Pianist Michael Kirkendoll will present a recital of emotional, innovative, and exciting works from the 20th and 21st Centuries on October 28 in Westbrook Music Building. The program is a tour of compositional styles and ideas, threaded together with interesting perspective given from the stage by Kirkendoll. Included on the program are works by one of the 20th Centuries greatest composers, Györgi Ligeti, a free-jazz influenced work from French composer Bruno Mantovani, and an ethereal work for piano and live electronics describing a Brooklyn subway station by New York composer Christopher Cerrone. The program will conclude with Frederic Rzewski’s 1992 masterpiece De Profundis – a work based on the prison letters of Oscar Wilde in which the pianist recites text, sings, and improvises in combination with virtuosic traditional piano playing.

Called “the very model of a 21st Century musician” by critics of the Indianapolis Star, pianist Michael Kirkendoll has established himself at the forefront of contemporary pianism. A dedicated advocate for the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, Michael has presented over one hundred new works in both solo and collaborative settings. Michael is Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Kansas, where he also earned his doctoral and bachelor’s degrees, and also holds a masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music.