Conor Hanick

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Impromptu in A-flat major, opus 142 no. 2 Samuel Adams (b. 1985): Impromptus (2015, rev. 2025)* I. Clear and with movement II. (after Schubert) III. (after my very young life) Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Impromptu in F minor, opus 142 no. 4 Nico Muhly (b. 1981): from Bell Etudes (2021-2024)* 1. Lilt 2. Sharp Focus 3. Wide Bells 4. Crosswise 10. Now Honey 13. In Equal Measure 14. If All Thi Body Be Bryt Claude Debussy (1862-1918): L’isle Joyeuse, L. 109 Making his first appearance with Phillips Music, Conor Hanick—one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old—presents a program rooted in musical conversation spanning centuries. Two of Franz Schubert’s poetic Impromptus frame Samuel Adams’s synonymous three-movement work. The second half opens with selections from Nico Muhly’s Bell Études, a set of solo piano compositions referencing works by composers like Britten and Messiaen. Claude Debussy’s radiant L’isle Joyeuse, inspired by Watteau’s The Embarkation for Cythera, closes the program. Pianist Conor Hanick is regarded as one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old whose “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master.” (New York Times) Hanick has worked with conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Ludovic Morlot, Alan Gilbert, and David Robertson; collaborated with the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Juilliard Orchestra; and been presented by the Gilmore Festival, New York Philharmonic, Elbphilharmonie, De Singel, Centre Pompidou, Cal Performances, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Park Avenue Armory, and the Ojai Festival, where in 2022 with AMOC* (American Modern Opera Company) he served as the festival’s artistic director and where in 2026 he’ll be a featured artist under director Esa-Pekka Salonen. A fierce advocate for the music of today, Hanick has premiered over 200 pieces and collaborated with composers ranging from Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, and Steve Reich, to the leading composers of his generation, including Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Marcos Balter, and Samuel Carl Adams, whose piano concerto, No Such Spring, he premiered in 2023 with Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony. This season Hanick presents solo and chamber recitals in the US and Europe, including concerts at the Barbican Centre, Cal Performances, Da Camera, Kaufman Center, and Aviva Studios Manchester, where he’ll join the BBC Philharmonic in the UK premiere of No Such Spring. He also appears with Orchestra Iowa, Ensemble New SRQ, and AMOC*, and collaborates Julia Bullock, Seth Parker Woods, Jay Campbell, and Sandbox Percussion, including the premiere of new works by Tania León, Samuel Adams, Marcos Balter, and others. Hanick is the director of Solo Piano at the Music Academy of the West and serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School, the CUNY Graduate Center, and Mannes College at The New School. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School and lives with his family in the Hudson Valley. Ariel Quartet & Orion Weiss