Pianist Dejan Lazic returns to Middlebury College to celebrate Mozart's birthday with a solo recital, Jan. 27

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. ? Pianist Dejan Lazic, who has captured the attention of the classical music world in his youth, returns to Middlebury College for a solo performance starting at 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 27, in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Lazic, who performed at Middlebury in the fall of 2004 with cellist Pieter Wispelwey, will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mozart with this upcoming recital featuring works by Mozart and Ravel.

Born in Zagreb in 1977, Lazic began studying piano and clarinet as a child, and won prizes for performances with both instruments in his first competition at the age of 10. Many competitions and performances later, he has built a reputation as a soloist and composer and has performed at Europe’s great concert halls, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Musica, and the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris. His touring schedule has also taken him to North America, South America, Australia and Japan.

Fanfare magazine called him “a virtuoso of the first order.” Announcing Lazic’s solo debut at London’s Wigmore Hall, Artistic Director Paul Kildea wrote in the Wigmore’s newsletter, “His musicality, his palette of colors, and his intellect have all ensured that he is one of the most original of the new generation of pianists.”

Also an accomplished composer, Lazic composed his first string quartet for the gala celebration of Rostropovich’s 70th birthday, and his “Conversazioni” for clarinet and viola has been played throughout the world. His recordings include works by Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, Ravel and Beethoven. Gramophone magazine called him a “gifted musician, full of ideas . a brilliant pianist.” He and cellist Wispelwey have collaborated on a variety of recordings for Channel Classics, including waltzes by Chopin and sonatas by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Britten. Last year, the pair released a complete recording of Beethoven’s sonatas with variations for cello and piano.

The concert is sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series. The Center for the Arts is located on South Main Street (Route 30). Reserved seating tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for seniors. A pre-performance dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. at Rehearsals Cafe in the Center for the Arts. Reservations are required. For tickets or dinner reservations, contact the Middlebury College Box Office at 802-443-6433. Online tickets and information are available at www.middlebury.edu/arts