The Cabrillo College Distinguished Artists Concert and Lecture Series
proudly presents

Pianist Adam Neiman
In a program of music by Bach, Ravel, Rachmaninoff and Mussorgsky

Adam Neiman began his musical studies with local piano instructor Hans Boepple at Santa Clara University . At the age of 26, Adam had already performed with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Utah, Nashville and New Haven as well as the National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Chamber Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, Orchestra New England, the Umbria Philharmonic and the Jupiter Symphony, with such renowned conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Jens Nygaard and Kenneth Schermerhorn, among others. .

Mr. Neiman's solo appearances have included performances in New York at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the 92nd Street Y; in San Francisco at Davies Symphony Hall and Golden Gate Park ; at Royce Hall in Los Angeles; at the Kennedy Center in Washington , D.C. ; and at Symphony Hall and Ravinia in Chicago .

Mr. Neiman's broadcast with National Public Radio's "Performance Today" was nominated for a Grammy Award. He has returned for numerous performances on the show in addition to serving as a Young Artist in Residence. Other notable radio broadcasts include WQXR and WNYC in New York , WFMT in Chicago , and KPFA in Berkeley . An avid chamber musician, Mr. Neiman has performed for six consecutive seasons at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and also at the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Caramoor's Rising Stars and Virtuosi, and the Jupiter Chamber Players and Barge Music in New York . He is also a founding member of the Corinthian Trio. A 1999 Rubinstein Award-winning graduate of the Juilliard School , Mr. Neiman also received first prize in Juilliard's Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition two years in a row. Other awards include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Gilmore Young Artist Award, the Michaels Award of Young Concert Artists, and Silver Medal at the Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy at the age of 15.

For more information on Adam Neiman visit www.adamneiman.com or read the interview by Michael Tierra below.

This concert is generously sponsored by Staff of Life Natural Foods

An Interview with concert pianist Adam Neiman
By Michael Tierra

Michael Tierra: Can you describe your path to becoming a concert pianist?

Adam Neiman: My path towards becoming a concert pianist was direct and natural. My mother and eldest brother are both fine pianists, we used to have 3 grand pianos in our household, and classical music was played constantly in our home. At 5 1/2 years old I came to the decision to seriously study piano after about a year dabbling in it for fun. The rest is history.

MT: Who were some of the most important influences in your artistic development to date?

AN: All three of my teachers Trula Whelan, Hans Boepple, and Herbert Stessin had enormous influence over my artistic development. My mother was also my coach for the years I grew up at home, and her influence was very strong during those formative years. Once I grew up and moved to NYC at 17 years old, my artistic influences became non-musical, as my intellectual, emotional, and spiritual horizons expanded with the increasing complexity and beauty of life. Books by Rand, Walsh, the Dalai Lama, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, King, and others dominated my reading activities. My wife Pia, who is one of the finest musicians I know, extended her very powerful influence into my life. I became a dedicated yogi starting about 5 1/2 years ago, and teachers such as Iyengar, Shiva Rea, Rodney Yee, Jivamukti, and others have broadened my mind and stimulated my physical growth. All these things have contributed to make me the artist that I am.

MT: What were some of the most helpful experiences thus for your career?

AN: Playing with such orchestras as the Chicago , San Francisco , Detroit , Saint Louis , Cincinnati , Dallas , Houston Symphonies, the Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington D.C., the Belgrade and Umbria Philharmonics, and others have been enormously helpful to my career. In addition, being a recording artist for VAI Audio, who has distributed my recordings worldwide, has been a very positive thing, because it allows a very wide audience to get to know my playing. I must also credit Young Concert Artists for taking me on at the beginning of my international career and working so hard on my behalf to establish connections throughout the music business. Those connections have provided the backbone of my career.

MT: What went into your choosing the program you will be playing in Santa Cruz ?

AN: This program is one of tremendous stylistic contrast, which I love, and there is a running theme throughout the program: the concept of visual arts expressed through music. The Bach suite represents court dances of the 17th and 18th centuries; the Ravel pieces are both evocative of imagery; the Rachmaninoff Etudes-tableau were directly inspired by paintings; Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" were
also directly inspired by paintings and sketches.

MT: What do you think about piano competitions?

AN: I think piano competitions can be a wonderful thing for those who are built to handle the pressure and inevitable rejections that come with the territory. I enrolled in numerous competitions in my youth and they all served to help me grow and for my career to expand, so I have directly benefited from them. However I have many colleagues who have done just as well without them, and I have also known people who have been so crushed by defeat that they have become intellectually paralyzed. Competitions provide wonderful opportunities, but people should be aware of their limitations.

MT: I heard your brilliant recording of American composer, Jennifer Higdon's
Piano Trio. Do you play much contemporary music?

AN: Thank you. I play a great deal of music by contemporary composers such as Boulez, Higdon, Maratka, Tsontakis, Zimmerli, Auerbach, Zou Long, Chen Yi, and many others.

MT: I see you are a composer as well, will you play one of your compositions in the SC recital  - I sure hope so?

AN: Perhaps...if the audience seems to want an encore, I might play something of my own!

MT: Can you describe your experience as a student with Hans Boepple?

AN: Hans is, hands down, the finest piano teacher I have ever known. He forces the student to stop being a student; he encourages such a high degree of intellectual exploration and analysis that the student, if talented enough, becomes a master. The greatest teachers in the world are not those who "teach" students - but rather those that release the master from the bonds of ignorance laying within each student. Hans is such a master teacher himself - he is a guru.

The 2007-2008 season of events is generously sponsored by Sherman Clay and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Distinguished Artists Concert & Lecture Series (DACLS) is a non-profit affiliate
of Cabrillo College in Aptos, California