A Note of Explanation from Craig

Nov. 21st, 2008

A number of my friends around the world have written me in the past few months,  noting that no concerts have been listed as yet for the present season, and wondering what's been going on.

The truth is, I have taken a partial and temporary sabbatical from performing, and am rather enjoying it!  This came about through a confluence of events.  

Firstly, I have been under enormous pressure during the past few years, putting out at least one new CD (or a set) every year while maintaining a full studio load of teaching at the University of Washington here in Seattle.  Since I adore teaching and love working with my students,  finding the time to practice the hours necessary to achieving the level I demand of myself in the great works of Bach, Beethoven, or whomever, on top of all my duties at the university, is a constant challenge.  So, I have felt the need to have a temporary break from performing for quite some time.   This self-imposed sabbatical has only affected my current concert schedule.  I am not on sabbatical from the university.

Secondly, a couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with an enchondroma inside my right thumb. You can google this for a better explanation, but what it is essentially is a benign cartilaginous cyst growing on the bone inside the finger. Anyone can develop this condition - it apparently has nothing whatsoever to do with ones piano playing (which makes sense - if this were the case, we'd all be developing enchondromas on all our fingers, given the amount of exercion we put on them). I knew that an eventual operation was inevitable, but kept putting it off due to my concert commitments.    In April of this year, following our trip to New Zealand, I went in for a check-up for what turned out to be a minor arthritic problem in my right wrist.  I was also having frequent pain in my thumb, and X-rays showed that the enchondroma had grown enormously.  My surgeon told me that the bone risked fracturing, and an operation was necessary, sooner than later.  In his words, were the bone to crack, it would be ten times harder to repair!   You can imagine how this news hit me, a couple of weeks before performing and recording Book II of The Well Tempered Clavier!  To boot, I had a trip to China and a few other commitments still to honor.   On the other hand, how lucky I learned the truth before it was too late!!

The operation took place on July 31st. I was very fortunate to have a great surgeon, Thomas Trumble of the University of Washington Sports Clinic, who told me immediately post-op that he hadn't had to cut through any tendons. This was a blessing, and meant that the recuperation period has been much shorter than would have been expected. As of mid-November, I am functioning fully (and still making the same sorts of mistakes I made prior to the operation. Surgery doesn't correct everything...!). I'm enjoying doing more things in the community, including several adjudications which I would have declined otherwise for lack of time. I'm also enjoying exploring new, and old, repertoire, for concerts next season. One project which I've had in mind for some time is to present a series of concerts in the Fall of 2009 dedicated to piano sonatas written in Terezin between 1942 to 1944 by two composers subsequently killed in Auschwitz, Viktor Ullman and Gideon Klein. Another is a desire to revisit, and record, the complete Brahms solo piano works, which I performed many years ago at the Wigmore Hall in London.

Stay tuned for updates!!

Sheppards solo recital program includes a group of Preludes and Fugues from Book II of The Well Tempered Clavier, plus Beethovens sonatas Opus 110 and Opus 57 (Appassionata). For more information, go to the Beethoven Center website at http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/beethoven/events
/Competition2008.pdf

The three winners of the 22nd Annual Celia Mendez Young Pianists Beethoven Competition will appear in a Master Class with Craig Sheppard.

Craig Sheppard performs Book II of Bachs Well Tempered Clavier.

Following upon his success last March with Book I, Sheppard returns to perform Book II of The Well Tempered Clavier for this dedicated Wellington audience.

Craig Sheppard joins colleague John OConor and Beethoven specialists, Stephen Rumph and Michelle Fillion, in a symposium on The Heroic Beethoven. A morning of interesting discussions between panelists and audience members, not to be missed!

Sheppard performs Book II of The Well Tempered Clavier.

Craig Sheppard performs and records Book II of Bachs Well Tempered Clavier. The recording will be released in the Fall of 2008 by Romeo Records.

World premiere of Paul Schoenfields Ghetto Songs.
For more information, go to www.musicofremembrance.org

Tour of China.

Craig Sheppard joins Eastman School of Music colleagues Nelita True and Fernando Laires for concerts and master classes in Beijing, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Shanghai. Stay tuned for more detailed information.

