Pianist Adam Tendler at Sheldon Museum of Art, Friday, November 16

Posted by: Lincoln Arts Council

On November 15 and 16, the Sheldon Museum of Art, in cooperation with the Lincoln Arts Council, is planning a residency and performance by New York-based pianist Adam Tendler, who will be visiting Lincoln as part of a John Cage centenary tour in which he performs Cage's landmark work for piano, Sonatas and Interludes, and spends the previous 2 days with students and teachers. Outreach partners include the Lincoln Music Teachers Association, Lincoln Public Schools' Junior Youth Orchestra and Pathfinder Program, and UNL's School of Music and Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education.

Tendler's performance is scheduled for Friday, November 16, at 8:00 pm in the Sheldon's Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium; admission is free. A preconcert talk begins at 7:30, and a reception following the event will be held in the museum's Great Hall.

Nominated for the 2012 American Pianists Association Classical Fellowship Award, Adam Tendler is quickly emerging as one of the country's most prolific and exciting pianists, building an international reputation through unique programming and a grassroots approach to classical music making. He first made national headlines with "America 88x50," a completely independent recital tour organized from the front seat of his Hyundai that brought free concerts of modern American music to underserved communities in all fifty states. Tendler has gone on to perform internationally, direct classical music initiatives across the country, and serve as an announcer and contemporary music liaison for NPR and Pacifica stations nationwide. While balancing a performance schedule that spans Symphony Space to the Stonewall Inn, Tendler maintains an active teaching schedule, serves as the founding director of a nightly music series at Soho House New York, and this winter will publish a memoir about coming out and coming of age during the "America 88x50" tour, the development of which you can follow at his blog, "The Dissonant States" (http://dissonantstates.com).

"An exuberantly expressive pianist" who "vividly displayed his enthusiasm for every phrase." Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times

"A modern-music evangelist." Time Out New York

"Adam has managed to get behind and underneath the notes . . . living inside the music and making poetic sense of it all. If they gave medals for musical bravery, dexterity and perseverance, Adam Tendler would earn them all." Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun