It is not often that you get the chance to experience beloved classical music, new compositions, artistic advocacy and a global perspective all rolled into one performance—yet that is exactly what Yael Weiss’s piano concert promises to deliver as the inaugural Sarofim Music Series event of the season. 

Hailed by The Washington Post as an artist “who delves deeply and tellingly into that cloudy area where fantasy morphs into improvisation,” pianist Yael Weiss is internationally renowned for her expressive and arresting performances. She has captured audiences around the world at prestigious venues including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Moscow’s Bolshoi Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall and has been featured as a soloist with major international orchestras such as Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, and the Brazil National Symphony. Now, Ms. Weiss is set to grace Southwestern University’s Alma Thomas Stage for a concert featuring works from her groundbreaking project, 32 Bright Clouds: Beethoven Conversations Around the World.

32 Bright Clouds is an international performing and recording project which strives to inspire peace and unity through the universal power of music. Drawing on Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, 32 artists from 32 countries of conflict where classical music is not a common form of artistic expression were commissioned to create 32 original short piano compositions. These new works are connected by a shared “peace motif” from Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, chosen because of a thought-provoking inscription above the notes that reads, “A Call for Inward and Outward Peace.” Ms. Weiss’s concert for the Sarofim Music Series will feature a selection of these compositions by musicians from Turkey, Indonesia, Venezuela, Syria and the Philippines, including one world premiere. 

In this fascinating program, inspiration from the past evokes inspiration for the future. Beethoven’s beliefs about liberty, equality and the freeing power of independent art during the trying social and cultural transitions of the Enlightenment era translate exceptionally well to our own. The relevance of Beethoven’s passionate work implies that Ms. Weiss’s project is a unifying reach across not only space but also time. Do not miss Ms. Weiss’s masterful performance of these compelling compositions, happening one night only at the Sarofim School of Fine Arts.

Tuesday, September 17, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alma Thomas Theater. E. Rutersville Rd, Georgetown, Texas 78626.

Tickets can be purchased through the Mathers Box Office in person, over the phone at 512.863.1378, or online at www.southwestern.edu/tickets. Season subscribers save 20% off the total cost of tickets, and additional discounts are available for students and patrons 62+.

Learn more about Yael Weiss at www.yaelweiss.com and 32 Bright Clouds at www.32brightclouds.com

Purchase Tickets