Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Dr. Brian Hsu
Location: Studio of Bonnie Esbensen

Program Description: Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies have been popular with students and performers over the last few decades. In this presentation, Dr. Hsu will briefly survey the origins of these rhapsodies and how the music of the Roma People inspired Liszt to write this beloved collection.

Presenter Bio: Since his concerto debut at the age of 16 with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwanese-American pianist Brian Hsu has gone on to establish himself a pianist of great energy and unusual communicative ability. Critics have described his performances in surperlatives, noting his “breadth of expression and technical ability.” An experienced performer, Mr. Hsu has performed throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and South Africa. US performances include Boston, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Dallas, as well as many others. He has appeared as concerto soloist with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Taiwan National Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, Sendai Philharmonic, and University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a guest on WQXR radio station in New York several times. Mr. Hsu has performed in various music festivals including Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy; Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan; Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain; Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina; Banff Festival of the Arts in Canada; PianoFest in The Hamptons in Long Island, New York. His US debut solo recording, Night at the opera: Part I, which consist of opera transcriptions for solo piano, was released in the fall of 2018. In addition to his competition successes, Mr. Hsu was the recipient of numerous awards while attending Juilliard, Yale, and Michigan.

Mr. Hsu frequently appears as a guest artist/teacher, presenter, and jury member in various Music Teachers National Association contests and other major competitions, such as the New Orleans International Piano Competition, Nanyang Academy of the Arts in Singapore. He often performs and has taught masterclasses at various colleges and universities throughout the United States and Asia. An avid chamber musician and collaborator, Mr. Hsu continuously performs with colleagues throughout the music world. Mr. Hsu participated in the world premiere of Paul Schoenfeld’s Piano Quintet with members of the Pro Arte’s Quartet, and in the spring of 2014, a recording was released by Albany Records. Along with voice alumni of Loyola University New Orleans, Mr. Hsu participated in the debut of Logan Skeleton’s Letters to Santa in 2016. As a member of the piano trio, Ensemble Peri, he participated in its inaugural tour which took place in Korea during the summer of 2019. Mr. Hsu is also a founding member of Key 2 Inclusion, an intercollegiate initiative to promote and teach piano music written by Black American and other minority composers.