Music of Remembrance
www.musicofremembrance.org

Mikhail Gnesin

Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello
(with violinist Mikhail Shmidt and cellist Mara Finkelstein)

Mostly Brahms

Schumann		Papillons, Opus 2
Schumann		Sonata #1 in f# minor, Opus 11
		intermission
Brahms		Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Opus 9
Brahms		Sonata #1 in C, Opus 1

Johannes Brahms

Piano Quartet in g minor, Opus 25
(with violinist Eugenia Choi, violist Mara Gearman, and cellist Kevin Krentz)

Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival
Twisp, WA
www.methowmusicfestival.org

Paul Schoenfield

Café Music
(with violinist Eugenia Choi and cellist Kevin Krentz)

The Seattle Chamber Music Society
www.seattlechambermusic.org

François Poulenc

Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon
(with oboist Ben Hausmann and bassoonist Paul Rafanelli)

The Minnesota Beethoven Festival
Winona, Minnesota
www.mnbeethovenfestival.org

Solo recital

Bach Partita #2 in c minor, BWV826
Beethoven Sonata, Opus 53, Waldstein
Beethoven Diabelli Variations, Opus 120

Read Terry Rindfleisch’s rave review of this concert:

http://lacrossetribune.com/entertainment/attractions
/article_2f9b5564-8cf4-11df-ae3a-001cc4c03286.html

Solo recital

Craig Sheppard plays the last three Schubert sonatas, D958, D959 and D960, in c minor, A Major, and B flat.

A concert not to be missed.

Schubert: The Last Three Piano Sonatas

  D958 in c minor
  D959 in A Major
  D960 in B flat

Schubert: The Last Three Piano Sonatas

  D958 in c minor
  D959 in A Major
  D960 in B flat

Schubert: The Last Three Piano Sonatas

  D958 in c minor
  D959 in A Major
  D960 in B flat

Mozart: Piano Concerto #24 in c minor, K491, with The University of Washington Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Eros

Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 in E flat, Opus 73, ‘Emperor’ with the Tacoma Symphony conducted by Christophe Chagnard

Mozart: Piano Concerto #25 in C Major, K503 with the Northwest Sinfonietta conducted by Harvey Felder

Mozart: Piano Concerto #25 in C Major, K503 with the Northwest Sinfonietta conducted by Harvey Felder

Master class

(time and venue to be announced)

MusicFest Vancouver

Solo recital of works by J.S. Bach

Two Preludes and Fugues from The Well Tempered Clavier
Partita #2 in c minor, BWV826
Partita #4 in D, BWV828

Brahms: Piano Quartet in A Major, Opus 26, plus ‘My Favorite Sonata Movement’

Schumann: Piano Quintet in E flat, Opus 4.

Solo recital

Bach: Partita #2 in c minor, BWV826

Beethoven: Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in D Major, Opus 70 #1, “The Ghost” with Erin Keefe, violin and Robert DeMaine, cello

Haydn: Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in E flat Major, H. XV, No. 10 with Augustin Hadelich, violin, and Edward Aaron, cello

Paul Schoenfield: Café Music with Augustin Hadelich, violin, and Edward Aaron, cello

Solo recital

J.S. Bach – Partita No.4 in D, BWV828

Solo recital, Hashimoto Community Center, Hashimoto, Wakayama, JAPAN

To include works by Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Chopin

Master class, Mozart Salon
Ashiya, Hyogo, JAPAN

Master class, Mozart Salon
Ashiya, Hyogo, JAPAN

Solo recital, Mozart Salon
Beethoven: Three sonatas, Opus 31

(for information, contact Tazuka Ura sensei at 0797-32-4868, 090-9708-1706, or visit her website at http://www.mozart-115.com)

A concert for the opening of the exhibition Schulzs Beethoven: Schroeders Muse. Mounted by the head of the Beethoven Center in San Jose, Professor Bill Meredith, and featuring movements from Craig Sheppards 9-CD boxed set, Beethoven: A Journey, this exhibition had enormous success when it opened in August, 2008, at the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA

TRIPLE PLAY!

An evening of fun music making with fellow artists Robin and Rachelle McCabe, featuring works for two pianos, and four and six hands.

Not to be missed!

Faculty Recital with Joyce Geyer, soprano

Come and hear this extraordinary artist, who sang major roles Metropolitan Opera for 17 years, in a song recital of works by Felix Mendelssohn, Alan Smith, Gustave Ferrari, and Timothy Hoekman