Yoonie Han Performs At The Parrish’s Salon Series

The Salon Series, the Parrish Art Museum’s concert program featuring world-class artists performing in an intimate, casual setting, continues on Friday, October 18 at 6 p.m. with Steinway Concert & Performing artist Yoonie Han.

A Salon Series favorite, the multi-award-winning pianist will perform selections from her recent release including the exquisite piano suite Le Rossignol Éperdu, by Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947), which she recently recorded in its entirety for Steinway Records; plus works by Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938), and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Han will offer insight and personal anecdotes about her programs, and attendees can meet the artist following the concert.

“Salon Series is a highlight of our music programming at the Parrish,” said museum director Terrie Sultan. “It’s so much more than a concert — it’s the opportunity for audience and performer to come together in an intimate dialogue about the work of great composers.”

Han will begin her recital with Debussy’s popular, ethereal French Impressionist classic, Clair de Lune, followed by eight selections from the rarely heard Le Rossignol Éperdu (The Bewildered Nightingale)—an apt lead-in considering the Venezuelan-born Hahn was influenced by the Impressionists. Composed between 1899 and 1911, each work was inspired by great poets including Verlaine, Molière, Flaubert, Voltaire, Goethe, and Hugo — as well as by Hahn’s extensive travels.

The concert continues with three piano solos based on dances by Godowsky, the Polish-American virtuoso pianist and composer: “Tango: — the composer’s arrangement of a work by Issac Albéniz; the waltz “Alt-Wien” (Old Vienna); and the frequently choreographed “Le Cygne” (from Camille Saint-Saëns “Carnival of the Animals”), a popular ballet score. The finale is the transcendent “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, transcribed by Franz Liszt and arranged by Yoonie Han.

Tickets for all Salon Series concerts are $25 ($10 for Parrish members). The Golden Pear Café and the Parrish will be open before and after the concerts.

The series concludes on October 25 with violinist Eiko Kano and pianist Karén Hakobyan.