Pianist Jacqueline Csurgai-Schmitt
DEARBORN — “My Favorite Brahms,” a piano, voice and instrumental concert, will be held at 4 p.m., March 3 at Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church as part of its annual Music at Cherry Hill series.
The concert is open to the public. Tickets are not being sold though suggested donations of $15 each will be accepted following the event’s conclusion.
Jacqueline Csurgai-Schmitt, pianist emerita of the Dearborn Symphony, has created a program of works by German composer Johannes Brahms, including her favorite piano miniatures, the “Sonata for Cello and Piano in F Major,” and six German lieder (art songs) for soprano and tenor voices. Cellist Yawen Hsu, soprano Kimberly Swan, and tenor Shawn McDonald will join her.
Brahms is known mostly to contemporary audiences through his large works for orchestra and chorus, Csurgai-Schmitt said.
“He was truly at his finest in what could be called “19th century miniatures” – short, lyrical pieces originally introduced by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Schumann,” she said.
These pieces were heard first in salons and drawing rooms and included short songs and small piano pieces – intermezzi, capriccios, and ballades. They were the mainstay of vocal and piano recitals during the 19th and early 20th centuries, though are rarely heard today.
“This event will give you a chance to go back in time and experience music the way it was originally heard – in the intimacy of a small recital,” Csurgai-Schmitt said.
The concert will feature the church’s Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano, the largest piano made by the Austrian piano company at nine feet, six inches. The Imperial Grand has an extra octave of keys at the bottom end of the keyboard that give the piano an extra powerful bass sound. The music of Brahms will alternately thunder and purr on this majestic instrument.
Cherry Hill Presbyterian Church is at 24110 Cherry Hill Road. Parking is available in the church parking lot. A handicapped accessible entrance is available on Drexel Street, west of the church sanctuary.
Additional information about the hymn festival is available by calling the church office at 313-563-4800 or going to the church’s website.