(adjacent to the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts)
8585 Ojai-Santa Paula Rd. (in Upper Ojai)
Ojai, CA 93023 Detailed map and directions
Program This program will be played through without applause until the end.
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV 659 - BACH/BUSONI
La Valse - MAURICE RAVEL
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645 - BACH/BUSONI
Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Op. 22 - FREDERIC CHOPIN
4'33" - JOHN CAGE
Le mal du pays from Années de Pèlerinage - FRANZ LISZT
Arabesque - ROBERT SCHUMANN
Meet the Artist!
A reception will follow the performance.
BIOGRAPHY
First Prize, 2012 Young Concert Artists International Auditions
The Korean Concert Society Prize • The John Browning Memorial Award
The Sander Buchman Award • The Slomovic Prize
The Harriman-Jewell Series Prize • Bronder Prize for Piano, Saint Vincent College
The Usedom Music Festival Prize • The Tannery Pond Concert Prize
"Ji is a pianist with an impressive keyboard command. I’ve nothing but praise for his fearless taming of Corigliano’s ‘Etude Fantasy,’ a musical tsunami that left the audience pinned back against the wall. In the Bach-Busoni Toccata, Adagio and Fugue, BWV 564, he drew organ-like sonorities out of the instrument, playing forcefully without any sense of pounding. Ravel’s ‘La Valse’ was also a tour de force, with admirable clarity in the opening pages and the painting of musical pictures even in the most difficult passages” — THE WASHINGTON POST
"Ji proceeded to play the most beautiful recital I've heard this year . . . His playing has its own personality and character. It has a point of view that is distinctly his, that is fresh."
— KANSAS CITY STAR
“He radiated the confidence of a gifted, sensitive young pianist who is clearly going places. Ji revealed a command of the Mozart sound and style that seemed astonishingly mature.”
— CHICAGO TRIBUNE
“South Korean piano star Ji thrills with his interpretation of masterpieces.” — BANGKOK POST
Ji
Pianist
Ji came to international attention before a televised audience of millions in the highly unconventional Android® commercial that premiered during the 2016 Grammy® Awards. His 'monotune' performance of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on dual pianos was so compelling that People Magazine declared Ji "the real star of the Grammys".
The Juilliard-trained pianist is a musician for the 21st century. Ji is the youngest musician ever to win the New York Philharmonic Young Artists Competition at just 10 years of age. Ji went on to claim the First Prize in the 2012 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He brings a fresh, unique approach to serious concert music, equally at home in Bach and Beethoven as he is in collaborations with many a composing and producing.
In January 2018, Ji released Bach's Goldberg Variations as his debut album with Warner Classics. On the album, Ji invites listeners to explore the purity in music and advocates for the crucial role it plays in shaping the future of our society for the better. He stated:
"Even though we are centuries apart, Bach has left us this music to create a synergy that is greater than all of us combined. For me, as a twenty-something living in this day and age, the biggest lesson I learned decoding the things beyond the notes was empathy. There will always be an infinite number of social, political, and interpersonal issues I can't fully grasp at surface level, but playing this music has taught me the ability to open up my mind; to remind myself constantly to put myself in others’ shoes, even those of someone who walked the earth more than 300 years ago, and who left us with music that continues to connect souls."
Ji lives in Brooklyn, where his day job is encouraging people to open their minds and embrace the power of empathy -- through music and beyond.
