Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic to perform April 23

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. ? On Wednesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m., celebrated pianist Dubravka Tomsic will perform in the Concert Hall of the Kevin P. Mahaney ‘84 Center for the Arts at Middlebury College. The evening’s program will include works by Mozart, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Brahms, Prokofiev and Tomsic’s Slovenian colleague Alojz Srebotnjak.

Tomsic’s playing caught the attention of musical legend Artur Rubinstein when she was only a child. The only protégé of Rubinstein, who considered her “a perfect and marvelous pianist,” Tomsic gave her first public recital at age five at Carnegie Hall and later embarked on an international career, performing more than four thousand concerts to date.

After her Carnegie Hall debut, she did not play again in the United States for almost 30 years, but in 1989 she made a dramatic re-appearance at the Newport Music Festival. A reviewer at The Boston Phoenix said, “She is simply one of the greatest musicians alive, and everything she does is on the highest level of virtuosity and insight.”

Tomsic began her studies at the Ljubljana Academy of Music before moving to New York at age twelve to study with Katherine Bacon at the Juilliard School. While still a teenager she earned a bachelor of science and diploma in piano with two special awards and made her recital debuts with the New York Philharmonic and in Chicago.

She has released more than 80 recordings since 1987, including works by Brahms, Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Scarlatti and Tchaikovsky. In 2003 she won the Grand Prix du Disque of the Franz Liszt Society in Budapest for her recording featuring an all-Liszt program that included the B minor Sonata.

As a young pianist, Tomsic won many awards and competitions and now serves as juror for several international piano competitions, including the Van Cliburn, Leeds, Beethoven, Clara Haskil and Santander. In May 2005 she was officially awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Ljubljana by the city’s mayor. She makes her home there and is a professor at the Ljubljana University Academy of Music. 

The performance is sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. Reserved seating tickets are $15 for general admission and $12 for seniors. For information or tickets, contact the Middlebury College Box Office at 802-443-6433 or www.middlebury.edu/arts.