Ithaca College’s annual Rachel S. Thaler Concert Pianist Series will bring Van Cliburn competition gold medalist Alexander Kobrin to campus for a free concert on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Beginning at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music, the program will offer a sonata by Haydn, a Mozart fantasy, Beethoven’s opus 110 sonata, and Schumann’s “Kreisleriana.”
Moscow-born Kobrin was 25 when he won top honors at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The award followed a string of successes that included first-place finishes in the 2003 Hamamatsu, 2000 Chopin and 1999 Busoni Competitions.
Kobrin has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia and North and South America, performing with the Moscow Virtuosi, Orchestra Verdi di Milano, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Rio de Janeiro Symphonic Orchestra. In addition to his concert at Ithaca College, Kobrin’s 2006–7 season includes his debut with the New York Philharmonic at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts as well as performances at the Clandeboye Festival in Ireland and the Tuscan Sun Festival in Italy.
Established in 1991 in honor of a talented pianist and longtime College supporter, the Rachel S. Thaler Concert Pianist Series has brought to the College such world-class virtuosos as Awadagin Pratt, Yefim Bronfman, Gilbert Kalish and Garrick Ohlsson. For more information about Ithaca College School of Music concerts, visit www.ithaca.edu/concerts or call (607) 274-3717.
Photo credit: Ellen Appel
