Audiences may find it curious that pianist Michael Mizrahi’s solo performance at Strathmore’s Mansion on Friday will include a selection by Frederic Chopin, Mazurka in F Minor, Op. 68 No. 4″ as well as a piece written in 2011, “Computer Wave” by composer William Brittelle.
“I find all music in the classical tradition to be rewarding, and I’m actually fascinated at the ways contemporary classical music reflects old traditions,” he said. “I find that the music written today is really compelling, and I use a lot of the same approach as I use with Beethoven and Mozart.”
Putting his money where his piano hands are, Mizrahi plays the pieces, both contemporary and classical, that are featured on his latest release, “The Bright Motion,” an album of newly commissioned works for solo piano on the New Amsterdam Records label that came out in late May.
| Onstage |
| Michael Mizrahi |
| Where: Mansion at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| When: 7:30 p.m. Friday |
| Info: $20; 301-581-5100; strathmore.org |
In addition to Brittelle and Chopin, the audience will hear works that include “Unravel,” written in 2011 by Patrick Burke, the French Suite No. 5 of Johann Sebastian Bach and “The Bright Motion — Movement One,” also written in 2011, by composer Mark Dancigers.
Currently a professor of piano at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis., Mizrahi is a founding member of NOW Ensemble, a chamber group devoted to the commissioning and performing of new music by emerging composers. He is also a founding member of the Moet Trio, one of today’s young groups on the rise.
“Today’s composers and performers follow different tracks, and we need each other to advance the great music of today” he explained. “It won’t be heard unless there are performers like myself playing it.”
