Pianist Clipper Erickson Returns To Perform Next At Maurice River Music Salon Concert On November 18

MAURICETOWN, NJ—Renowned pianist Clipper Erickson will return as the featured performers at the next Maurice River Music salon concert on Sunday, November 18 at 2:30 p.m., at a residence in the Mauricetown, NJ area.

His recital will include Laurie Altman’s Piano Sonata No. 10, “Aleppo” and Nathaniel Dett’s Eight Bible Vignettes.

Altman’s sonata is a new work, subtitled after the city recently destroyed in the Syrian war. Erickson will have premiered this piece one week earlier at Temple University on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I—which was supposed to be “the war to end all wars.”

Dett, a great African-American composer of the early part of the 20th century, has been championed by Erickson, who recorded the composer’s complete piano music for PARMA Recordings to critical acclaim. He will have performed this work in late October at the Harriet Tubman Museum in Toronto, Canada, which will resonate with South Jersey’s connection to the Underground Railroad.

Erickson, making his fifth salon concert appearance, made his solo debut with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra in Los Angeles at age 19. After studies at The Juilliard School, Yale University, and Indiana University with noted British pianist John Ogdon, he began to win prizes at international competitions—such as the Busoni, William Kapell, and American Pianists Association—for his interpretations.

He has performed as soloist with orchestra, including acclaimed performances with the Bay Atlantic Symphony, and in recital at such famous concert venues as the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Weill Recital Hall at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

In addition to the great classical repertoire, he has championed American music from the past and present, resulting in a series of critically-acclaimed CD releases. He did his dissertation for Temple University on the piano music of Dett, while working with Alexander Fiorillo, a pupil of Vladimir Horowitz.

He has also premiered new piano works written for him, most recently Una Carta de Buenos Aires by Richard Brodhead, which he first performed in the United Kingdom at the University of Birmingham.

In 2013, the NEOS label of Munich released Antarctic Convergence, featuring his performances of solo piano music by Altman.

Through his work as a roster member of Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour and, earlier, in the Xerox Pianist Program of Affiliate Artists, he has performed for various community groups, engaging audiences with commentary on his program selections. He also performs widely at schools and master classes, encouraging the love of music through commitment to education, and currently teaches at Westminster Conservatory in Princeton, and Temple University in Philadelphia.
Future Maurice River Music salon concerts will include repeat appearances by pianist Norma Meyer and mezzo-soprano Daphne Alderson on January 13, 2019, pianists Allison and Carlos Franzetti on February 17 (change of date from previous announcement), clarinetist Christopher Di Santo with violinist Ruotao Mao and pianist Michael Sheadel on March 24, and, in his salon concert debut, marimba virtuoso Makoto Nakura, on April 7. All concerts will be at 2:30 p.m.

Seating is very limited, so reservations are required. Donations to assist in covering expenses will be accepted. To reserve seats, receive directions, or receive more information on the series, please call Maurice River Music at 856-506-0580, e-mail them at info@mauricerivermusic.com, or visit their website at www.mauricerivermusic.com.