We begin our celebration of the genius of George Gershwin with the work that set the classical musical world alight - his Rhapsody in Blue! From its opening clarinet cadenza to the propulsive rhythms of Jazz, this is one the iconoclastic works of the 20th century! We partner it with another work that draws its inspiration from America - George Antheil's hilarious Jazz Symphony, which was premiered one year after the Rhapsody. Antheil, the self-titled "Bad Boy of Music", was an American maverick, whose genius (along with his friend Hedy Lamarr) designed a radio-controlled torpedo, that directly lead to invention of wifi. We finish with Prokofiev's final symphony.
Jeffery LaDeur made his solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall on the centennial of Claude Debussy’s death (2018). He appears regularly with orchestra and maintains a repertoire of over 40 concerti. LaDeur is the founder and artistic director of the San Francisco International Piano Festival. His most recent solo recording features music of Liszt and was released by Music & Arts in 2022.