Burkard Schliessmann
Opening the spring portion of the Presidential Concert Series, Lee University will host internationally renowned organist Burkard Schliessmann on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the new Lee Chapel. Mr. Schliessmann will be featured as the first public performance on the chapel’s Rodgers R376 organ.
Mr. Schliessmann’s musical repertoire for the evening will include selections from composers J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Charles-Marie Widor, and César Franck.
Mr. Schliessmann, who completed his musical studies as a pupil in the masterclass of Herbert Seidel, Shura Cherkassky, Bruno Leonard Gelber, and Poldi Mildner, is regarded as one of the influential pianists of the modern era. Mr. Schleissmann has received many awards and honors as a recitalist, recording artist, orchestral soloist, and chamber musician.
Mr. Schliessmann’s album, Chopin-Schumann Anniversary Edition 2010 on MSR-Classics, was recently released worldwide and received the “Critics' Choice Award 2010” from American Record Guide.
“Rarely does any pianist communicate the essence of Chopin with such an individual conviction as I hear in these stunning performances,” wrote James Harrington from the American Record Guide of Schliessmann. “His is rarefied Chopin and needs to be heard by all music lovers.”
Mr. Schliessmann’s interpretation of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg-Variations, released on Bayer label in 2008, received the “Critics’ Choice Award 2008” from American Record Guide, and also earned the distinction “Recording of the Year 2008” by Music Web International.
As an orchestral soloist, Mr. Schliessmann has appeared with the Munich Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Symphony Orchestra Wuppertal, and the New Philharmonic Westfalia, earning international recognition for his compelling performances, featuring clarity and subtlety at the highest technical level.
Mr. Schliessmann is the official Artist of Steinway & Sons and has performed at New York’s Steinway Hall. Schliessmann has also collaborated with highly renowned performers including José Montes-Baquer, Enrique Sánchez Lansch, Claus Viller, Lothar Matter, Dieter Hens, Korbinian Meyer, Siegfried Aust, and others.
Upcoming highlights for Mr. Schliessmann this year include a documentary of his musical life in the popular cultural program “Doppelkopf” of HR Hessian Radio in Frankfurt, Germany, as well as tours throughout the United States, New Zealand, and Australia, where he will appear as orchestral soloist with the Australian Baroque Chamber Orchestra.
A native of Germany, Mr. Schliessmann received his Master’s degree from Frankfurt Music Conservatory.
Tickets will be available at the Lee University box office in the Dixon Center one week prior to each concert, between 3-6 p.m., or by phone at 614-8343.
For more information about the Presidential Concert Series, call Lee’s School of Music at 614-8240.