Pianist Inna Faliks premieres concerto by Clarice Assad

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Pianist Inna Faliks premieres piano concerto by Clarice Assad in Washington, D.C.

Program celebrating International Women's Day also features Clara Schumann's piano concerto

March 10 concert at National Gallery of Art features Faliks as soloist with Inscape Chamber Orchestra

On March 10 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the internationally renowned Ukrainian-American pianist and author Inna Faliks performs the world premiere of Lilith, a new piano concerto by Grammy-nominated composer Clarice Assad.

Written for Faliks, Lilith refers to the biblical character who was considered a primordial she-demon. Each of the movement titles (Spellbinder, Forbidden Charms, and Unchained) outline Lilith's iconic phases and sensuality. On the same program, Faliks plays the Piano Concerto by Clara Schumann.

The concert on March 10 at 3 pm falls within days of International Women's Day. Admission is free; details on the National Gallery of Art's website. Students from regional youth ensembles will join the Grammy-nominated Inscape Chamber Orchestra, led by Richard Scerbo, for this world premiere performance.

Faliks performs regional premieres of Lilith in Durango, CO (April 20) and Farmington, NM (April 21) with the San Juan Symphony and conductor Thomas Heuser.

Calendar Listing

National Gallery of Art presents

Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 3 pm

Inna Faliks with the Inscape Chamber Orchestra
World premiere of Lilith by Clarice Assad

Inna Faliks, piano
Robert Scerbo, conductor
Inscape Chamber Orchestra

with students from the DC Youth Orchestra Program and Washington Musical Pathways Initiative

National Gallery of Art 
(West Building, Main Floor - West Garden Court)
6th St and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20565

PROGRAM

Fanny Mendelssohn Overture in C Major
Clara Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor
Clarice Assad A Retirada
Clarice Assad Lilith, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (World Premiere)

Coming Up

“Adventurous and passionate” (The New Yorker) Ukrainian-born American pianist Inna Faliks has made a name for herself through her commanding performances of standard piano repertoire, as well genre-bending interdisciplinary projects, and inquisitive work with contemporary composers. After her acclaimed teenage debuts at the Gilmore Festival and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, she has performed on many of the world’s great stages in recital and with many major orchestras, performing with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Keith Lockhart and many others.

Ms. Faliks collaborates with and premieres music by some of today’s most significant composers, including Billy Childs, Richard Danielpour, Timo Andres and Clarice Assad. She is known for her poetry-music series Music/Words, and has worked with a number of prominent poets. She regularly tours her monologue-recital Polonaise-Fantasie, the Story of a Pianist, which tells the story of her immigration to the United States from Odessa (recorded on Delos). Her discography includes Manuscripts Don't Burn (Sono Luminus, May 2024), which consists of world premiere recordings alongside 19th and 20th century works. Also in her catalogue: Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel (Navona), and all-Beethoven and Rachmaninoff/Ravel/Pasternak discs on MSR Classics.

In addition to her other impressive accomplishments, she is is head of Piano Studies at UCLA and is a critically acclaimed writer. Her memoir, Weight in the Fingertips: A Musical Odyssey from Soviet Ukraine to the World Stage (Backbeat Books) was published in October 2023, and her articles and essays have appeared in Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. Inna Faliks is a Yamaha Artist.