David Kaplan, Pianist

Emerging Artists Series
Presented in collaboration with Piano Spheres
Mentored by Gloria Cheng

Pianist David Kaplan makes his Boston Court debut as part of our 3rd Annual Emerging Artists Series. This Series pairs talented young musicians with acclaimed mentors who develop a special program showcasing the young artist’s unique skills and musical viewpoint. Be among the first to experience these rising stars in the intimacy of our Branson Performance Space.

David Kaplan, pianist, has been called “excellent and adventurous” by The New York Times, and praised by the Boston Globe for “grace and fire” at the keyboard. He has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Britten Sinfonia and Das Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, and has performed recitals at the Ravinia Festival, Sarasota Opera House, Washington’s National Gallery, Music on Main in Vancouver, and Strathmore in Baltimore.

Kaplan’s New Dances of the League of David, a recital infusing Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze with 16 new works by composers including Augusta Read Thomas, Marcos Balter, Caroline Shaw, and Andrew Norman was cited among the “Best Classical Music Performances of 2015” by The New York Times. For 2020, he commissions renowned composers Anthony Cheung and Christopher Cerrone for two works based on music written by one another, to be programmed with Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations.

Balancing solo performances with meaningful collaborations, Kaplan has played with the Attacca, Ariel, Enso, Hausman, and Tesla String Quartets. As a core member of Decoda, the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall, he performs frequently in New York’s most exciting venues, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to National Sawdust, as well as creating innovative residencies as far away as Abu Dhabi, Mexico, and Scotland. He is a veteran of numerous distinguished chamber music festivals and series, such as the Seattle Chamber Music, Bard, and Mostly Mozart Festivals, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Northwest, and Barge Music. He is an alumnus of Tanglewood and the Ravinia-Steans Institute, and performs regularly as an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program, including with Itzhak Perlman at Miami’s Arscht Center. He serves as Co-Artistic Director of Lyrica Chamber Music, a community series in Morris County, NJ currently in its 31st season.

Kaplan has recorded for Naxos, as well as with Timo Andres in the acclaimed disc, Shy and Mighty (2010), for Nonesuch. Kaplan’s distinguished mentors over the years include the late Claude Frank, Walter Ponce, Alfred Brendel, Richard Goode, and Emanuel Ax. He studied conducting at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Lutz Köhler, under the auspices of a Fulbright Fellowship from 2008-2010. The recipient of a DMA from Yale University in 2014, Kaplan also graduated from UCLA, where he has also served on the faculty since 2016.

David is proud to be a Yamaha Artist, and when at home in New York City, he enjoys practicing on his childhood piano, a 1908 Hamburg Steinway model A. Away from the keyboard, he loves cartooning and cooking, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.

PROGRAM: Refractions

Timo Andres (1985- )

“How Can I Live in Your World of Ideas?”

Excerpts from New Dances of the League of David (2014-15)*

  Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6 No. 1
  Carl Adams (1985- ): No. 2 Quietly Samuel
  Michael Brown (1987- ): No. 4 Ungeduldig
  Marcos Balter (1974- ): ‘Three Stars’ Tempo rubatissimo
  Gabriel Kahane (1981- ): No. 6 Sehr rasch und in sich hinein
  Timo Andres: No. 7
  Andrew Norman (1979- ): ‘Vorspiel’
  Caroline Shaw (1982- ): No. 16 Mit gutem Humor, un poco lol ma con serioso vibes

Robert Schumann

Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834-35)

1. Preambule
2. Pierrot
3. Arlequin
4. Valse Noble
5. Eusebius
6. Florestan
7. Coquette
8. Replique
9. Papillons
10. A.S.C.H – S.C.H.A.
11. Chiarina
12. Chopin
13. Estrella
14. Reconnaissance
15. Pantolon et Columbine
16. Valse Allemande
17. Paganini
18. Aveu
19. Promenade
20. Pause & Marche des Davidsbundler contre les Philistins

Caroline Shaw

Gustave Le Grey

*Commissioned by David Kaplan in collaboration with the Metropolis Ensemble and Lyrica Chamber Music.