Bargemusic: Pianist Adam Tendler Performs Tom Johnson's 'An Hour for Piano'

• Adam Tendler, piano

On April 12 and 13, Adam Tendler performs two seminal minimalist masterpieces for solo piano: John Adams's epic Phrygian Gates (1977-78) at 2pm, and Tom Johnson's haunting An Hour for Piano (1971) at 4pm. Both works challenged conventions of long-form piano writing, and each uniquely invites the listener on an odyssey of pattern and harmony that is at times sensuous, dramatic, playful, ecstatic, patient—and ultimately transcendent. For these performances, the audience will be invited to freely explore the new Bargemusic space. This program is in memory of the recent passing of Tom Johnson, a personal friend of the pianist.

About Bargemusic

Moored in Brooklyn just under the Brooklyn Bridge, Bargemusic presents great music year-round. Walk across the gangplank of a renovated coffee barge into a "wonderfully intimate wood-paneled room with thrilling views of lower Manhattan and excellent acoustics." Experience why critics call Bargemusic "the perfect chamber-music hall" and why artists say it is "unlike any other place in the world to perform."

About Adam Tendler, piano

Adam Tendler is a recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and "currently the hottest pianist on the American contemporary classical scene" (Minneapolis Star Tribune), a "remarkable and insightful musician" (LA Times), and "relentlessly adventurous pianist" (Washington Post) "joyfully rocking out at his keyboard" (New York Times).

An internationally recognized interpreter of living, modern, and classical composers, and a pioneer of DIY culture in concert music, at age 23 Tendler performed solo recitals in all 50 states as part of a grassroots tour called America 88x50, the subject of his acclaimed memoir, 88x50.

He has gone on to become one of classical and contemporary music's most recognized and celebrated artists, appearing recently as soloist with the LA Philharmonic and on the main-stages of Carnegie Hall and Brooklyn Academy of Music.