(NEW LEBANON, N.Y.)  — Israeli pianist Shai Wosner will play three of Schubert’s late piano sonatas at the Darrow School on Saturday, July 8, at 8pm, as part of Tannery Pond Concerts. Wosner will play Schubert’s Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42, D. 845; Sonata in D Major, Op. 53, D. 850; and Sonata in G Major, Op. 78, D. 894 (Fantasie).

Wosner compares Schubert’s last six piano sonatas to “thick novels, rich with insight about the human condition. They are like symphonies in their scope yet, at the same time, they are imbued with a sense of intimacy.”  According to Wosner, these sonatas are the key to the composer’s inner life.

Wosner has attracted international recognition for his exceptional artistry, musical integrity, and creative insight. His performances of a broad range of repertoire — from Beethoven and Schubert to Ligeti and the music of today — reflect a degree of virtuosity and intellectual curiosity that has made him a favorite among audiences and critics, who note his “keen musical mind and deep musical soul” (NPR’s All Things Considered).

In the 2016-17 season, Wosner launched a new solo recital series, Schubert: The Great Sonatas, which continues his critically acclaimed engagement with the composer’s music. Described as a “Schubertian of unfaltering authority and character” by Gramophone, Wosner performs Schubert’s last six piano sonatas over two concert programs, comparing the pieces to “six thick novels, rich with insight about the human condition.” He performs the series this season in Israel, with performances in the U.S. and Japan scheduled for the 2017-18 season.

Beyond Schubert, Wosner has also been praised for inventive pairings of classical and modern masters. His latest recording, featuring concertos and solo works by Haydn and Ligeti with the Danish National Symphony conducted by Nicholas Collon, was released in June on the Onyx label to wide acclaim and was named “Concerto Choice” (September 2016) by BBC Music Magazine, which wrote: “Wosner’s notes describe these composers’ use of humor as ‘like two distant relatives sharing an old family joke’. Wit nevertheless rubs shoulders effortlessly with intensity and even moments of terror – that Ligeti slow movement involves sounds that resemble a siren and a police whistle. It’s the intelligence, perception and dazzling energy of Wosner’s playing that makes all this possible and vivid.” His earlier Onyx releases have also explored links between stylistically contrasting composers, including an album of solo works by Brahms and Schoenberg and an album of works by Schubert and Missy Mazzoli.

Widely sought after by colleagues for his versatility and spirit of partnership, Wosner has collaborated as a chamber musician with numerous artists, including Martin Fröst, Lynn Harrell, Dietrich Henschel, Cho-Liang Lin, Christian Tetzlaff, and Pinchas Zukerman. He has also collaborated with leading chamber ensembles, including the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet in The Schubert Effect recital series. Wosner is a former member of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two and performs regularly at various chamber music festivals, including Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Piano Aux Jacobins festival in France, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

Recent chamber music engagements include collaborations with the Pro Musica Society at the Maison Symphonique de Montreal and the Le Club Musical de Quebec at le Palais Montcalm in Canada; performances of works by Brahms, Schumann, and Takemitsu with the Friends of Chamber Music in Denver, Colorado; and appearances at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Laguna Beach Music Festival, and the Ravinia Festival. Among his recent solo recitals, he performed a program of Gershwin and Dvo?ák at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.

Wosner has worked with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Ji?í B?lohlávek, James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, Gunther Herbig, James Judd, Zubin Mehta, Peter Oundjian, Donald Runnicles, Leonard Slatkin, Jeffrey Tate, and Yan Pascal Tortelier, and has performed at summer festivals including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Bravo! Vail festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, and Ravinia Festival. For several consecutive summers, he was involved in the West-Eastern Divan Workshop led by Mr. Barenboim and toured as soloist with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

Born in Israel, Wosner enjoyed a broad musical education from a very early age, studying piano with Emanuel Krasovsky as well as composition, theory, and improvisation with André Hajdu. He later studied at the Juilliard School with Emanuel Ax. Wosner is on the faculty at the Longy School of Music in Boston. He resides in New York with his wife and two children.

First floor tickets are $39 and balcony tickets are $30.  They can be purchased online at Tannery Pond Concerts or by calling 888-820-1696.  The Tannery is on the grounds of Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village and Darrow School, 110 Darrow Road, New Lebanon, N.Y.