 4, 10
William Grant Still – Summerland
Missy Mazzoli – The Night Ahead and No Real Fate
Tyshawn Sorey – Untitled
Julius Eastman – Touch Him When
Judd Greenstein – First Ballade
Fred Hersch – Nocturne for Left Hand Alone (For Sophia)
Jeremy Jordan – Keyboard Suite #1: Nocturne and Chorale
Mikael Darmanie – Ritual
Burleigh/Pratt – Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
About the Artist
Through his kaleidoscopic career as a pianist, conductor, educator, and curator of memorable musical moments, Awadagin Pratt shines a light on voices of the past and present, amplifies the diverse talents of today’s brightest creative minds, and paves the way for a new generation of inventive musical artists.
Since winning the Naumburg International Piano Competition in 1992 and receiving a 1994 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Pratt has received acclaim for delivering “forceful, imaginative, and precisely tinted” performances (The Washington Post) and been hailed as “one of the great and distinctive American pianists and conductors of our time” (WGBH). He has appeared at addresses as familiar as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (at the invitation of the Clinton and Obama administrations) and Sesame Street (at the invitation of Big Bird): He has performed with the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, and many others; in solo recitals at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center; and in chamber music collaborations with cellist Zuill Bailey, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, and the Harlem and St. Lawrence String Quartets. His 2023 recording, Stillpoint, explores the truth and beauty in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets through new works byTyshawn Sorey, Paola Prestini, Peteris Vasks, Jessie Montgomery, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Alvin Singleton, and Judd Greenstein.
He became principal conductor of the Miami Valley Symphony Orchestra in the 2023/24 season, and he has conducted the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra (Tbilisi), and Bang on a Can at the Brooklyn Academy of-Music. He made his operatic debut leading Porgy and Bess with the Greensboro Opera (North Carolina).
In response to the murder of George Floyd, Pratt created a podcast that evolved into a multimedia musical experience. Performed primarily on college campuses across the U.S., Awadagin Pratt: Black in America, fuses music of Bach, Messiaen, and Liszt with still and moving pictures by filmmaker Alrick Brown and narration in which Pratt chronicles his life – from his time as a music student at the Peabody Conservatory through his ascent to international acclaim – through graphic accounts of numerous police stops and arrests he experienced for Driving While Black. In 2023, a documentary version, directed by Michelle Bauer Carpenter, was screened at film festivals nationwide.
Pratt’s commitment to the next generation of pianists is evidenced by his work as founding director of the Next Generation Festival, the Art of the Piano Foundation, and the Nina Simone Piano Competition, a new biennial competition that celebrates diversity in classical music.
He served as professor and artist in residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music for two decades and is now professor of piano at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
About the Sitka Music Festival
The Sitka Music Festival (SMF) inspires audiences, sparks creativity, and strengthens community across Alaska through world-class chamber music performances, education, and artist training. For 55 years, SMF has presented classical music at the highest artistic standards. Festival musicians have traveled to more than 40 Alaskan communities, including remote villages off the road system, sharing music with audiences who might not otherwise experience live chamber music at this level. In turn, visiting artists are enriched by the deep cultural traditions and unique landscapes of Alaska. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, SMF remains committed to bringing exceptional music experiences to communities statewide.