Park International Center for Music To Present Pianist Behzod Abduraimov

Park International Center for Music (Park ICM) confirmed today that their 2019-2020 performance season at midtown's intimate 1900 Building would continue with internationally renowned pianist, Behzod Abduraimov. Behzod will perform the repertoire he played at Carnegie Hall in December to rave reviews.

Called "the most perfectly accomplished pianist of his generation," Behzod Abduraimov is Artist-in-Residence at Park ICM and former student of Park ICM founder and Artistic Director Stanislav Ioudenitch. Behzod has soloed with leading orchestras worldwide such as the LA Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and prestigious conductors including Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vasily Petrenko and others.

Behzod remarked on how he developed the repertoire for the solo recital:

"I built this program on miniatures, beginning with a kaleidoscope of all kinds of human emotions. In 'Chopin 24 Preludes,' if I'm not mistaken, Chopin was the first to establish the prelude as an independent music form. The challenge of them is to switch contrasts drastically to show the essence of each prelude as well as build up an arch from the first to the last prelude."

Chopin's Op. 28 Preludes are concise masterpieces that convey a tremendous range of emotion, for which Abduraimov has become famous.

Next up on the concert are Debussy's gentle miniatures. Known as tender reflections on childhood, Abduraimov continued:

"Debussy's charming set of 6 pieces, dedicated to his daughter, were not only meant to entertain her, but were to allow us to see the world through a child's eyes. I see these pieces for adults to immerse themselves into the world of children with some nostalgia thrown in and, of course, a sense of humor."

Finally, Mussorgsky's Pictures at the Exhibition brings paintings of Mussorgsky's friend Viktor Hartmann to life. Abduraimov said,

"These pictures are highly imaginative and give the performer the freedom to basically create music in the actual pictures."

Mussorgsky based his music on drawings and watercolors by Hartmann produced mostly during Hartmann's travels abroad to Italy, France, Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. Today most of the pictures from Hartmann's exhibition are lost which makes it fairly impossible to know exactly which of Hartmann's works Mussorgsky referenced.

Park ICM 1900 Series Featuring Behzod Abduraimov, Piano, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, 7:30 p.m., 1900 Building, Mission Woods, Kansas.

Abduraimov's captivating performances continue to receive international praise. Following his debut success at Carnegie Hall in 2015, recent seasons have seen Abduraimov work with leading orchestras worldwide. An award-winning recording artist, he released his first concerto disc in 2014 on Decca Classics which features Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.3 and Tchaikovsky's Concerto No.1 with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai under Juraj Valčuha. His debut recital CD won both the Choc de Classica and the Diapason Découverte. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990, Abduraimov began to play the piano at the age of five as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent.

Visit icm.Park.edu for more information about Park ICM's 2019-2020 performance season.