The University of West Florida Dr. Grier Williams School of Music will present Sara Davis Buechner, on Monday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m. The performance will be held in the Rolfs Music Hall at the Center for Fine and Performing Arts, Building 82, on the Pensacola campus.
Noted for her musical command, cosmopolitan artistry, and visionary independence, Sara Davis Buechner is one of the most original concert pianists of our time. Lauded for her “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” New York Times, “thoughtful artistry in the full service of music” Washington Post, and “astounding virtuosity” Philippine Star, Japan’s InTune magazine sums up: “Buechner has no superior.”
In her twenties, Buechner earned a bouquet of top prizes at the world’s premiere international piano competitions — Queen Elisabeth (Brussels), Leeds, Mozart (Salzburg), Beethoven (Vienna), and Sydney. She was a Bronze Medalist of the 1986 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Gold Medalist of the 1984 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.
Buechner has performed in every state and province of North America — as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist with top orchestras like the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Philadelphia Orchestra; and in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Hollywood Bowl. She has toured throughout Latin and South America and Europe; and she enjoys a special following in Asia, where she has been a featured soloist with the Sydney Symphony, New Zealand Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, and Shanghai Philharmonic, among many others.
She has commissioned and premiered important contemporary scores by composers such as Michael Brown, John Corigliano, Ray Green, Dick Hyman, Vitězslavá Kaprálová, Jared Miller, Joaquín Nin-Culmell, and Yukiko Nishimura. Ms. Buechner’s performance versatility extends to unique collaborations with film and dance (including tours with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and Japanese kabuki-mime-mask dancer Yayoi Hirano).
Buechner has released numerous acclaimed recordings of rare piano music by composers such as Rudolf Friml (“A revelation” — The New York Times, Dana Suesse, Joseph Lamb, Joaquín Turina, Miklós Rózsa, and Ferruccio Busoni (including the world première recording of the Bach Busoni “Goldberg” Variations). Stereophile magazine selected her Gershwin CD as “Recording of the Month,” and her interpretation of Hollywood Piano Concertos won Germany’s coveted Deutsches Schauplatten Preis. Most recently her recorded traversal of the score to Carl Dreiser’s silent movie classic (1925) Master of the House may be heard on Criterion Collection DVD.
Buechner joined the faculty of Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance in 2016, after previously teaching at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the University of British Columbia. She has presented masterclasses and workshops at major pedagogic venues worldwide, adjudicated important international piano competitions, and is also a contributing editor for Dover Publications International. In 2017 Buechner marked her 30th year as a dedicated Yamaha Artist.
As a proud transgender woman, Buechner also appears as a speaker and performer at important LGBTQ events and has contributed interviews and articles about her own experience to numerous media outlets worldwide.
Buechner’s performance will include such pieces as Minuet from “Berenice” by G.F. Handel, Sonata in E flat major, KV 282 by Wolfgang Mozart, and Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin among others.
Ticket prices are $20 for adults, $16 for seniors and military, $14 for UWF faculty and staff and non-UWF students, and $7 for high school students. UWF students get in free with a valid Nautilus card. For more information or to reserve tickets, please contact the CFPA Box Office at 850.857.6285 or online at uwf.edu/tickets.
