LEWISTON — Henry Kramer, one of the most talented young pianists on the international concert stage, will perform at L/A’s Gendron Franco Center on Thursday, March 8, presenting the fourth program of this Piano Series season. His recital, which begins at 7 p.m., will include works by Schumann, Ravel and American composer Hannah Lash.
Recipient of the 2015 Petschek Recital Debut Award from the Juilliard School and second prize winner in 2016 at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Competition, Brussels, he has established himself as one of the most exciting American pianists of his generation. He also earned top prizes in the 2015 Honens International Piano Competition, Calgary, and the 2011 Montreal International Music Competition. His interpretations have been called “triumphant” and “thrilling” (The New York Times) and “technically effortless” (La Presse, Montreal).
Even before the 2005 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School had completed his studies at the Juilliard School, and later, the Yale School of Music, he was giving solo and ensemble performances in North America, Europe and China. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Shanghai, Brussels, Ankara, Calgary and Montreal, among other cities, and three times with the Portland Symphony, most recently on Jan. 30, when he was acclaimed for his performance of Mozart’s piano concerto K. 466. In the spring of 2012, he made his European debut in a solo recital at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. His performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, WMFT in Chicago, WQXR in New York and on CBC/Radio-Canada.
An engaging chamber musician, Kramer has been featured in performances at Lincoln Center, the Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Music Society’s Summerfest! and in the Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland. He also attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival, as well as festivals in Sarasota, La Jolla and Santa Barbara. He appeared on Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute tour at Boston’s Gardner Museum, New York’s Morgan Library and in Havana, Cuba, as a cultural ambassador. Last summer, he performed in the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Resonance Festival, New York City and at the Salon Chamber Music Festival in Provence.
Kramer began serious study of the piano only at age 11, after his family moved from Massachusetts to Cape Elizabeth. While in high school, on weekends, he attended Juilliard’s Pre-College Division. In 2005, he won the Bangor Symphony’s High School Concerto Competition and has twice been soloist with that orchestra. Later, he received undergraduate and master’s degrees from Juilliard, where his principal teachers were Julian Martin and Robert McDonald. He went on to receive his artist’s diploma at the Yale School of Music, under Boris Berman. He was the Iva Dee Hiatt Visiting Artist in Piano and Lecturer in Music at Smith College, before moving last fall to his current position as associate professor of piano at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Dance and Music.
Admission is $15; seniors, $10; and students, free. A pre-concert social hour begins when the doors open at 6 p.m. The Dolard and Priscilla Gendron Franco Center is located at 46 Cedar St. and is handicapped accessible. All proceeds to benefit the Franco Center.
Contact or visit the Box Office or go to FranoCenter.org. Call 207-783-1585. Box office hours are noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and two hours before every show.
Henry Kramer
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